Olfactory implants: international opinion paper on emerging technologies and clinical applications

K L Whitcroft^{1

2

3}, A K Hernandez^{1

4

5}, P Andrews^{2

6}, A Altundag⁷, H Benkhatar⁸, M Bensafi⁹, C Boëx¹⁰, F Calegari¹¹, D H Coelho^{12

13}, R M Costanzo¹⁴, V Druet¹⁵, W Esposito¹⁶, A Perez Fornos¹⁷, S Gane^{6

18

19}, C A Hintschich^{20

21}, E H Holbrook²², J Hsieh²³, C Huart^{24

25}, M Kobayashi²⁶, I Konstantinidis²⁷, S P Lacour¹⁵, B N Landis²³, C S S Lipp²⁸, A Macchi²⁹, C Mignot¹, E Mori³⁰, T Myuran³¹, H Nishijima³², Z M Patel³³, C Philpott³¹, D Podlesek³⁴, W Polanski³⁴, R M Richardson³⁵, P Rombaux²⁴, P Senn²³, R Sipione³⁶, S Weise¹, T Hummel¹

Affiliations

¹ Smell and Taste Clinic, Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Faculty of Medicine Carl Gustav Carus, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany.
² UCL Ear Institute, University College London, London, UK.
³ Sheffield Children's NHS Foundation Trust, Sheffield, UK.
⁴ Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, Philippine General Hospital, University of the Philippines - Manila, Manila, Philippines.
⁵ Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, Asian Hospital and Medical Center, Muntinlupa, Philippines.
⁶ Department of Rhinology and Facial Plastic Surgery, Royal National ENT and Eastman Dental Hospitals, University College London Hospitals, London, UK.
⁷ Otorhinolaryngology Department, Biruni University Medical School, Istanbul, Turkey.
⁸ Centre Hospitalier de Versailles, Service d'ORL et Chirurgie Cervico-Faciale, Le Chesnay-Rocquencourt, France.
⁹ Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, CNRS, INSERM, Centre de Recherche en Neurosciences de Lyon CRNL UMR5292, Bron, France.
¹⁰ Department of Neurosurgery, Geneva University Hospitals, Geneva, Switzerland.
¹¹ Proliferation and Differentiation of Neural Stem Cells, Center for Regenerative Therapies Dresden (CRTD), Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany.
¹² Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, Neurosurgery, Biophysics and Physiology.
¹³ Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, Richmond, VA, USA.
¹⁴ Department of Physiology and Biophysics, and Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, Richmond, VA, USA.
¹⁵ Laboratory for Soft Bioelectronic Interfaces, Neuro-X Institute, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Geneva, Switzerland.
¹⁶ Institute of Materials, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.
¹⁷ Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Geneva University Hospitals, Geneva, Switzerland.
¹⁸ Moorfields Eye Hospital, London, UK.
¹⁹ Research Fellow Centre for the Study of the Senses, University of London, UK.
²⁰ Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Regensburg University Hospital, Regensburg, Germany.
²¹ Department of Ophthalmology, University Hospital of Munich (LMU), Munich, Germany.
²² Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
²³ Rhinology-Olfactory Unit, Department of Otorhinolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, Geneva University Hospitals, Geneva, Switzerland.
²⁴ Department of Otorhinolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, Cliniques Universitaires Saint-Luc, Brussels, Belgium.
²⁵ Institute of Neuroscience, Catholic University of Louvain (UCLouvain), Brussels, Belgium.
²⁶ Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Mie University Graduate School of Medicine, Tsu, Japan.
²⁷ 2nd Academic ORL Department, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Papageorgiou Hospital, Thessaloniki, Greece.
²⁸ Microsystems Laboratory, Institute of Microengineering, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.
²⁹ ENT Department - High Specialization Smell and Taste Pathology, ASST Sette Laghi and UPLOAD Research Center, University of Insubria, Varese, Italy.
³⁰ Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Jikei University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.
³¹ Rhinology and Olfactology Research Group, Norwich Medical School, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK.
³² Department of Otorhinolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
³³ Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA.
³⁴ Department of Neurosurgery, University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany.
³⁵ Department of Neurosurgery, Mass General Brigham, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA , USA.
³⁶ The Inner Ear and Olfaction Lab, Department of Pathology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.

PMID: 40658495
DOI: 10.4193/Rhin24.523

Olfactory implants: international opinion paper on emerging technologies and clinical applications

K L Whitcroft et al. Rhinology. 2025.

. 2025 Jul 14.

doi: 10.4193/Rhin24.523. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Smell and Taste Clinic, Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Faculty of Medicine Carl Gustav Carus, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany.
² UCL Ear Institute, University College London, London, UK.
³ Sheffield Children's NHS Foundation Trust, Sheffield, UK.
⁴ Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, Philippine General Hospital, University of the Philippines - Manila, Manila, Philippines.
⁵ Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, Asian Hospital and Medical Center, Muntinlupa, Philippines.
⁶ Department of Rhinology and Facial Plastic Surgery, Royal National ENT and Eastman Dental Hospitals, University College London Hospitals, London, UK.
⁷ Otorhinolaryngology Department, Biruni University Medical School, Istanbul, Turkey.
⁸ Centre Hospitalier de Versailles, Service d'ORL et Chirurgie Cervico-Faciale, Le Chesnay-Rocquencourt, France.
⁹ Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, CNRS, INSERM, Centre de Recherche en Neurosciences de Lyon CRNL UMR5292, Bron, France.
¹⁰ Department of Neurosurgery, Geneva University Hospitals, Geneva, Switzerland.
¹¹ Proliferation and Differentiation of Neural Stem Cells, Center for Regenerative Therapies Dresden (CRTD), Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany.
¹² Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, Neurosurgery, Biophysics and Physiology.
¹³ Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, Richmond, VA, USA.
¹⁴ Department of Physiology and Biophysics, and Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, Richmond, VA, USA.
¹⁵ Laboratory for Soft Bioelectronic Interfaces, Neuro-X Institute, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Geneva, Switzerland.
¹⁶ Institute of Materials, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.
¹⁷ Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Geneva University Hospitals, Geneva, Switzerland.
¹⁸ Moorfields Eye Hospital, London, UK.
¹⁹ Research Fellow Centre for the Study of the Senses, University of London, UK.
²⁰ Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Regensburg University Hospital, Regensburg, Germany.
²¹ Department of Ophthalmology, University Hospital of Munich (LMU), Munich, Germany.
²² Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
²³ Rhinology-Olfactory Unit, Department of Otorhinolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, Geneva University Hospitals, Geneva, Switzerland.
²⁴ Department of Otorhinolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, Cliniques Universitaires Saint-Luc, Brussels, Belgium.
²⁵ Institute of Neuroscience, Catholic University of Louvain (UCLouvain), Brussels, Belgium.
²⁶ Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Mie University Graduate School of Medicine, Tsu, Japan.
²⁷ 2nd Academic ORL Department, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Papageorgiou Hospital, Thessaloniki, Greece.
²⁸ Microsystems Laboratory, Institute of Microengineering, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.
²⁹ ENT Department - High Specialization Smell and Taste Pathology, ASST Sette Laghi and UPLOAD Research Center, University of Insubria, Varese, Italy.
³⁰ Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Jikei University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.
³¹ Rhinology and Olfactology Research Group, Norwich Medical School, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK.
³² Department of Otorhinolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
³³ Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA.
³⁴ Department of Neurosurgery, University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany.
³⁵ Department of Neurosurgery, Mass General Brigham, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA , USA.
³⁶ The Inner Ear and Olfaction Lab, Department of Pathology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.

PMID: 40658495
DOI: 10.4193/Rhin24.523

Abstract

Olfactory dysfunction affects a large proportion of the general population and causes significant personal and societal burden. At present, there are limited treatment options available. Though as yet experimental and untested in people, olfactory implants are a novel form of neuroprosthesis, modelled on existing implants for other sensory deficits such as hearing loss. Advances in this field have been rapid, yet there have been no unified efforts to collate current knowledge or guide such advances towards maximum patient benefit. In this Opinion Paper, leaders in the field have come together to provide an overview of current and emerging knowledge and technology relating to olfactory implants. In an effort to guide innovation towards maximum patient benefit, we also provide expert agreed statements on theoretical clinical aspects of olfactory implantation, including patient selection, implantation sites and potential complications, as well as post-implantation support requirements. Technical aspects will be discussed, with a clinical, device orientated focus. Finally, the ethics of olfactory implantation will be considered. We hope this document will serve as a useful roadmap to guide future clinical and basic research in the field.

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Olfactory implants: international opinion paper on emerging technologies and clinical applications

Affiliations

Olfactory implants: international opinion paper on emerging technologies and clinical applications

Authors

Affiliations

Abstract

LinkOut - more resources

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