Super-sensitive sound detectors give hope for the deaf

24 June 2005

Super-sensitive sound detectors used by crickets to spot predators have been recreated in the laboratory. Scientists hope studying the tiny artificial hairs might lead to the development of new cochlear implants for the profoundly deaf.

Some species of cricket have developed a pair of hairy appendages, called cerci, at the abdominal end of their body that are incredibly good at detecting small fluctuations in air currents. Physicists at the University of Twente in the Netherlands have now succeeded in building artificial sensory hair systems, which they hope will enable them to unravel the underlying process and develop a variety of important applications.

The Twente team have shown that they can make mechanical hair sensors and are able to fabricate them in large arrays of long hairs for the first time. Experiments have also revealed how good these artificial cricket hairs are at sensing low-frequency sound.

In a more advanced stage, the structures may form a stepping-stone towards the fabrication of hairs operating in fluids, such as found in the inner ears of mammals.