Public health policy for management of hearing impairments based on big data analytics: EVOTION at Genesis

The holistic management of hearing loss (HL) requires appropriate public health policies for HL prevention, early diagnosis, long-term treatment and rehabilitation; detection and prevention of cognitive decline; protection from noise; and socioeconomic inclusion of HL patients. However, currently the evidential basis for forming such policies is limited. Holistic HL management policies require the analysis of heterogeneous data, including Hearing Aid (HA) usage, noise episodes, audiological, physiological, cognitive, clinical and medication, personal, behavioural, life style, occupational and environmental data. To utilise these data in forming holistic HL management policies, EVOTION, a new European research and innovation project, aims to develop an integrated platform supporting: (a) the analysis of related datasets to enable the identification of causal and other effects amongst them using various forms of big data analytics, (b) policy decision making focusing on the selection of effective interventions related to the holistic management of HL, based on the outcomes of (a) and the formulation of related public health policies, and (c) the specification and monitoring of such policies in a sustainable manner. In this paper, we describe the EVOTION approach

Resting-state Networks in Tinnitus: A Scoping Review

Chronic subjective tinnitus is the constant perception of a sound that has no physical source. Brain imaging studies show alterations in tinnitus patients’ resting-state networks (RSNs). This scoping review aims to provide an overview of resting-state fMRI studies in tinnitus, and to evaluate the evidence for changes in different RSNs. A total of 29 studies were included, 26 of which found alterations in networks such as the auditory network, default mode network, attention networks, and visual network; however, there is a lack of reproducibility in the field which can be attributed to the use of different regions of interest and analytical methods per study, and tinnitus heterogeneity. Future studies should focus on replication by using the same regions of interest in their analysis of resting-state data, and by controlling adequately for potential confounds. These efforts could potentially lead to the identification of a biomarker for tinnitus in the future

Public health policy-making for hearing loss: stakeholders' evaluation of a novel eHealth tool

Background: Hearing loss (HL) affects 466 million people of all ages worldwide, with a rapidly increasing prevalence, and therefore requires appropriate public health policies. Multi-disciplinary approaches that make use of eHealth services can build the evidence to influence public policy. The European Union-funded project EVOTION developed a platform that is fed with real-time data from hearing aids, a smartphone, and additional clinical data and makes public health policy recommendations based on hypothetical public health policy-making models, a big data engine and decision support system. The present study aimed to evaluate this platform as a new tool to support policy-making for HL. / Methods: A total of 23 key stakeholders in the United Kingdom, Croatia, Bulgaria and Poland evaluated the platform according to the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats methodology. / Results: There was consensus that the platform, with its advanced technology as well as the amount and variety of data that it can collect, has huge potential to inform commissioning decisions, public health regulations and affect healthcare as a whole. To achieve this, several limitations and external risks need to be addressed and mitigated. Differences between countries highlighted that the EVOTION tool should be used and managed according to local constraints to maximise success. / Conclusion: Overall, the EVOTION platform can equip HL policy-makers with a novel data-driven tool that can support public health policy-making for HL in the future

Associations Between Hearing Performance and Physiological Measures - An Overview and Outlook

The current paper summarises the research investigating associations between physiological data and hearing performance. An overview of state-of-the-art research and literature is given as well as promising directions for associations between physiological data and data regarding hearing loss and hearing performance. The physiological parameters included in this paper are: electrodermal activity, heart rate variability, blood pressure, blood oxygenation and respiratory rate. Furthermore, the environmental and behavioural measurements of physical activity and body mass index, alcohol consumption and smoking have been included. So far, only electrodermal activity and heart rate variability are physiological signals simultaneously associated with hearing loss or hearing performance. Initial findings suggest blood pressure and respiratory rate to be the most promising physiological measures that relate to hearing loss and hearing performance

A General Systems Theory Approach in Public Hearing Health: Lessons Learned from a Systematic Review of General Systems Theory in Healthcare

General Systems Theory (GST), as it was introduced by Karl Ludwig von Bertalannfy, had a significant, yet mostly unacknowledged influence on systems theory. The purpose of the current review is to highlight and assess the application of the aforementioned theory in the healthcare field and suggest a new approach to the public hearing healthcare sector. A systematic literature review has been conducted in the electronic databases of ScienceDirect, Pubmed and IEEEXplore covering the years of 2009-2019, following the PRISMA guidelines. The article selection was performed to identify GST-related frameworks in the healthcare field and was completed through a process of removing duplicates and non-available articles, analyzing the tittle and abstract, and then reviewing the full text of each selected article. In the final analysis, 47 studies were selected and were thoroughly analysed. Almost half of these articles showed a practical implementation of GST-inspired frameworks, following different types of research methodology. Analysis of these methodologies identified the limitations and positive effects of GST in the healthcare field. Although there is a significant number of references in GST in the healthcare field over the last 10 years, applications of it need to be further tested and explored before they are put into real-situation testing. Simulation models and evidence-based approaches on a micro-, meso- and macro-level of systems should be used to provide the contextual information needed for establishing GST as a driving force in the healthcare field. To this context, a paradigm of GST data framework applied to the hearing loss screening area is hereby presented and discussed. It is shown that a GST approach can be used to identify equilibria in all levels, to balance gain and prediction capacity over time and enhance public hearing health approaches for treatment and management strategies. © 2013 IEEE

Otosclerosis and Tympanosclerosis Modeling Using the Finite Element Method

A Finite Element Model (FEM) of middle ear was used to simulate the pathology of otosclerosis (OS) and tympanosclerosis (TS). Several aspects regarding the two diseases were examined, the results of which are hereby presented, connecting OS and TS with significant hearing loss, depending on the position of the OS and TS plaque accordingly

The Thermodynamic Cost of Intelligence

The concept of Information, is probably one of the most difficult physical (or maybe not) quantities to be comprehended. This is true not only due to the definition and physical meaning of Information, but also due to the difficulty in quantifying Information. It has been an intense field of study, especially in the 20th century, due to the revolution of information technology, where the notion of bit dominated the information discipline. Further on, after the bit the next term introduced in information theory was the qubit, the quantum bit. The present work tries to answer the question on the thermodynamic cost of intelligence. It attempts to build a connection between information and thermodynamics in terms of energy consumption and work production and in particular from a macroscopic point of view. From an initial observation we have reached the outcome that when introducing the concept of information into the thermodynamic equilibrium, it appears that it violates the law of energy conservation. Yet, we pose a hypothesis that Information per se carried energy and thus the conservation of energy is true

Challenges and strengths of multidisciplinary research in audiology: The evotion example

Purpose: The EU-funded research project EVOTION has brought together clinical, technical, and public health experts with the aim to offer a solution for the holistic management of hearing loss. This report presents the challenges, strengths, and key take-home messages of working in this multidisciplinary consortium. Method: Fifteen consortium members completed an online survey with 6 open-ended questions. Responses were analyzed using a thematic approach. Results: Analysis identified 4 main themes: (a) communication, that is, cross-disciplinary communication difficulties but also range of expertise; (b) opportunities, that is, innovation, learning, and collaborations; (c) technology, that is, technical requirements and data collection and management issues; and (d) local constraints, that is, institutional limitations, resources, and planning. Conclusions: Although the challenges reported differed by country and specialty, there was consensus about the value, expertise, and opportunities of the project. It is recommended that in future similar multidisciplinary projects in audiology, researchers establish a common language and assess technical requirements and local constraints prior to initiating research activities. © 2019 The Authors

Sigma kynet: A Novel Biologically Inspired Near Extinction Reconstruction Model

The present work aims to develop a fundamentally novel computational model for reconstructing complex software systems, following some massive internal failure or external infrastructure damage. The present model mimics the biological process of information transmission in terms of transcription and subsequent translation, introducing novel terms such as pre-code and computational RNA