Editing Cochlea (section)

==Clinical significance==
{{expand section|date=September 2015}}

=== Physical damage ===
Damage to the cochlea can result from different incidents or conditions like a severe head injury, a [[cholesteatoma]], an infection, and/or exposure to loud noise which could kill hair cells in the cochlea.

=== Hearing loss ===
{{main|Hearing loss}} {{further|Cochlear implant}}
Hearing loss associated with the cochlea is often a result of outer hair cells and inner hair cells damage or death. Outer hair cells are more susceptible to damage, which can result in less sensitivity to weak sounds. Frequency sensitivity is also affected by cochlear damage which can impair the patient's  ability to distinguish between spectral differences of vowels. The effects of cochlear damage on different aspects of hearing loss like temporal integration, pitch perception, and frequency determination are still being studied, given that multiple factors must be taken into account in regard to cochlear research.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Moore |first=Brian C. J. |date=April 1996 |title=Perceptual Consequences of Cochlear Hearing Loss and their Implications for the Design of Hearing Aids |url=http://journals.lww.com/00003446-199604000-00007 |journal=Ear and Hearing |language=en |volume=17 |issue=2 |pages=133–161 |doi=10.1097/00003446-199604000-00007 |pmid=8698160 |issn=0196-0202|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

===Bionics===
In 2009, engineers at the [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]] created an [[Integrated circuit|electronic chip]] that can quickly analyze a very large range of [[Radio frequency|radio frequencies]] while using only a fraction of the power needed for existing technologies; its design specifically mimics a cochlea.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2009/bio-electronics-0603.html | title = Drawing inspiration from nature to build a better radio: New radio chip mimics human ear, could enable universal radio | author = Anne Trafton | publisher = MIT newsoffice | date = June 3, 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author1=Soumyajit Mandal |author2=Serhii M. Zhak |author3=Rahul Sarpeshkar | title = A Bio-Inspired Active Radio-Frequency Silicon Cochlea | journal = IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits | volume = 44 | issue = 6 | date = June 2009 | pages = 1814–1828 | doi = 10.1109/JSSC.2009.2020465|bibcode=2009IJSSC..44.1814M | url = https://dspace.mit.edu/bitstream/1721.1/59982/2/Mandal-2009-A%20Bio-Inspired%20Active%20Radio-Frequency%20Silicon%20Cochlea.pdf |hdl=1721.1/59982 |s2cid=10756707 | hdl-access = free }}</ref>