PROFESSOR GRAEME CLARK
G'day folks,
Welcome to some background on a famous Australian scientist and inventor. One of
our most distinguished alumni in the field of Otolaryngology is Professor
Graeme Milbourne Clark, foundation Professor of Otolaryngology at the
University of Melbourne and pioneer of the multiple-channel cochlear implant,
the ‘bionic ear’.
MB BS
1958 MSurgery 1969 Ph D Med 1970 MD 1989 FRCS (Edinburgh) FRCS (England) FRACS
Hon MD (Hanover) Hon MD (Sydney) Hon DSc (Wollongong) Hon DEng (CYC Taiwan) Hon
LLD (Monash) Hon FAudSA Hon FRCS (England)
Professor
Graeme Clark pioneered the multiple-channel cochlear implant which has brought
hearing and speech understanding to tens of thousands of people with
severe-to-profound hearing loss in more than 80 countries.
Graeme
Clark graduated from Medicine at the University of Sydney in 1958 and became
Resident Medical Officer at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital (RPAH), Sydney. In
1960, he also became Lecturer in Anatomy in the Faculty of Medicine. By 1961,
he had graduated to being Registrar in Neurosurgery and Otolaryngology at RPAH.
He went to London in 1962 and was appointed Senior House Surgeon of the Royal
National Ear Nose and Throat Hospital in London. He remained in England for
four years, working at Bristol General Hospital and the Royal Victorian Eye and
Ear Hospital.
When he
returned to Australia, Graeme first went to the Alfred Hospital in Melbourne,
where he was the first Assistant Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) surgeon, later
becoming Senior Honorary ENT Surgeon. In 1967, he again lectured at the
University of Sydney, this time in physiology. In 1969, he served as a Senior
Research Officer of the National Health and Medical Research Council of
Australia.
Graeme
became the foundation Professor of Otolaryngology at the University of
Melbourne in 1970, retiring from that position in 2004, when he was made
Honorary Laureate Professorial Fellow at the University and became full-time
Director of the Bionic Ear Institute.
Graeme
had commenced basic research on electrical stimulation of the auditory nerve
fibres at the University of Sydney in 1967. His research showed that
multiple-channel (electrode) stimulation rather than a single-channel cochlear
implant would be required for the management of a severe-to-profound hearing
loss. Since 1970, Graeme has led the research on electrical stimulation of the
auditory nerves in the Department of Otolaryngology at the University of
Melbourne and the Bionic Ear Institute.
This research has demonstrated that a
multiple-channel cochlear implant can provide significant understanding of
speech for severely-to-profoundly deaf children and adults and enable near
normal speech for deaf children through electrical stimulation of the hearing
nerves in the cochlea. The research also demonstrated that bilateral and
bimodal cochlear implants can enable people with hearing aids and implants to
localise sound and hear more effectively in a noisy environment. In a series of
studies on experimental animals, he showed that a multiple-channel cochlear
implant was safe, with minimal risk of meningitis from middle ear infection, if
a fibrous tissue sheath was produced around a single-component
multiple-electrode array and this was facilitated with a fascial graft.
It was
not previously thought possible to provide speech understanding with a small
number of electrodes, as the cochlea (inner ear) is innervated by 10,000 to
20,000 neurons in a complex manner. However, the multiple-channel cochlear
implant resulting from the discoveries of Graeme and his co-workers is the
first sensori-neural prosthesis to effectively and safely bring electronic
technology into a direct physiological relationship with the central nervous
system and human consciousness. Graeme also established the surgical and
audiological principles that are the basis for its regular clinical use.
A month
after Graeme and his team operated on Rod Saunders to implant the University of
Melbourne’s first bionic ear, they asked Saunders to return so they could see
whether the surgery had worked and how they could help him understand speech.
When they tested him with an electric current, all Saunders could hear was the
hissing sound frequently experienced by deaf people. Finally, just before the
third hearing test, they discovered a fault in the test equipment, which could
account for the lack of results.
Below is
an excerpt from Sounds of Silence, describing the third appointment with Rod
Saunders:
At the second test session I was
eager to find out whether Rod could recognise the voicing and rhythm of speech.
To test for these skills, we used the computer to play tunes through the
implant. The first was the then national anthem, “God Save the Queen”. Our
answer came immediately as Rod stood to attention, disconnecting some of his
leads as he did so. It was good to have selected a patient with a sense of
humour. Then Jo suggested, “Why not test him with Waltzing Matilda?” Rod had no
trouble with that one either. He could recognise the songs he knew, but could
he hum the tune of a song that had come out after he went deaf? We found that he
could, which was very encouraging.
His work
to develop the multiple-channel cochlear implant and take it through to
commercial reality took 18 years, from 1967 to 1985, and is outlined in the
History of the Cochlear Implant. The cochlear implant originally developed by
the Melbourne research team and manufactured by the Australian company Cochlear
Limited has held up to 80 per cent of the world market over the last 20 years.
In
addition to this research, Graeme has played a key role in the development of
the Automatic Brainwave Audiometer, the first method for objective accurate
measurement of hearing thresholds for low and high frequencies in infants and
young children, and the Tickle Talker™, a device enabling deaf children to
understand speech through electro-tactile stimulation of the nerves of the
fingers.
Graeme
was awarded the AC (Companion of the Order of Australia), Australia’s highest
civil honour, for services to medicine and to science through innovative
research to further the development of cochlear implant technology for
worldwide benefit in 2004.
In 2005,
he received the Excellence in Surgery Award from the Royal Australasian College
of Surgeons which recognises the highest level of surgical achievement by world
standards, advanced innovation in the field, continued quality and worth of the
innovation, and the highest standard of ethics. He received the A Charles
Holland Foundation International Prize for fundamental contributions to the
progress of knowledge in audiology/otology, at the XVIII World Congress of the
International Federation of Otorhinolaryngological Societies in Rome. He
received the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh Medal for outstanding
contributions to medicine at the Quincentenary Ceremony for the Presentation of
Diplomas.
Graeme
also received the Prime Minister’s Prize for Science, Australia’s pre-eminent
award for excellence in science, recognising outstanding achievement by
Australians in science and technology to promote human welfare in 2004. He was
elected a Fellow of the Royal Society for his contribution to science, both in
fundamental research resulting in greater understanding, and in leading and
directing scientific and technological progress in industry and research
establishments. He was elected an Honorary Fellow of The Royal College of
Surgeons of England, awarded for outstanding achievement in medicine. He was
elected a Fellow of the Australian Acoustical Society for notable contribution
to the science and practice of acoustics, and received the Doctorate of Laws
honoris causa from Monash University, its highest honour.
In 2003,
Graeme was elected an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine in
London for exceptional distinction, with recipients drawn from across the world
and from a wide range of endeavours, particularly in the medical sciences. He
received the Doctorate of Engineering honoris causa from Chung Yuan Christian
University in Taiwan.
In 2002,
Graeme was elected an Honorary Member of the American Otological Society. He
received the Doctorate of Science honoris causa from the University of
Wollongong, Australia. In 1998, he was elected Fellow of both the Australian
Academy of Science and the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and
Engineering.
Graeme
has received Honorary Doctorate of Medicine degrees from the University of
Sydney and the Medizinische Hochschule, Hanover along with many other awards
and prizes.
Clancy's comment: A great Australian. A great human. Not many people make such a large contribution to their fellow man. Graeme Clarke has altered countless lives. Well done! Love ya work!
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