House Ear Institute
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The House Ear Institute (HEI) [1] was founded in 1946 by Howard P. House, M.D. and his younger half brother William F. House, M.D., with the help of a generous grant from Dean Witter.
Since 1946, the House Ear Institute has led the way in defining the causes of hearing and balance, disorders improving medical/surgical procedures, and prosthetic devices. The Institute's discoveries have helped millions of people receive successful treatments.
In 1969, William F. House, M.D.—brother of Howard—implanted the first three patients with the cochlear implant at House Ear Institute. Since then, the Los Angeles-based House Ear Institute has grown into the world's foremost private research institute for otology and hearing science[2].
House Ear Institute's historical advancements in hearing sciences include the development of the first cochlear implant and auditory brainstem implant as well as the introduction of the first the middle cranial fossa and then the translabyrinthine approach for removal of acoustic neuromas. The translabyrinthine approach uses the operating microscope and reduced mortality rates from 40% (in California) to less than 1%.
Today, scientists at House Ear Institute are exploring the molecular development of the ear, and the auditory centers of the brain.
House Ear Institute and its companion facility, House Ear Clinic[3], are affiliated with the University of Southern California School of Medicine and provide instruction in otology to the otolaryngology residents at the Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center. The doctors at the House Ear Institute and Clinic have trained two to three Clinical Fellows a year in Otology Fellowship after completion of ENT residency. Through the Clinical Otology Fellowships, about one hundred fully trained otologists have carried the House techniques around the world and to other clinical training programs. Through one and two week surgical temporal bone courses, thousands of doctors from every continent have come to study ear surgery. To date, over 22,000 doctors have received training in their facilities.
