News

Senate Conference Research Project Award

29 July 2025

Our team, spanning the Faculties of EBIT, Health Sciences and Humanities, is tackling a hidden challenge faced by some cochlear implant users: non-auditory side effects such as facial spasms or altered taste. By combining expertise from engineering, audiology, and anatomy, we aim to understand better, predict, and manage these complications to ensure people get the most benefit from their implants. We won the third prize in the 2025 Senate Conference Research Project competition, which aims to promote and support transdisciplinary research at UP. From left to right are Dr Werner Badenhorst, Prof Johan Hanekom and Prof Tania Hanekom, Bioengineering in the Department of Electrical, Electronic and Computer Engineering, Prof Francis Peterson, Vice-Chancellor and Principal, Dr Rene Baron, Department of Anatomy and Prof Talita le Roux, Department of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology.

2025 Conference on Implantable Auditory Prostheses

13 – 18 July 2025 - Tahoe City, California, USA

Dr Rene Baron represented Bioengineering and the Department of Anatomy at the recent Conference on Implantable Auditory Prostheses (CIAP). She presented our work on establishing parameters for computational modelling of the cochlea and surrounding structures by designing measurement techniques for creating landmark maps of the relevant structures.

View the posters

The use of µCT images to investigate the relationship between the internal auditory canal shape and the class of the cochlea

Reliability of using CBCT scans to derive the parameters of the facial canal