Abstract
Diseases- and symptoms-related inner ear dysfunctions such as sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL), tinnitus, and vertigo are very difficult to treat. One of the main reasons is caused by the difficulty that inner ear sensory cells have little ability to regenerate after damage. There are more than 400,000 deaf or highly hearing-impaired people in Japan. One of 1,000 newborn babies is deaf. Therefore, recovering inner ear disorders has always been one of the most important priorities in the field of otolaryngology. In this chapter, the possible therapeutic strategies for inner ear regeneration are summarized. In early-phase cochlear damage, it is crucial to rescue auditory cells from cell death and promote self-repair cell activity. Induction of transdifferentiation is the next useful strategy. If no cell sources remain in the inner ear, cell transplantation then becomes the only choice to restore cell growth through regeneration. Using bionic materials is another remaining possible alternative approach. Detailed related inner ear regeneration is already described in another edition (Ito J. Regenerative medicine for the inner ear. Tokyo: Springer, 2014).
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Ito, J. (2015). The Inner Ear. In: Ito, J. (eds) Regenerative Medicine in Otolaryngology. Springer, Tokyo. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-4-431-54856-0_2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-4-431-54856-0_2
Publisher Name: Springer, Tokyo
Print ISBN: 978-4-431-54855-3
Online ISBN: 978-4-431-54856-0
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