Biohybrid cochlear implants: neural interfaces, regenerative pathways, and translational benchmarks

Cochlear implants (CIs) restore hearing by electrically stimulating the auditory nerve, yet the millimeter-scale electrode-neuron separation limits spatial selectivity and temporal fidelity. Rather than relocating the electrode array, we propose a biohybrid strategy that preserves the conventional scala tympani insertion and closes this gap biologically by interposing living neural constructs between the array and...

No actionable change — biohybrid cochlear implants remain in pre-clinical or early translational stages and are not yet available for clinical use.

Biohybrid cochlear implants represent a potentially transformative advance in hearing restoration technology that could one day overcome the fundamental limitations of current electrode-nerve interfaces.

1. 01Reviews research on cochlear implants that integrate biological and electronic components (biohybrid CIs).
2. 02Focuses on improving electrode-to-neuron proximity to enhance spatial selectivity of hearing signals.
3. 03Covers regenerative pathway strategies (e.g., guided nerve regrowth toward electrodes).
4. 04Defines translational benchmarks needed before human clinical trials can proceed.
5. 05Published in a peer-reviewed journal; content is a review, not primary trial data.

PMID

42380881

DOI

10.1186/s12984-026-02069-5.

Journal

Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation

Publication type

review

Evidence level

5

Population

Pre-clinical models and early translational research subjects in biohybrid cochlear implant studies

Intervention

Biohybrid cochlear implants with neural interfaces and regenerative pathways

Comparator

Conventional cochlear implants