University of Miami - Ibis Yearbook (Coral Gables, FL)

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SOMEDAY THE TOTALLY DEAF MAY HEAR WITH THEIR SKIN. I r number of me- dical researchers, including Drs. D. Kimbrough Oiler and Rebecca Eilers, psycholinguists In the department of pediatrics at UM ' s Mailman Center for Child Development, firmly believe in this eventuality. In fact, they ' ve already taught a small skin vocabulary to some of their subjects, individuals whose perfectly good hearing was purposely blanked out. What we identify as noise consists of vibrations picked up by receptors and recorded In some form or fashion. The cochlea In the ears of a hearing person react to the vibrations and transmit them to the brain, where impulses are sorted and interpreted. For those with impaired hearing, the receptor or cochlea may not receive or transmit the sound waves. Of the other four senses — seeing, smelling, tasting, and feeling — the tactile sense, feeling, seems to be the most feasible pathway for overcoming deficiencies in hearing or seeing. (Experiments are being made with seeing canes, which pick up impulses to alert the blind to obstacles.) Drs. Oiler and Eilers, together with Ph.D. candidate William Gavin, are working with an instrument called a vibratory tactual vocoder, which mechanically translates sound waves into pulsations on the skin. They are studying how readily a person can learn to identify and interpret these vibrations into words, how much can be processed and understood, and what, if any, limitations exist. Specifically, the subject wearing on one arm a wrist-to-elbow sleeve containing 24 solenoids receptors enters a booth. Earphones producing white noise mask the hearing. The researchs speak into a microphone and the vocoder translates the sounds into vibrations which activate small plungers in the solenoids, producing what ' s described as a tickling sensation on the subjects skin. By identifying the location on the arm, moving from high frequency near the wrist to low frequency near the elbow, and the varying intensities of the vibrations, the subject can recognize patterns which can be interpreted as words. Adult subjects seem to be able to assimilate patterned vocabularies without much difficulty. Dr. Oiler said. After some 60 hours of training, a vocabulary of 60 to 80 words can be acquired. Sentences can be understood. Vocal intonations can be imitated. We have done some work with children, and that ' s where we ' d like to go now. Dr. Oiler said. We could use written words with older children and pictures or the identification of objects with the younger ones and show them the written word or the object. Then we could say the word to them so they could learn to recognize the tactile pattern. We ' re looking for parents of children with hearing impairments who might cooperate with us. The Mailman group is using a vocoder that was hand assembled at the Oregon Research Institute and is on loan to them. These devices cost from $75,000 to $150,000 to design and build. Dr. Oiler estimates. About a dozen different types of these instruments exist, but none of them is near the manufacturing stage. The borrowed vocoder is vibrotactile, he explained, using the mechanical transfer of vibrations through the solenoids. Electrocutaneous devices are being introduced which use electrodes to transmit the impules. Although their vocoder is too cumbersome to be portable. Dr. Oiler and his colleagues say that future developers will miniaturize them, even to the extent that a small child could wear one, probably around his stomach. MAILMAN CENTER 11

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TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE f festive crowd of 900 gathered in the Grand Ballroom of the Omni Hotel Saturday evening, November 12, to wish UM ' s School of Medicine a happy 25th birthday. The $50-a-plate tab was picked up by Mrs. Alice Elise Adams, enabling the Medical School to receive approximately $40,000 in donations. Medical School parents, faculty, students and administrators were treated to Chateaubriand Bordelaise and Bombe Glace Surprise while The Doctors, a band consisting of medical school faculty, played instruments not resembling stethoschopes in the least. They weren ' t bad, considering they ' re doctors. The gala affair was filled with smiling doctors, stunning syles, and celebrities. Channel Four newscaster and UM alumnus Ralph Renick recalled his days in the State Legislature 25 years ago when that body considered giving Miami $225,000 to subsidize students in opening a Medical School. According to Renick, the University had some grave difficulties, and at one point it looked as if a medical school in Miami would not be a reality. I voted for it, and I admired then and admire now, the persistency UM had; and I feel that UM ' s med school is the first good thing that happened to Dade County, UM administrators Henry King Stanford, Clyde Wingfield, Oliver Bonnert, John Green, and Ed Coll were in attendance. There aren ' t enough hours in the day to accommodate our pride in the medical school, President Stanford said. ' Even though the med school Is only half as old as the rest of the institution, it has made up for lost time by allowing the University to receive the most dollars for basic research in the South, second only to Duke Medical School. We ' ve always had wall-to-wall talent at the Med School, and now we have wall to wall carpeting, he said. According to Stanford, the banquet ' s purpose was to let the medical school know just how much the rest of the institution appreciates being associated with them. Med School Dean Emanual Papper lightened the evening by barring all speeches longer than a few minutes. No one seemed to mind the restriction, however. We have made enormous progress toward becoming a major medical school and I think it is entirely possible for us to step up and become as good as Harvard or Stanford. In order to do the things we do in an outstanding way, we ' re going for broke with a fantastic faculty, a strong student body and good relations with everyone, Papper said. Seated at my table was the first female president of a UM Medical School class. Senior President Bonnie Queener. Also, at this table were the Student Body President Jack Don Temple and his wife and Junior class president Linda Marraccini. Secretary for the Dean of Student Affairs Mary Wright announced with pride that a great many officers and people of importance at the Med School are females. According to Linda Marraccini, the 1977-78 junior class president, the problems of apathy are not unique to the undergraduates of the University. It ' s really difficult to get anything done, because everyone Is always studying all the time; it seems like they never take a break, she said. Dean of admissions Bernard Fogel said that the best part of his job as an administrator Is working with the students. They are optimistic and want a high quality education, for which they are willing to work, he said. Over half of the crowd consisted of med school parents. We ' re proud that our son can attend such a fine medical school and we ' re glad to support the institution in this way, said Moses and Betty Braun, parents of a senior student. The affair was appropriately characterized by Papper as a milestone in a life blessed with very good things. — Cynthia I. Chiefa 10 SCHOOL OF MEDICINE

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