A Proof of Concept for an Olfactory Prosthesis
Olfactory dysfunctions (OD) affect nearly 20% of the world’s population, which has a major impact on their quality of life. Several treatment options exist, but so far, no olfactory prosthesis has been invented to help people with OD. This chapter presents a proof of concept for an olfactory prosthesis in which a substitution sense is used to replace the sense of smell. This sense, the trigeminal sense, provides hot/cold and tickling or even tingling intranasal sensations. The chapter is based on a study published in the context of a European interdisciplinary consortium (Rose project). The proof of concept consists of an odorant molecule sensor and an intranasal stimulator. Results showed that patients were able to detect the presence of an odor via the trigeminal substitution signal and the majority of them were able to distinguish between two intranasal stimulations. These results represent an important step toward a proof of concept for an olfactory substitution prosthesis.
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Stanley, H. B., Lipp, C., Mignot, C., Weise, S., Garefis, K., Fieux, M., Tsakiropoulou, E., Wang, X., Maho, P., Dubreuil, R., Ferdenzi, C., Carulli, M., Bertolini, M., Rossoni, M., Bertsch, A., Hummel, T., Brugger, J., Konstantinidis, I., & Bensafi, M. (2026). A Proof of Concept for an Olfactory Prosthesis. In Olfactory Prosthesis: From Concept Towards Reality (pp. 253–264). Springer Nature. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-032-21741-7_18
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2-s2.0-105054282063
Centre de Recherche en Neurosciences de Lyon
École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne
Technische Universität Dresden
Technische Universität Dresden
Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
Centre Hospitalier Lyon-Sud
Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
Centre de Recherche en Neurosciences de Lyon
Aryballe S.A.
Aryballe S.A.
2026
9783032217417
9783032217400
266
253
264
REVIEWED
EPFL