In 1909, Korbinian Brodmann focused on the differences in the stratum structure of the cerebral cortex and published so called Brodmann areas that divided the cerebrum into 52 areas. Brodmann’s areas became a major guide to neuroscientists and the morphological differences were linked to functional differences. Furthermore, brain scientists had a desire to see the contents of living human brain. Neuroimaging is to measure and visualize the physiological activity of each part in the living brain using various methods and has contributed progress of medical imaging equipment. The electroencephalography first appeared early in the 20th century and an auditory neuroimaging, in the early 1990s, followed by event related potentials in the 1980s, magnetoencephalography, positron emission tomography, and single-photon emission computed tomography and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in the latter half of the 1990s. The team of Prof. David Van Essen of St. Louis - Washington University Medical School has been drawing attention by making a new brain map that divides the brain into 180 parts based on hundreds of human brain MRI data. In this review, we report a resting fMRI on the tinnitus patients and our results shows that the objective diagnosis of tinnitus is possible with sensitivity of 86% and specificity of 74%, by focusing only on the auditory-related areas.

Since there were few studies on in vivo monitoring of drug delivery dynamics, the time course or bioavailability of drugs in the inner ear of live animals following systemic drug application remains unknown. For instance, it is unknown whether the volume of a drug delivered systemically correlates with its inner ear pharmacokinetics. We established a new in vivo imaging system to monitor drug delivery in live mice. The photon signal peak occurred earlier after local injections than after systemic injections. The volumes of injected drug correlated significantly with photon counts measured in the inner ear. Increasing the volume of a drug injected systemically increased its concentration in the inner ear. This study provides a better understanding of in vivo drug delivery dynamics observed in the inner ear.

Objective: Otitis media with anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA)-associated vasculitis (OMAAV) is a condition related to proteinase 3 (PR3) and myeloperoxidase (MPO)-ANCA, often resulting in progressive hearing loss. In this study, the time course of hearing recovery and treatment outcomes of OMAAV were retrospectively analyzed. The aim of this study was to understand the clinical course of hearing recovery after treatment and clarify the prognostication of treatment outcome.

Materials and methods: Audiometric data were available for 25 ears of 15 patients with OMAAV. The patients’ air and bone conduction hearing levels were evaluated using pure-tone audiometry as the average of the hearing level at five frequencies (250–4000Hz): at the time of initial visit, and at 1 week, 1 month, and 3 months after treatment. Three months after treatment, hearing outcomes were classified into three categories, namely significant recovery (CR), partial recovery (PR), and non-recovery (NR).

Results: The hearing outcome was classified as CR in 14 ears (56%), PR in 7 (28%), and NR in 4 (16%). Hearing stayed flat for <1 month in 80% of the patients. In the patients with CR, the hearing improvement between the initial visit and 1 month after treatment was 26.4dB for those with OMAAV. Hearing outcomes were significantly better in the patients whose bone conduction level was <55dB before treatment and whose hearing levels had improved by >20dB within a week.

Conclusions: Better bone conduction level before treatment (within 55dB) and early recovery of hearing levels, that is, >20dB within 1 week, were associated with a better treatment outcome.

We evaluated the outcome of 18 ears (group A) that underwent myringoplasty using polyglycolic acid (PGA) sheets for supporting underlaid fascial grafts without fibrin glue, comparing them with 88 ears (group B) that underwent traditional myringoplasty using fibrin glue to fix the underlaid fascia.

The average duration needed for completion of epithelialization was 27 days（SD 11.8, range 14–56 days）in group A and 28.9 days（SD 14.2, range 14–90 days）in group B. There were no significant differences between the groups in the rate of perforation closure at 6 months and 1 year postoperatively, the degree of hearing improvement, the rate of repairs before epithelialization, and the rate of re-perforation within a year after complete closure.

In conclusion, the PGA sheet is effective as graft support in myringoplasty and works as a scaffold for the epithelialization of tissue; fibrin glue is not always necessary.

From April 2010 to May 2015, 25 ears with a cholesteatoma, 21 with suppurative otitis media, 16 with hearing impairment, and 2 with a cholesterol granuloma that was suspected to be a cholesteatoma underwent repeat operations at Tenri Hospital. The interval between the initial and repeat operations ranged from 5 months to 60 years. Thirty-seven ears underwent operations over periods of more than 5 years since the initial operation. The success rate of hearing improvement, according to the criteria of Otology Japan (2010), was 63.2%. We adopted a retrograde mastoidectomy on demand (RM on demand) with soft-wall reconstruction prior to 2010. RM on demand is simple, safe, and above all, maximizes the preservation of the mastoid air cells in a normal state. However, the study revealed that some cases had recurrences of retraction cholesteatoma and cavity problems. However, we believe that it is important to maximize the preservation of normal mastoid air cells. Since 2010, while adopting RM on demand, we have taken measures, such the addition of a scutumplasty, according to cases. In the future, we will continue to consider it over the long term and should improve or change the surgical procedure flexibly if problems arise.