Olfactory implants: international opinion paper on emerging technologies and clinical applications.
Olfactory dysfunction affects a large proportion of the general population and causes significant personal and societal burden. At present, there are limited treatment options available. Though as yet experimental and untested in people, olfactory implants are a novel form of neuroprosthesis, modelled on existing implants for other sensory deficits such as hearing loss. Advances in this field have been rapid, yet there have been no unified efforts to collate current knowledge or guide such advances towards maximum patient benefit. In this Opinion Paper, leaders in the field have come together to provide an overview of current and emerging knowledge and technology relating to olfactory implants. In an effort to guide innovation towards maximum patient benefit, we also provide expert agreed statements on theoretical clinical aspects of olfactory implantation, including patient selection, implantation sites and potential complications, as well as post-implantation support requirements. Technical aspects will be discussed, with a clinical, device orientated focus. Finally, the ethics of olfactory implantation will be considered. We hope this document will serve as a useful roadmap to guide future clinical and basic research in the field.
Authors
- Eri Mori (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3273-3789)
- Pascal Senn (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4619-3341)
- Aytuğ Altundağ (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0794-5050)
- Dino Podlesek (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5518-6496)
- Anna Kristina Hernandez (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6711-7359)
- Stéphanie P. Lacour (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9075-4022)
- Julien Wen Hsieh (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7675-1239)
- Caroline Huart (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9763-1981)
- Hakim Benkhatar (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8623-8882)
- Robert Mark Richardson (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2620-7387)
- Basile N. Landis (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6034-3724)
- Simon Gane (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0356-8190)
- Susanne Weise (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7650-1731)
- Peter Andrews (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5731-3276)
- Clémentine Lipp (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7361-1385)
- Hironobu Nishijima (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9056-9900)
- Alberto Macchi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5239-9178)
- Moustafa Bensafi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2991-3036)
- Minàko Kobayashi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3672-5391)
- Constantin A. Hintschich (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5500-600X)
- E H Holbrook
- Carl Martin Philpott (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1125-3236)
- William Esposito (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7682-4933)
- Angélica Pérez Fornos (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3911-8826)
- Witold H. Polanski (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6603-5375)
- Francesca Calegari (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3234-7298)
- Rebecca Sipione (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4195-6725)
- Colette Boëx (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9374-4791)
- Cyril Mignot (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3462-3463)
- Richard M. Costanzo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6839-3520)
- Daniel H. Coelho (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6485-2075)
- P Rombaux
- Zara M. Patel (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2072-982X)
- Thomas R. Hummel (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9713-0183)
- I Konstantinidis
- K.L. Whitcroft
- V Druet
Institutions
- Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 (FR)
- University of East Anglia (GB)
- University of Geneva (CH)
- Jikei University School of Medicine (JP)
- University of Insubria (IT)
- Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary (US)
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR)
- Cliniques Universitaires Saint-Luc (BE)
- Harvard University (US)
- Inserm (FR)
- Mie University (JP)
- Virginia Commonwealth University (US)
- Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (GR)
- Asian Hospital and Medical Center (PH)
- Philippine General Hospital (PH)
- School of Advanced Study (GB)
- LMU Klinikum (DE)
- University Hospital Regensburg (DE)
- Massachusetts General Hospital (US)
- Centre de Recherche en Neurosciences de Lyon (FR)
- Institute of Biophysics and Biomedical Engineering (BG)
- Papageorgiou General Hospital (GR)
- Biruni University (TR)
- University Hospital of Geneva (CH)
- University of Tokyo Hospital (JP)
- Sheffield Children's NHS Foundation Trust (GB)
- Applied BioPhysics (United States) (US)
- Moorfields Eye Hospital (GB)
- Institute of Molecular Biology and Biophysics (RU)
- Eastman Dental Hospital (GB)
- Centre Hospitalier de Versailles (FR)
- University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus (DE)
- University College London (GB)
- École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (CH)
- Geneva College (US)
- Technische Universität Dresden (DE)
- Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (DE)
- UCLouvain (BE)
- Stanford University (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- PubMed
- Published
- 2025-07-14
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.4193/rhin24.523
- Citations
- 2
- Primary Topic
- Olfactory and Sensory Function Studies
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 2.93