Patrick, James (Jim) Finlay

Summary

Jim Patrick is recognised as a world authority on cochlear implants. He was a key member of the research team which developed the Bionic Ear under the direction of Graeme Clark. He joined the team at the Department of Otolaryngology at the University of Melbourne in 1975 and by 1978 had become senior engineer. In 1981, after the first successful human implants, he moved to Sydney to continue the development of clinically applicable cochlear implants.

Jim holds 32 patents (and/or patent families) that span every aspect of cochlear implants, including test systems, power supply, speech processors and improved electrode arrays.

In 2016, he was professor and advisory board member for the Monash Vision Group, Monash University, undertaking research on medical bionics for vision restoration.

In 2002 the Royal Institute for Deaf and Blind Children opened the family‐friendly "Jim Patrick Audiology Centre", named in his honour.

In 2009, The Warren Centre, Sydney, recognised the Bionic Ear and his contribution in particular, as an Australian Engineering Icon (one of only four such "icons").

Details

Jim Patrick co-authored many publications with Graeme Clark relating to the development of the bionic ear. He was also named with Clark as a co-inventor on six patents. In 2006, he was a chief scientist and senior vice president at Cochlear Limited. In that year, he also held honorary appointments as deputy director at the CRC for Cochlear Implant and Hearing Aid Innovation; honorary associate professor at the Department of Otolaryngology at the University of Melbourne; and special research fellow at the Bionic Ear Institute. In 2015, he was honoured as an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) for his work on the cochlear implant, biomedical research, engineering, education and contribution to professional associations. In 2016, Patrick continued to work as senior vice president and chief scientist at Cochlear Ltd. In that year, he was also an honorary fellow in the Department of Audiology and Speech Pathology (in the Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences) at the University of Melbourne.

Chronology

1970

Education - Bachelor of Science (BSc), University of Melbourne

1972

Education - Master of Science (Communication Engineering) (MSc), University of Melbourne

1975 - 1981

Career position - Senior engineer, cochlear implant research project [with Professor Graeme Clark]

2001 -

Career position - Honorary Principal Fellow, Department of Otolaryngology, University of Melbourne

2003

Award - Fellow, Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (FTSE)

2011

Award - Doctor of Engineering (DE), honoris causa, University of Melbourne

2015

Award - Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) - for distinguished service to science through the development of cochlear implant technology, to biomedical research and engineering innovation, and to education and professional associations

2016 -

Career position - Professor and Advisory Board member, Monash Vision Group, Monash University

Related entries

Archival resources

National Library of Australia Manuscript Collection

• Papers of Graeme M. Clark, 1944-2012 [manuscript], 1944 - 2012, MS 8696; National Library of Australia Manuscript Collection. Details

The University of Melbourne Archives

• Department of Otolaryngology - Bionic Ear Records, 1949 - 2000, 2004.0043 at U77/46-55; The University of Melbourne Archives. Details

Published resources

Books

• Clark, Graeme Milbourne; Blamey, Peter. J.; Brown, A. M.; Busby, P. A.; Dowell, R. C.; Franz, B. K.; Pyman, B. C.; Shepherd, R. K.; Tong, Y. C.; Webb R. L.; Hirshorn, M. S.; Kuzma, J. A.; Mecklenburg, D. J.; Money, D. K.; Patrick, J. F.; Seligman, P. M., Nucleus Multi-electrode Cochlear Implant (Advances in Oto-Rhino-Laryngology), vol. 38 (Basel: Karger, 1987). Details
• Worthing, Mark, Graeme Clark: The Man Who Invented the Bionic Ear (Crows Nest: Allen & Unwin, 2015), 221 pp. Details

Book Sections

• Clark, Graeme Milbourne; Black, R. C.; Patrick, J. F.; Tong, Y. C., 'Design criteria of a multiple-electrode cochlear implant hearing prosthesis' in Sensory Aids for the Hearing Impaired, Levitt, H., Pickett, J. M., and Houde, R., eds (New York: IEEE Press, 1980), pp. 457-9. Details

Journal Articles

• Chung, King, 'From the Editor', Trends in Amplification, 10 (4) (2006), 173-174, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4111376/. Details
• Clark, G. M.; Black, R. C.; Forster, I. C.; Patrick, J. F.; Tong, Y. C., 'Design criteria of a multiple-electrode cochlear implant hearing prosthesis', Journal of Acoustical Society of America, 63 (1978), 631-3. Details
• Clark, G. M.; Blamey, P. J.; Busby, P. A.; Dowell, R. C.; Franz, B. K. - H. G.; Musgrave, G. N.; Nienhuys, T. G. W.; Pyman, B. C.; Roberts, S. A.; Tong, Y. C.; Well, R. L.; Kuzma, J. A.; Money, D. K.; Patrick, J. F.; Seligman, P. M., 'A multiple-electrode intracochlear implant for children', Archives of Otolaryngology, 113 (1987), 825-8. Details
• Clark, G. M.; Crosby, P. A.; Dowell, R. C.; Kuzma, J. A.; Money, D. K.; Patrick, J. F.; Seligman, P. M.; Tong, Y. C., 'The preliminary clinical trial of a multi-channel cochlear implant hearing prosthesis', Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 74 (1983), 1977-14. Details
• Clark, G. M.; Patrick, J. F.; Bailey, Q. R., 'A cochlear implant round window electrode array', Journal of Laryngology and Otology, 93 (1979), 107-9. Details
• Clark, G. M.; Tong, Y. C.; Martin, L. F. A.; Busby, P. A.; Dowell, R. C.; Seldon, H. L.; Patrick, J. F., 'A multiple-channel cochlear implant. An evaluation using nonsense syllables', Annals of Otology, Rhinology and Laryngology, 90 (1981), 227-30. Details
• Clark, G. M.; Tong, Y. C.; Patrick, J. F.; Seligman, P. M.; Crosby, P. A.; Kuzma, J. A.; Money, D. K., 'A multi-channel hearing prosthesis for profound-to-total hearing loss', Journal of Medical Engineering and Technology, 8 (1984), 3-8. Details
• Clark, G.M.; Black, R.C.; Forster I.C.; Patrick, J.F.; Tong, Y.C., 'Design Criteria of a Multiple-electrode Cochlear Implant Hearing Prosthesis', Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 63 (1978), 631-633. http://hdl.handle.net/11343/28713. Details
• Tong, Y. C.; Clark, G. M.; Seligman, P. M.; Patrick, J. F., 'Speech processing for a multiple-electrode cochlear implant hearing prosthesis', Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 68 (1980), 1897-9. Details

Resources

• International Application Published Under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT). 59812/80: Speech Processor [Specification AU-A], This is a digital copy of documents including an international application (PCT), specifications and an international search report for a patent on a "speech processor". The publication date of 11 December 1980 refers to the international publication date recorded on the application., World Intellectual Property Organization: International Bureau, 11 December. http://pericles.ipaustralia.gov.au/ols/auspat/pdfSource.do?fileQuery=[Wkh%40ir{%29ilohqdph%40DX4%3C%3B338%3C%3B45D31sgi%29Wkh%40od}|. Details
• 'Patrick, James', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-1772627. Details
• 'Awarded honorary DE, 2011 [Citation provided]', Honorary degree holders, University of Melbourne, 2023, https://about.unimelb.edu.au/notable-alumni-staff/honorary-degree-holders. Details