 When hearing loss gets so severe in both ears from nerve damage that conventional hearing aids are unable to offer much benefit to hearing, you may be a candidate for the cochlear implant. The cochlear implant is an electronic device that consists of an array of electrodes bound together and inserted into the hearing part of the inner ear (called the cochlea) under general anesthesia as outpatient surgery. The electrode array backs into a thin microprocessor and magnet that is contained underneath the skin behind the ear. An outer device is worn behind the ear that transfers power and a processed sound signal across the skin by radiofrequency waves. The cochlear implant has been available to adults and children since the early 1990s, and there are over 100,000 cochlear implant recipients worldwide. The cochlear implant has revolutionized the way hearing loss is treated, and the history of the cochlear implant’s development is a story of creative surgeons, engineers, and scientists committed to allowing the deaf to hear. Determining who is a candidate for the cochlear implant requires evaluation from Dr. Eisen and a special set of hearing tests by the audiologist. Aside from the surgical procedure to implant the device, a key component to success for a cochlear implant recipient is learning to hear with the implant, which can require regular visits to the audiologist.. |
|
|