Cochlear Implant Overview Cochlear implants are electronic devices that are implanted under the skin behind the ear consisting of an internal receiver and an electrode array that is placed within the inner ear (cochlea) to help restore some hearing for patients with severe to profound deafness. An external processor is worn behind the ear or on a belt and contains a microphone and transmission system (telemetry). The external processor picks up environmental sound, processes the signal, and transmits it to the implanted internal receiver. The internal receiver is attached to an electrode array that is implanted within the cochlea. the electrodes transmit the sound as an electrical signal to the inner ear. Remaining inner ear nerve cells transmits the sound signal to the brain which must interpret the signals as sound and words. The signals are not sounds as they are heard by normally hearing individuals but are signals that deaf or profoundly hearing impaired people must learn how to interpret into words. Some brains are able to interpret the signals very well and others struggle to make sense of the signals. This results in 1/3 of patients being low, medium, and high cochlear implant performers respectively. After a cochlear implant is performed, there is a one to two year period needed for practice and brain training. The most important determiner of success with a cochlear implant is the length of time of deafness prior to implantation.
Posted on: Sat, 03 Aug 2013 23:54:40 +0000