Cochlear implants and other hearing implants have restored hearing to thousands of profoundly deaf people. When infants born deaf receive cochlear implants before they are two years old, they often are able to acquire language skills at the same rate as hearing children.
In fact a cochlear implant or “bionic ear” involves more than the dime-sized cochlea in the inner ear — it also implants an electrode array in the skull with a filament that extends into the cochlea in the inner ear to transmit hearing signals to the hearing nerve. Then there’s a microphone behind the ear and sound processor that attaches magnetically to the circuit board sitting in the skull bone just under the scalp.
Surgeons have gotten so practiced at performing this major procedure that now most cochlear implants require only outpatient surgery. However, the tests leading up to the implantation are extensive, and the therapy following up can take several months, as an audiologist works with the patient learning to hear in a new way.
There are three principal cochlear implant companies in the world. Advanced Bionics in California, Cochlear Ltd. in Australia, and Med El in Austria. Cochlear and Med El are independent companies and Advanced Bionics was recently acquired by Sonova Group, parent company of global hearing-aid leader Phonak. Another hearing-aid group, William Demant holdings recently acquired another cochlear implant maker, Neurelec of France, with the intent to start distributing its products globally as well.
The surgery is expensive, costing more than $30,000 USD, but for patients who qualify, standard health insurance often covers the costs. While standards to qualify for insurance coverage vary, patients most often must be severe-to-profoundly deafened — which means they most likely require an average of 80 decibels amplification in both ears and score below 50 percent on word and sentence recognition tests.
For information on other hearing implants, including middle-ear implants and bone-anchored hearing aids, click here.
Are you a candidate for a cochlear implant? The first step is to go to a qualified hearing health professional for an exam and a hearing test.
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