Results of a study published in the December issue of Archives of Otolaryngology – Head & Neck Surgery, found that rates of cochlear implant failures in a sample of Canadian children implanted between 1990 and 2010 were less than three percent. It’s one of the few studies I’ve seen that attempts to show how reliable cochlear implants are, and according to the authors of the study, the findings indicate a very low failure rate in spite of publicity over the past two years about cochlear implant product recalls.
Advanced Bionics had a major recall starting in 2010 that kept its leading cochlear implant product line off the market well into 2011, and in October 2011 Cochlear Ltd. announced a voluntary recall of its main implant line after reports of a small percentage of failures in past implanted units. When it announced the recall, Cochlear Ltd.’s share price fell 20 percent, but when it announced in late December it discovered the cause of the product failures, the share price bounced back.
Even though the first cochlear implants were developed decades ago, and even with the enormous progress we’ve seen in their ability to restore hearing, we are still early in the game when it comes to performance of the systems and improvements in implantation techniques. It’s good to see both Cochlear Ltd. and Advanced Bionics voluntarily recalled their products when they discovered problems in a small fraction of devices that had been implanted, rather than waiting for regulators to blow the whistle.
If the three major global players can stay on top of the inevitable problems that arise and continue improving the products and performance at the rate they have over the past decade, we can expect to see a lot more deafened children and adults getting their hearing back.