Cochlear Implant
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What is a cochlear implant?
A cochlear implant is a small advanced electronic device that helps profoundly deaf or severely hard-of-hearing people to listen and understand sound or speech. The implant consists of an external portion that sits behind the ear and a second portion that is surgically placed under the skin. An implant has the following parts:
- A microphone, which picks up sound from the environment.
- A speech processor, which selects and arranges sounds picked up by the microphone.
- A transmitter and receiver/stimulator, which receive signals from the speech processor and convert them into electric impulses.
- An electrode array, which is a group of electrodes that collects the impulses from the stimulator and sends them to different regions of the auditory nerve.
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Who needs cochlear implant
Children (9-24 Months): Profound sensorineural hearing loss in both ears and limited benefit from binaural amplification
Children (2-17 Years): Severe to profound sensorineural hearing loss in both ears and limited benefit from binaural amplification. Needs to get speech scores assessed.
Adults (Individuals 18 years of age or older): Moderate to profound sensorineural hearing loss in both ears and limited benefit from amplification. I Need to get speech scores assessed.
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Steps of Cochlear implant
- Pre – implant investigation: Audiological, Radiological, Psychological, blood tests need to be done to determine implant candidacy.
- Surgery: Cochlear implant surgery is fairly routine and typically performed under general anesthesia, lasting about a few hours. The surgeon will make a small incision behind the ear. The implant is then placed under the skin and the electrode is inserted into the inner ear.
- Activation: Once the incision has been healed, within 15 days to 20 days, you will return to your center for activation of the cochlear implant. The outside processor is attached and the inner implant is activated. Sound levels at this point are opened only slightly for the person to get used to this medium of listening.
- Start therapy/ Intervention: For children, therapy is a very important part for speech and language development. You can consult our speech and language pathologist for that. Therapists develop a plan to train the brain to interpret sounds in a child’s environment. Both children and adults need an auditory-rich environment to reach their maximal potential with the cochlear implant.
- Programming/ Mappings: After a few mappings and rehabilitation, child/ adults will get used to listening through implant and will be able to make the most out of their listening environment and communicate effectively. Programming appointments help the care team assess the progress as the brain learns to process sounds and give them meaning.=
Cochlear Implant Rehabilitation
While the cochlear implant provides access to sound, understanding takes more than just hearing. A good rehabilitation program develops the person’s ability to detect, imitate and associate meaning with the sounds of spoken language.
A cochlear implant rehabilitation team typically includes an E.N.T Doctor, Audiologist, Speech-Language Pathologist, Teacher of the deaf and hard of hearing and parents. They work together to establish a path to success, however parents are the most crucial part of intervention as they are with their kid 24/7 and can provide the most rich language input for their child.
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FAQ
1.Which age is suitable for Cochlear implant?
Cochlear implants can be used by people of all ages. Children can receive a cochlear implant beginning at 10 to 12 mths of age which is required for faster speech and language development
2 Can I use the implant while playing sports?
Probably, Most implants are durable enough to allow playing sports. For swimming or other water sports, you have to wear Aqua + Cover.
3 How are Cochlear implants different from hearing aids?
While hearing aids amplify sound, cochlear implants bypass the damaged part of the ear and use electrical stimulation to enable you to hear
4 How long does it take me to get maximum benefit from a cochlear implant?
It depends a lot on you and your rehabilitation Centre. It depends on how long you have been without hearing
5 Do I need 2 cochlear implants?
Bilateral cochlear implants has always better speech understanding in noise, in group conversations and localisation
6 What is the life expectancy of a cochlear implant?
The surgically implanted device is meant to last a lifetime. However in rare cases, device replacement is needed.