Cochlear Implant Candidates
Cochlear implants are electronic devices placed surgically subdermally in order to help patients who suffer from hearing disabilities. It is like a boon for those who have been struggling with a failing sense of hearing as well as for those who were born with a hearing defect, or those who can no longer rely on hearing aids for whatever reasons. A cochlear implant works by directly stimulating the auditory nerve, the cranial nerve responsible for carrying sound as impulses from the ear to the brain. In simple words, when the ear mechanism starts to fail, the cochlear implants work to bypass this mechanism and goes on directly to the central neurosensory centre.
The surgical placement of a cochlear implant, being a surgical procedure, carries with it certain risks and also certain advantages. However, there are some patients who will benefit more from this procedure and then there are certain patients who, given their health profile and medical history, will tend to face the least amount of risk of complication. Here are the perfect candidates for undergoing a cochlear implant placement.
Positive Indications: The following make for good candidates.
- Healthy, young patients devoid of conditions like diabetes mellitus, blood disorders, immunosupression and currently or at the time of implant placement, not undergoing treatment for any other serious condition. These are the primary requirements, the ideal conditions which make any surgical procedure successful.
- A patient with bilateral loss of hearing.
- A patient with severe to complete loss of hearing.
- A patient who has an intact auditory nerve. A functional auditory nerve is a prime requirement because, as stated already, the cochlear implant works by stimulating the auditory nerve. Therefore, in cases where the hearing loss has occurred due to damage to the auditory nerve, a cochlear implant is of little, if any, help.
- A patient who is willing to undergo speech therapy, since hearing loss is almost always accompanied by speech defects, especially if the patient has been challenged for a very long span of time, or if the patient has had trouble with hearing and sound perception from a very young age.
- A patient who is psychologically sound and ready to accept the prosthesis without being overly dependant upon the same at a psychological level. The patient should have realistic and not idealistic expectations from the cochlear implant device. To this end, the doctor should consult the patient before the procedure and explain to him or her that the sounds that he or she perceives after the operation may not be very "natural" sounding, since the peripheral hearing mechanism is bypassed.
- A patient who prefers the idea of receiving cochlear implants instead of using and depending upon extra otic hearing aids, which can be quite cumbersome to use and maintain.
Contraindications: the following patients do not make for very good case selections.
- People who are very old, and have a limited life expectancy.
- Psychologically unsound patients.
- Patients with medical conditions that is contraindicative for any type of surgical procedure.
- People with a damaged auditory nerve.
For more information about cochlear implants and other health information check out The Healthcare Resource Guide, it's a great resource.