Cochlear Implant Information

There was a time when old age was synonymous with a rapidly failing sense of hearing. Of course, even today, a failing auditory mechanism seems to plague almost everyone above forty years of age, and also those who have congenital problems which has affected their hearing. The solution has always been a choice between wearing cumbersome hearing aids and therefore staying dependant upon these for life, or to just grin and bear the lowered quality of life that comes with a gradual loss in hearing.

With the advent of mechano-therapy and thanks to the various advances made in the field of implantology, there has emerged a new solution to this age old problem. Welcome to the age of Cochlear Implantology.

Cochlear implants are electronic devices that are placed surgically within the skin behind the ears. They are also called bionic ears. These devices help a person hear better by directly stimulating the auditory nerve, the cranial nerve which is responsible for the transmission of sound wave signals to the brain. Therefore, those patients who have an undamaged auditory nerve are the only ones who can benefit from this device.

Current standard technology

The current technology has its certain limitations when it comes to cochlear implants. For example, because of the secondary, central mode of transmission of sound, the sounds that are perceived by the patient are less natural than ideal. Patients report that they hear things differently than what they remember. Also, the cochlear implants are not advised for people who still maintain a certain amount of hearing ability. Therefore, patients suffering from partial hearing loss still have to deal with the cumbersome hearing aids.

However, as stated, there is a certain machine like quality to the sound which appears a little more artificial than it should sound. This is because the natural perception and hearing mechanism is bypassed as the stimulation of the auditory nerve takes place directly with the help of electrodes which form a part of the cochlear implants. Scientists have been trying to come up with new technology and have also been trying to improve the current technology to the point of making it more efficient so that the patient can have as normal a sense of hearing as possible.

Future trends

Electric Acoustic Stimulation devices, also called EAS devices, are the answer to the problem of partial hearing loss. These devices combine the usefulness of hearing aids with the convenience and high technology of cochlear implants to help people with partial hearing loss deal better with normal speech. The hybrid short electrode cochlear implants are an example of a device that uses the said technological combination.

The use of laser stimulation in cochlear implants is another breakthrough in this nascent field. The use of fiber optics has also been proposed and is due to undergo trial. Hi-Fi cochlear implants use up to 50 electrodes to stimulate the auditory nerve more effectively, and have been undergoing clinical trials for a possibly much enhanced hearing experience.