Cochlear Implants

Overview :

Hearing loss is caused by a number of different problems that occur either in the hearing nerve or parts of the middle or inner ear. The most common type of deafness is caused by damaged hair cells in the cochlea, the hearing part of the inner ear. Normally, hair cells stimulate the hearing nerve, which transmits sound signals to the brain. When hair cells stop functioning, the hearing nerve remains unstimulated, and the person cannot hear. Hair cells can be destroyed by many things, including infection, trauma, loud noise, aging, or birth defects.

All cochlear implants consist of a microphone worn behind the ear that picks up sound and sends it along a wire to a speech processor, which is worn in a small shoulder pouch, pocket, or belt. The processor boosts the sound, filters out background noise, and turns sound into digital signals before sending it to a transmitter worn behind the ear. A magnet holds the transmitter in place through its attraction to the receiver-stimulator, a part of the device that is surgically attached beneath the skin in the skull. The receiver picks up digital signs forwarded by the transmitter, and converts them into electrical impulses. These electrical impulses flow through electrodes contained in a narrow, flexible tube that has been threaded into the cochlea.

As many as 24 electrodes (depending on the type of implant) carry the impulses that stimulate the hearing nerve. The brain then interprets the signals as specific sounds.

Despite the benefits that the implant appears to offer, some hearing specialists and members of the deaf community still believe that the benefits may not outweigh the risks and limitations of the device. Because the device must be surgically implanted, it carries some surgical risk. Also, manufacturers cannot promise how well a person will hear with an implant. Moreover, after getting an implant, some people say they feel alienated from the deaf community, while at the same time not feeling fully a part of the hearing world.

The sounds heard through an implant are different from the normal hearing sounds, and have been described as artificial or "robotlike." This is because the implant's handful of electrodes cannot hope to match the complexity of a person's 15,000 hair cells.

Surgical procedure

During the procedure, the surgeon makes an incision behind the ear and opens the mastoid bone (the ridge on the skull behind the ear) leading into the middle ear. The surgeon then places the receiver-stimulator in the bone, and gently threads the electrodes into the cochlea. This operation takes between one and one-half to five hours.