These small devices have four main components. The microphone, sound processor, and transmitter system are the external components of the cochlear implant. The receiver and its electrode system are surgically implanted. The external components are often held in place on top of the implanted receiver by a magnet.

Though people may mistakenly think that a cochlear implant is a powerful, implanted hearing aid, cochlear implants work much differently than hearing aids. A hearing aid amplifies sound and delivers the sound though the ear canal just like a person with normal hearing receives sound. A cochlear implant directly stimulated the auditory nerve. Therefore, if the cochlea, inner ear, is damaged, an implant may provide some hearing benefit.

A cochlear implant does not restore the person’s hearing to normal. However, people who have severe or profound hearing loss may not get any or enough benefit from even the strongest hearing aids. Both children and adults with severe hearing loss may have the option of having better hearing with cochlear implants. Children who have struggled with communication skills may be able to improve their communication and social skills with the use of cochlear implants.

People who receive cochlear implants often have to have therapy to adjust to hearing with implants. This therapy may be done by an audiologist or speech therapist. Therapy to relearn hearing can be time consuming and may last a significant amount of time.

When determining if a cochlear implant is the best treatment for an individual with severe or profound hearing loss, many factors are considered. The age of the patient, how long the person has been deaf, the patient’s supports available in aiding the transition and relearning of hearing, and how quickly the patient learns are some of the factors considered. The financial considerations and insurance coverage may be factors in the decision to get cochlear implants.

The use of a cochlear implant has been controversial among the deaf community from its first use in 1980.Many people in the deaf community believe that cochlear implants rob the deaf individual of the person’s identity as a deaf person. They do not believe that deafness is something that needs to be fixed. Rather, many deaf people are proud to be deaf.

People who are proponents of cochlear implants believe that cochlear implants allow the individual to become part of the mainstream society. For deaf children, cochlear implants can allow them to hear enough to develop speech and could allow the child to be included in the regular classroom. For hearing parents of deaf children, the cochlear implant allows them to communicate more easily with their child.

However, many deaf people feel that a child who receives cochlear implants is being robbed of their identity. Deaf people may feel insulted that deafness is viewed as something that needs to be fixed. The deaf community is likely to feel slighted at the actions of parents who get cochlear implants for their child.

The deaf culture tends to be rather exclusive. A person who has substantial hearing loss but is not deaf may have difficulty feeling accepted by the deaf community. With the negative opinions about the cochlear implant, deaf people with cochlear implants are not likely to feel accepted by the deaf community. The deaf community views cochlear implants as a threat to the child’s self-esteem. The child who received an implant is labeled as disabled. Inclusion in the deaf community as a deaf person fosters pride of being a deaf person.

A person who becomes deaf in adulthood is likely to have a different view of cochlear implants. The hearing person who becomes deaf has lived their life as a hearing person. A cochlear implant may be the way for them to return to the hearing world. Therefore, deaf people who had been hearing often have a positive view of the cochlear implant.

Each cochlear implant has an external component and an internal component that is surgically implanted. The external part of the cochlear implant holds the battery and has the audio receivers that transmit sound to the internal part of the implant. The transmitter part of the external portion is held in place over the internal part of the implant with a magnet.

The external portion of the cochlear implant includes a microphone that picks up sound in the person’s environment and a processor that converts the sounds to electrical signals. The part of the implant that receives sound resembles a behind-the-ear (BTE) hearing aid. It is connected to the processor with a wire. The processor filters and analyzes the sounds. The electrical signals are sent through a wire from the processor to the transmitting coil which is a radio transmitter.

The internal part of the cochlear implant is sometimes referred to as the receiver/stimulator. The internal component includes a radio antenna that allows the internal component to receive signals from the external part of the implant. The internal portion of the cochlear implant includes a microcomputer and an array of electrodes. The receiver sends the electrical signals through a wire that leads to the electrodes which are positioned in the fluid inside the cochlea.

When the external part of the cochlear implant processes sound, it converts the sound into electrical signals that are sent in the form of FM radio signals to the internal component’s antenna. In response to the radio signals, electrical signals are delivered to the cochlea through the array of electrodes. These signals stimulate the cochlear which sends the auditory signals to the auditory nerve. The nerve signals from the auditory nerve are what the brain perceives as sound.

Therefore, the cochlear implants are actually quite different from hearing aids. Hearing aids can only amplify sound. Cochlear implants convert sound to electrical signals that it uses to directly stimulate the cochlea and auditory nerve. People who have severe or profound hearing loss often do not receive much benefit from hearing aids. However, cochlear implants often effectively treat severe and profound hearing loss though it is important to remember that cochlear implants do not restore normal hearing.

One of the most common complaints of people with profound hearing loss who use hearing aids is the inability to understand speech. Hearing aids may help enough for the person to detect speech, but may not allow the person to understand what is being said. If a person with hearing loss is experiencing this difficulty, the individual should discuss the chances of improvement of deciphering speech with a cochlear implant. In many cases, the ability to decipher speech is one of the benefits of cochlear implants.

Before getting a cochlear implant, the person should be aware of the main disadvantage of cochlear implants. The implantation of a cochlear implant destroys what little hearing ability that ear has left. In a sense, there is no turning back from receiving a cochlear implant. It is a permanent medical procedure that requires the insertion of electrodes in the cochlea.

Therefore, the person should be absolutely sure that the cochlea implant is the best solution for their hearing loss before undergoing the procedure. For many people with profound hearing loss, the cochlear implant is their chance to regain some hearing that cannot be achieved with hearing aids. Even though a cochlear implant will not restore normal hearing, the ability to decipher speech is often the biggest benefit of cochlear implants that makes the procedure worthwhile.

People should have realistic expectations of the result of having cochlear implants before the surgery. Since the cochlear implant does not restore hearing to normal levels, the person may be disappointed or even depressed after the procedure if they were not aware of the limitations of cochlear implants. The person should discuss the expected results with their audiologist when considering a cochlear implant.

Other disadvantages of cochlear implants are similar to any surgical procedure. The person must be considered healthy enough to have the surgery. As with any surgery, there is some risk of infection, injury to the nerves, or other complications. The person should ask the surgeon about the risks of cochlear implant surgery.

The minimum age for a child to receive a cochlear implant varies slightly among cochlear implantation programs, however, the common minimum ages are one year, eighteen months, and two years old. Parents should discuss the pros and cons of cochlear implants and any risks associated with the surgery with the physician.

The surgery is only part of the cochlear implantation process. After the surgery, the audiologist finishes connecting the implant and turns it on. The settings of the cochlear implant may need to be adjusted. The child will have therapy to learn to hear.

A child who was born with severe or profound hearing loss needs to learn how to hear and what sounds mean. It may take a great deal of effort and patience on the part of the parent to teach the child how to hear. Eventually, the child may be able to understand sound and learn to speak.

Parents should be aware that cochlear implants are not a quick fix for deafness. In many cases, the child receives therapy to help the child associate sounds with the cause of the sound and to decipher speech. Parents considering cochlear implants for children should have realistic expectations of the process.

The cochlear implant may allow the child to develop speech. Some children adjust to cochlear implants very well and enter mainstream classrooms. Others may struggle with meeting developmental goals in speech comprehension and speaking. It is usually difficult, if not impossible, to predict how a child will respond to cochlear implants. A parent considering cochlear implants for a child may want to talk to parents who have gotten cochlear implants for their children. This can give the parent insight as to what to expect.