Cochlear Implants For Hearing Loss Candidate - Surgically Implanted Electronic Device by Alicia McWilliams

With the rise of technology and its dedication to electronics, individuals with impaired hearing have now found a way to cope for the long term. Cochlear implants are becoming more common as thousands of people worldwide have acknowledged its efficacy and convenience. There are some details to consider first however, determining if a person should have them or not.

A cochlear implant or CI is an electronic device surgically implanted in individuals suffering from hearing problems or loss. The device is very complex allowing affected persons to have a new sense of sound thereby earning itself the name "bionic ear". It directly stimulates any available working auditory nerves located inside the cochlea through electronic impulses that is different to conventional hearing aids that only amplify sound. The device may be adjusted by patients to improve sound quality and volume.

Around 100,000 people all around the world have had cochlear implants. Half of these are adults while the rest are children. Implants may be made on one ear (unilateral) or both ears (bilateral). There are various types of cochlear implant devices but overall consist of the same parts. The first part has a receiver-stimulator which receives, decodes and sends electrical signals to the brain while the second part is an external device which has a microphone or receiver, speech processor and antenna which receives the sound, converts it into an electrical signal then sends it to the internal part of the cochlear implant. The internal device is surgically positioned under the skin while the external device is placed behind the ear.

A cochlear has 4 parts. The microphone is responsible for perceiving sound from the external environment. The speech processor chooses and organizes sounds perceived by the microphone. The transmitter and receiver/stimulator gets organized signals from the speech processor then converts these into electrical impulses. The electrode array composed of up to 22 electrodes collects the electrical impulses from the stimulator then transmits these to various regions of the auditory nerve.