So what is a Cochlear Implant? *

Before describing my surgery, wanted to provide some further details on cochlear implants. Although a CI will help me hear again - it doesn't fix my hearing loss. I will always be deaf . You can think of a CI sort of like eye glasses for vision loss - with the caveat that CI's can never restore a person back to normal hearing ranges.

What is a Cochlear Implant?

A cochlear implant is a medical option for individuals with severe to profound sensorineural hearing loss, when hearing aids provide limited or no benefit.

A cochlear implant system consists of two main parts:

INTERNAL

Implant (surgically placed under the skin)
Consists of an electronics housing and the electrode array


EXTERNAL
Speech Processor (worn behind the ear)
Contains the microphone, and the electronics that process sound.

How A Cochlear Implant Helps to Restore Hearing

For people with normal hearing, the ear processes sound effortlessly. Sound is conducted into the ear canal, and vibrates the eardrum. The eardrum is attached to the three small bones of hearing (ossicles) in the middle ear, which transmit the vibrations on to the inner ear (cochlea). The cochlea is the spiral-shaped organ that contains tiny hair cells that turn sound vibration into bioelectrical signals that are sent along the hearing nerve to the brain. These hair cells are arranged according to pitch, just like the keys on a piano keyboard. When the signals reach the brain, we hear.

For individuals with significant sensorineural hearing loss, sometimes called “nerve hearing loss,” hearing is no longer effortless. Hearing aids can make sound louder, but for many people, this is just not enough to allow them to continue to function easily in a hearing world.

A cochlear implant can help these individuals by replacing and mimicking the functions of the outer, middle and inner ear.

How a Cochlear Implant Works Sound is picked up by the microphone of the speech processor. The speech processor analyzes and converts sounds into a special code. This code is sent to the coil and transmitted across the skin. The implant interprets the code and sends electrical pulses to the electrodes in the cochlea. The auditory nerve picks up this signal and sends it to the auditory ,center in the brain. The brain recognizes these signals as sound.

*All information from www.medel.com.