Cochlear Implantation
What is it?
Who gets it?
negatives and positives
How does it work
A cochlear implant is a small, complex electronic device that can help to provide a sense of sound to a person
The implant consists of an external portion that sits behind the ear and a second portion that is surgically placed under the skin
It includes
Microphone:
Speech processor
transmitter and receiver/stimulator
electrode array:
bypass damaged portions of the ear directly stimulate the auditory nerve, these are sent the brain and recognized as sound
congenitally Deaf people/ severe hearing loss/ hearing aids do not work
adults
kids/babies 🚩
they are able to remember sounds and speech
kids as low as 6 months have them
negatives
positives
exposes them to sound during their speech and language development period, has more benefit to them
the younger the child the more likely they develop speech and language at the same rate as a normal child with hearing
cannot fully repair hearing
helps people with more severe deafness
surgical - has risks
flap necrosis
improper electrode placement
rare facial nerve problems
infection
dizziness
tinnitus
Meningitis
leaks of fluid
prevents social isolation
no guarentee
can be very expensive
fitted by licenced audiologist
bleeding
irratation
understanding speech
hearing sounds they have never heard before
mainly covered by insurance
risk factor is low
the electrodes are surgically implanted into the cochlear, yuor cochlear is part of your inner ear that converts soundwaves into electricla signal whcih travels to your brain through auditary nerves
lined with hair cells that trigger nerve signals when they detect sound waves.
acts like hair cell replacement
electrodes are implanted so it can stimulate parts of the cochlea takes sound and passes it on to the processoer whcih crunches sound data and interprates it into about 2 dozen channels, each corresponding to a different frequancy of sound
for each channel there is an electrode in the array that zaps a certain spot in the cochlear, what you hear is what your brain interprets from the combination of signals, not the same as what the mic picked up, 1000s of hair cells can pick up a whole rand of frequencies
train the brain to hear
lack pitch
unable to understand tone
unable to isolate individual voices
the younger the better
develops language and speech