Cochlear Implant

A cochlear implant is a small electronic device that restores a sense of sound to people whose inner ear no longer sends usable signals to the brain. Unlike a hearing aid, which simply makes sound louder, the implant bypasses the damaged part of the inner ear altogether and stimulates the hearing nerve directly with fine electrical pulses. It has two parts: a sound processor worn behind the ear, and an implanted receiver with a thin electrode array placed inside the cochlea during a short operation. Many families and adults travel abroad for cochlear implantation to reach experienced ear surgery and audiology teams, because the result depends as much on the programming and rehabilitation that follow as on the surgery itself.