Profound Hearing Loss - Get Your Hearing Back Through Cochlear Implants
For those with profound hearing loss, the world is silent. The cochlear nerve, also known as the auditory nerve, is damaged beyond repair. The tiny hair cells located in the cochlea responsible for moving electrical impulses to the brain, are no longer viable. This has resulted in profound deafness for individuals with this condition. It can happen at any time before birth, or long after being born.
All is not lost. With the advent of scientific technological advances, the cochlear implant may give new life to a deaf existence. People who can not hear at all may finally be able to hear sounds they have lost the capacity to hear, or hear sounds they have never heard before.
The cochlear implant is a hearing device that is surgically implanted on the side of the head, behind the ear, in the temporal bone. There is an external part that fits around the ear and is worn much like a "behind the ear" (BTE) hearing aid. The device replaces the work of damaged inner ear structures, using vibration that send signals to the brain for interpretation.
How does the cochlear implant work?
The cochlear implant device is comprised of internal and external pieces. The external part consists of:
microphone
battery
magnet
radio-frequency antenna that transmits sound
micro-computer that processes sound
The micro computer converts sounds into signals, sending the sounds to the implanted internal part which receives the sounds. The internal part, the receiver, is called a receiver/stimulator and includes a micro-computer, radio antenna, magnet and electrode array. The magnets are of opposite polarity and hold the external device over the internal device. The radio-frequency antennas allow digital communication between the internal and external parts.
Sound is picked up by the microphone, which sends the sound to the speech processor (microcomputer). The sound is processed into signals then sent to the transmitting antenna. The signals are then sent to electrodes that stimulates the undamaged area of the cochlear nerve fibers. The signals are then sent to the brain where they are interpreted by the brain into sound.
The cochlear implant does not restore hearing as we know it. What it actually does is translate sound into a signal that is sent to the brain. The brain translates this signal into information that can be recognized as sound coming from the environment.
Age is significant in being able to translate the sound produced. Young children apparently have no problem doing this. The older a person is, the more difficulty there is in performing the translation. Concentrated training is required, performed by a professional who is skilled in administering this type of training.
All is not lost. With the advent of scientific technological advances, the cochlear implant may give new life to a deaf existence. People who can not hear at all may finally be able to hear sounds they have lost the capacity to hear, or hear sounds they have never heard before.
The cochlear implant is a hearing device that is surgically implanted on the side of the head, behind the ear, in the temporal bone. There is an external part that fits around the ear and is worn much like a "behind the ear" (BTE) hearing aid. The device replaces the work of damaged inner ear structures, using vibration that send signals to the brain for interpretation.
How does the cochlear implant work?
The cochlear implant device is comprised of internal and external pieces. The external part consists of:
microphone
battery
magnet
radio-frequency antenna that transmits sound
micro-computer that processes sound
The micro computer converts sounds into signals, sending the sounds to the implanted internal part which receives the sounds. The internal part, the receiver, is called a receiver/stimulator and includes a micro-computer, radio antenna, magnet and electrode array. The magnets are of opposite polarity and hold the external device over the internal device. The radio-frequency antennas allow digital communication between the internal and external parts.
Sound is picked up by the microphone, which sends the sound to the speech processor (microcomputer). The sound is processed into signals then sent to the transmitting antenna. The signals are then sent to electrodes that stimulates the undamaged area of the cochlear nerve fibers. The signals are then sent to the brain where they are interpreted by the brain into sound.
The cochlear implant does not restore hearing as we know it. What it actually does is translate sound into a signal that is sent to the brain. The brain translates this signal into information that can be recognized as sound coming from the environment.
Age is significant in being able to translate the sound produced. Young children apparently have no problem doing this. The older a person is, the more difficulty there is in performing the translation. Concentrated training is required, performed by a professional who is skilled in administering this type of training.
