Today's Date: Friday, September 3, 2010
News - What is a Cochlear Implant?
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Contributor: Felicity Bleckly.
Source: Cochlear Awareness Network.
Posted: 23-01-2008
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For some people, a Cochlear Implant is the only way they can hear. It is not an alternative to wearing a hearing aid and is only an option if you cannot effectively use conventional hearing aids. It is not a high powered hearing aid and does not amplify sound. Having a Cochlear Implant is a considered decision, one which is only taken after many tests for suitability and all other avenues for hearing are explored.
The type of hearing loss an implant works best for is sensorineural deafness where the hair cells in the cochlea have died or are damaged. For people with this kind of deafness, it doesn't matter how loud a sound is, it cannot be heard. If the cochlea hair cells are the missing, then the connection, which changes sound vibrations into electrical impulses so the brain can interpret sound, is missing and a cochlear implant provides this connection.
A cochlear implant consists of two parts and you need both parts in order to hear. The first part is internal and is inserted under routine surgery, generally two to three hours. The internal implant is basically a radio transmitter with 22 electrodes inserted into the cochlea.
The second part is the external speech processor. While it looks a bit like a hearing aid it is actually four small computers which, through microphones, receive sounds and convert them to electrical impulses. These electrical impulses are transmitted to the internal implant radio transmitter which sends them to the electrodes in the cochlea. The electrodes are the connectors and take the place of those missing hair cells stimulating the hearing nerve with electrical impulses. The electrical impulse received in the brain is much the same as anyone with normal hearing experiences.
This means the sound a cochlear implantee hears is usually very close to the sound they remember. One implantee told me that a few weeks after her processor activation she took a phone call and was able to identify the speaker by voice alone. This tells me the sound she now gets must be very similar to what she had before she went deaf.
I am a post-lingually deafened adult who received a Cochlear Implant when I was 52 years old after living deaf for 15 to 20 years. By the time I was 40 I was profoundly deaf with little effective hearing. I lost my job and lost touch with many friends and family members simply because I could not easily and regularly communicate with them. I resigned myself to a life of deafness, learnt sign language and socialised with the Deaf community. But despite this, since I am culturally hearing, I wanted to hear. I missed the social interaction, the phone calls and most of all not being able to play and enjoy the piano.
I became aware of Cochlear Implants in 1995 through a Readers Digest article by Professor Clark and investigated whether this technology would help me. After rigorous assessment by the Cochlear Implant team in South Australia it was my turn for the surgery.
I could not hear immediately after I received the implant. My ear had been traumatised and needed time to heal. About two to three weeks after the surgery the processor was programmed to communicate with the implant and then switched on - a very emotional time. I didn't know how much benefit it would give me or whether I would be able to make sense of the new stimuli I was receiving.
My worries were unfounded and within a few minutes of switch-on, although everything sounded strange, I was understanding speech without the need for lip reading. My left ear (or worst ear) had been implanted and the hearing nerve in that ear had not been stimulated for almost 30 years. The nerve needed time to wake up and adjust to sound. But within a few days and with more fine-tune programming, speech became clearer and sounds took on the quality I remembered. Within a short time I was again listening to and understanding the radio. But best of all within a few months I could enjoy playing the piano again, a poignant and unexpected gain.
Since receiving my implant in early 2003 I have been given my life back. Life is so much easier when I can understand and communicate with the people around me. Life is so much richer when I can participate, play the piano, listen to music or the radio.
Our population is aging and since sensorineural deafness is often age related, this means there will be many more people with hearing loss in the coming years. In South Australia at this date, there are fewer than 300 adult Cochlear Implantees and only around 30 more are implanted each year. Based on the statistics of incidence of sensorineural deafness in the population, currently more than 4,500 people in South Australia could benefit from this ground breaking technology but they do not know about it.
I now work as an Cochlear Awareness Network Advocate raising awareness within the general public. I am available for presentations to potential recipients and interested community and self-help groups, schools and professional organisations. Check the website to contact me.
Contact Name: Felicity Bleckly
Contact Phone: 08 8388 2112
Contact Email: felicity@bleckly.com
Website:
Read Personal Stories of Cochlear Implantees
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