Your aged uncle feels depressed and left behind because it is hard for him to understand and has a hard time interpreting conversation. That even though his hearing aids are not helping him a lot.
Or Your one-year-old daughter has been identified with significant hearing damage in both ears, and you worry about her ability to comprehend and absorb speech. How’s she going to learn to interact?
Cochlear implants: what are they?
A cochlear implant is a system implanted surgically that can hear sounds from a person with serious hearing loss.
The cochlea is a section of the inner ear that is snail-shaped. It converts sound waves into electrical impulses flowing through the nerve of the auditory (hearing). These impulses are converted by the brain into familiar tones.
What are the benefits of using cochlear implants?
For people that have implants:
Hearing varies from an almost natural capacity to interpret speech to little gain from hearing at all.
Adults frequently benefit directly and continue to develop after the initial tuning sessions for about 3 months. Although consistency tends to increase, changes are slower. The efficiency of cochlear implant users will continue to improve for many years.
At a slower speed, kids can change. After implantation, a lot of preparation is required to help the infant use the fresh ‘hearing’ he or she still encounters.
Most perceive speech without lip-reading. Even so, even though this is not practicable, lip-reading is improved when using the implant.
Most can make telephone calls over the phone and recognize common voices. Any strong performers will make ordinary phone calls and even remember an unknown speaker. Not that all individuals who have implants are however able to even use the phone.
Most can watch TV more easily when they can also see the face of the narrator as well. Listening to the radio, however, is even more challenging when no visual signals are usable.
Some have songs to listen to. Some love the sound of certain instruments (for example, piano or guitar) and even certain voices. Some do not listen well enough to be able to fully enjoy music.
Loud, low, and soft sounds are perceived by the majority. People say that various kinds of noises can be perceived, such as steps, door closing, motor sounds, telephone ringing, dog barking, tea whistle bellowing, leave buzzing, switching and off the sound of a light switch, and so forth.
Cochlear implants vary from hearing aids:
In order for those with hearing loss to hear, a hearing aid allows sounds louder. To activate the auditory nerve directly, cochlear implants pass weakened areas of the cochlea. When a hearing aid can’t, they can help.
A cochlear implant could be an alternative for any of those conditions.
The Future of Implants for Cochlear
When inserted, experts continue to search for ways to optimize cochlear implants and how they work. For instance:
Companies are creating more innovative techniques to help reduce background noise and improve the noise-to-sound ratio, allowing the consumer to relax and hear speech better.
The possible advantages of combining a cochlear implant for one ear with either a cochlear implant or a listening aid in another have also been explored by hearing science experts
Treatments Other Than Cochlear Implant
There are several forms of conductive hearing damage that may be surgically repaired or enhanced by hearing aids (e.g., covering a hole in the eardrum or maybe one of the middle ear cartilage). With implantable implants, some forms of conductive hearing damage may be improved:
- A system with an inserted middle ear
Osseointegrated is a surgically implanted device. It is implanted as listening aids for the middle ear is meant to further improve the transfer of sound signals to the inner ear. A thin prosthesis connected to one of the bones of the middle ear is used with middle ear implants. These prostheses help to move the bones actively instead of enhancing the sound that passes through the eardrum.
- For patients with conductive or mixed hearing damage
Osseointegrated implants are also treatment options. These implants are surgically embedded behind the jaw, on the outside of the skull of a human. To the skull where an external processor is mounted, a thin titanium abutment is anchored. The processor conveys such sounds via the abutment to the inner ear through skull noises as the microphone mostly on the processor collects received sounds.
