Cochlear implants allow deaf or hard of hearing people to hear by directly stimulating the cochlea. The cost ranges from $45,000 to $80,000, and bilateral implants are becoming more popular. The success of the implant depends on the patient’s age and post-op training. Cochlear implants have sparked ethical debates within the deaf community.
A cochlear implant is a device that allows deaf or extremely hard of hearing people to hear again. Around 100,000 people worldwide have these implants. A cochlear implant works by bypassing the eardrum and directly stimulating the cochlea, the spiral-shaped structure in our inner ear responsible for detecting sound.
A small microphone implanted just above the ear connects to a speech processor, which filters speech from surrounding noise, which uses electromagnetic induction — the same phenomenon exploited by metal detectors and RFID tags — to send a signal to a receiver and stimulator located inside the ear, which sends auditory signals directly to the brain.
The total cost of a cochlear implant, including surgery and post-implantation therapy, ranges between $45,000 and $55,000 US dollars (USD), but can be as high as $80,000 USD for adults born deaf who require additional therapy to learn to process sounds. Approximately 3,000 people have bilateral implants, i.e. one in each ear, and this trend is growing, with approximately 15% of cochlear implant recipients in the United States choosing this option today. Cochlear implants were invented in the 1970s.
Cochlear implants can come with different types of speech processing module software, which emphasize different parts of sound. This software is continually improving and in many cases new versions can be added to pre-existing patients without the need for additional surgery. Cochlear implants are most successful with children, who, even if born deaf, have the neural plasticity necessary to acquire the ability to hear with minimal training. The longer you’ve been deaf, the more intense your post-op training needs to be. Since the implantation of a cochlear implant destroys the previous hearing abilities in the ear in which it is implanted, this therapy is only recommended for those who are already completely or nearly deaf.
Cochlear implants have sparked intense ethical debates between the medical and deaf communities. Some deaf people find that cochlear implants unnecessarily alienate deaf people from the deaf community, particularly in situations where deafness is familial. But children who receive implants give overwhelmingly positive feedback and rarely, if ever, regret their parents’ decision to go ahead with the implant.
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