Cochlear implants for children

What is a cochlear implant?

A cochlear implant is an electronic medical device that replaces the function of the damaged inner ear. Unlike hearing aids, which make sounds louder, cochlear implants do the work of damaged parts of the inner ear (cochlea) to send sound signals to the brain.

Cochlear implants have helped over one hundred thousand people hear again or for the first time.

Who can they help?

Cochlear implants can help children who:

• Have severe to profound sensorineural (inner ear) hearing loss in both ears and
• Receive no real hearing benefit from hearing aids and
• Are not making progress in developing speech and
• Have parents and families dedicated to their child learning speech and being part of the hearing world

In 2007, a panel of global clinical experts shared their consensus opinion that a majority of cochlear implant candidates would benefit from bilateral implants (cochlear implants in both ears) ¹. They determined that children in particular stand to gain significant benefit to hearing performance as a result of the increased sound stimulation during the developmental “window” that occurs during early childhood.

How do they work?

Many people suffer hearing loss because they have damage to hair cells in the inner ear or (or cochlea). If some hearing nerves still work, a cochlear implant can allow you to hear. Here’s how:

Hearing with a cochlear implant

1. An external sound processor captures sound and converts it into digital code
2. The sound processor transmits the digitally-coded sound through the coil to the implant
3. The implant converts the digitally-coded sound into electrical impulses and sends them along the electrode array, which is positioned in the cochlea (inner ear)
4. The implant's electrodes stimulate the cochlea's hearing nerve, which then sends the impulses to the brain where they are interpreted as sound.

What are the benefits of a cochlear implant?

Many parents of children with cochlear implants report that their child:

• Speaks at normal hearing level
  Speech and language has developed at the right level for their age
• Has greater confidence in social situations
  Communicate better with family, friends and teachers
• Hears clearly in noisy environments
  In classrooms, playgrounds and other loud, busy places
• Enjoys a world of new sounds
  Parents and friend’s voices, music, birds singing, rain outside the house
• Feel safer in the world
  Know the direction sounds come from such as voices and approaching vehicles
• Talk on the phone
• Enjoy music

What factors can affect hearing outcomes?

Hearing is uniquely different for everyone - like a fingerprint. There are many factors that can affect how well your child will hear and talk with a cochlear implant. These include:

• How long your child has had hearing loss
• The condition of their inner ear
• Other medical conditions
• The level of habilitation after receiving the cochlear implant
• Practice hearing with their cochlear implant

Read or watch stories from parents of children with cochlear implants
Find out about our cochlear implants products

¹ 3rd Meeting Consensus on Auditory Implants, June 14-16th 2007, Marseille, France

² Cochlear regularly publishes the reliability of Nucleus implants to the public according to International Standard ISO 5841-2000 and the reporting principles described in the European Consensus Statement on Cochlear Implant Failures and Explanations. Nucleus Report March 2009