Cochlear Implants in Children

We are now on the age where the world of medicine has the evolved into its revolutionary and most advanced stage. Almost all kinds of illnesses and physical disabilities have available guaranteed treatments. One of the medical advancements that has helped a lot of people who are profoundly deaf or severely hard-of-hearing is the cochlear implant, a device so small but so complexly advanced that it can provide a sense of sound.

Unlike hearing aids which are mainly amplifiers of sound and external in nature, cochlear implants have both external and internal parts. The external part of the implant is placed behind the ear while the internal portion is surgically placed under the skin of the patient. It does not restore normal hearing but provides a deaf person with representation of sounds to help him understand the speech.

So how does this medical technology work? The magic starts at the microphone portion of the implant which picks up sounds from the patient’s surroundings. The sounds are later arranged and selected by a speech processor. The speech processor then sends signals to a transmitter and receiver or stimulator in order for it to convert the selected and arranged sounds into electric impulses. A group of electrodes called electrode array collects these electric impulses and sends them to the appropriate various regions of the auditory nerve. These complex processes are the ones responsible for the representation of sounds heard by the deaf person.

Both children and adults who are deaf or severely hard-of-hearing can benefit a lot from cochlear implants. As it uplifts their hearing burden, it is extremely important for children to receive cochlear implants at an early age once deafness is diagnosed. The reason for this is that the critical stage in which children are starting to learn their speech and language development desperately needs an auditory stimulation for the developing nervous system. The absence of sensory input during this critical stage will lead to lifelong linguistic and communicative deficits.

In the past when only hearing aids were available, children with hearing difficulties only benefit by small percentage and their communication skills are slightly developed. Thanks to cochlear implants, children nowadays when fitted with the implants in the early stages of their development, usually between the age of 2 and 6, can enjoy a normal life without any listening, speech, and communication difficulty. Cochlear implants are indeed one of the most useful medical technologies available.