A cochlear implant is an electronic device that helps deaf people to hear partially and improve communication abilities . This surgical implant in the inner ear is activated by a device worn outside the ear. Unlike a hearing aid, it does not make sound to be heard louder or clearer. Instead, the device used bypasses, the damaged parts of the auditory system and directly simulates the nerve of hearing, allowing individuals who are profoundly hearing impaired to perceive sound.
COCHLEAR IMPLANTATION is a team effort. The team is constituted by the Implant surgeon, audiologist and the parents . Both the surgeon and the audiologist are trained abroad (Bionic Ear Institute, Australia) for cochlear implantation. We have done more than 140 cochlear implants in our institute.
We offer Nucleus, Australia and Advanced Bionics, USA cochlear implant devices, each having there own advantages. The post operative care is provided by the audiologist {Mr.Kannan} who is with MCV for the last 18 years. Consistency of the implant team surgeon and audiologist provides better results to the patient as both share responsibility for the outcome. In contrast to centres where no consistency of team work is available. Our institute has been listed in cochlear company website
Complication: the rate of complications at our centre is far less than 4-8 % which is the accepted rate in other centres in India and abroad.
PATIENT SELECTION CRITERIA:
Young children: Under 2 years
- Severe to profound sensor neural hearing loss (nerve deafness) in both ears
- Lack of progress in development of auditory skill with hearing aid or other amplification
- High motivation and realistic expectations from family
- Other medical conditions, if present, do not interfere with cochlear implant procedure.
Children: 2 to 17 years
- Moderate sloping to profound sensorineural hearing loss (nerve deafness) in both ears
- Receive little or no benefit from hearing aids
- Lack of progress in the development of auditory skills
- High motivation and realistic expectations from family
Adults: 18 years and over
- Moderate sloping to profound sensorineural hearing loss in both ears
- Receive little or no useful benefit from hearing aids
Qualified candidates are those scoring less than 70% on sentence recognition tests in best aided conditions, with a score of 40-50% in the ear for implantation.
Complication: the rate of complications at our centre is far less than 4-8 % which is the accepted rate in other centres in India and abroad.
Our selection process of implant candidates
Stage I – Audiological Evaluation
- Pure tone Audiogram
- Impedance Audiometry
- BERA
- Speech Assesement
Stage II – Radiological Evaluation
CT
MRI
Scan shoing normal cochlear nerve
If the cochlea is Hypo plastic / cochlear nerve is absent then cochlear implant is not possible.
Cochlear Implantees Operation List
OUT COME OF COCHLEAR IMPLANTATION
Some of our implantees
Audiologist performing the NRT to check if the implant is working
Child in blue dress – cochlear implant 3rd post op day
Intra operative photo showing the fixation of the NUCLEUS cochlear implant by silicon tapes
