Making connections. Cochlear Implants
The University of Southampton Auditory Implant Service welcomes referrals of patients with a severe to profound hearing loss who cannot benefit from hearing aids. The service includes assessment, implantation and life-long follow-up for cochlear implant recipients. What is it?
Patient benefits
A cochlear implant is an electronic device that can help both adults and children with severe to profound hearing loss.
Implanted patients can benefit from some or all of the following:
Cochlear implant internal components
Ability to hear and identify environmental sounds Improved lip-reading Understand speech without lip-reading Potential to use the telephone Increased confidence and independence in communication with friends, family and work colleagues.
How does the implant work? The microphone on the external speech processor picks up the sounds which are then sent down the coil, which transmits information across the skin to the internal receiver. The receiver then sends the signal to the electrodes in the cochlea. The small electrical currents directly stimulate the nerve of hearing, which then sends signals to the brain where they are interpreted as sound. Who is it for? A cochlear implant is recommended as an option for people with severe to profound hearing loss, who do not receive adequate benefit from acoustic hearing aids. The cause of deafness is generally not important as long as the auditory nerve is able to respond to the electrical stimulation provided by the cochlear implant.
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Cochlear implant in place
“To see my child improve and able to lead a normal life, interacting with her hearing peers has been my dream come true”
What happens during assessment?
What happens after surgery?
Assessment is carried out by a multidisciplinary team including Audiological Scientists, ENT Consultants, Specialist Speech and Language Therapists, Teachers of the Deaf, Educational Audiologists, Hearing Therapists, Psychologists and Radiologists.
Tuning takes place about 4 weeks after surgery. During the time between surgery and the patient will be invited back to the Auditory Implant Service for their post operation appointment with the ENT Consultant and also given an opportunity to look at their speech processor and the kit that comes with it.
There are a number of appointments at the Auditory Implant Service during this time that the patient has to attend. This is to ensure that the team has all the information they need and the patient understands the process. We check the patient’s hearing levels, communication skills and assess the patient’s/parents’ expectations. Further to this we offer opportunities for patients to look at the cochlear implant devices we offer and meet other people who have had an implant. An MRI scan and CT scan will also be arranged. What happens during surgery? The cochlear implant operation takes about 3 hours and involves the receiver/stimulator package being placed in the bone behind the ear and the electrodes are then inserted into the cochlea. The stay in hospital is usually one night.
The tuning process is the adjustment of the speech processor to suit the individual. Several tuning sessions are required to reach the optimal settings, and for children this is incorporated into a play activity to make the sessions as enjoyable as possible. Contact us Please feel free to contact us for further information. All enquiries to: Cochlear Implant Programme University of Southampton Auditory Implant Service Building 19 Highfield Southampton so17 1bj United Kingdom Telephone: 023 8059 3522 Fax: 023 8059 9608 SMS: 07887 790 765 Email: ais@southampton.ac.uk
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www.southampton.ac.uk/ais ais@southampton.ac.uk +44 (0)23 8059 3522