What are cochlear implants, how do they work, and who typically gets them?
Printable Version A cochlear implant is a small, complex electronic device that can help to provide a sense of sound to a person who is profoundly deaf or severely hard-of-hearing. The implant consists of an external portion that sits behind the ear and an internal portion that is surgically placed under the skin. An implant includes the following components: a microphone, which picks up sound from the environment. a speech processor, which selects and arranges sounds picked up by the microphone. a transmitter and receiver/stimulator, which receive signals from the speech processor and convert them into electric impulses. an electrode array, which is a group of electrodes that collects the impulses from the stimulator and sends them to different regions of the auditory nerve. An implant does not restore normal hearing. Instead, it can give a person who is deaf a useful representation of sounds in the environment and help him or her to understand speech. A cochlear implant is very diffe
