 Cochlear
Implants
A cochlear implant
is a quarter-sized device, which is surgically implanted in the skin behind the
ear. It is an advanced electronic device with a soft electrode array that is
threaded into the spiral-shaped inner ear, or cochlea.
The electrodes send
impulses directly to the nerve fibers in the cochlea. The external components of
the implant include a headpiece and a sound processor. The small headpiece
contains the system’s microphone. The sound processor converts speech and other
sounds into electrical signals, which travel through the skin by radio waves to
the implant, then to the inner ear and on to the brain where they are
interpreted as sound.
St. John’s Clinic-Audiology has performed more than 100 cochlear implants since
2000.
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