Happy anniversary to the cochlear implant!

This year marks the 35th anniversary of the first cochlear implant to be used in the UK. It was surgeons at the Royal National Throat Nose and Ear Hospital in London who implanted the first device back in 1989. 

Today around 20,000 children and adults in the UK – and over one million worldwide – have a cochlear implant. But, although they’re relatively common nowadays, there are still some misunderstandings around what a cochlear implant does, and how it works.

Here are some key points to remember.

A cochlear implant works completely differently from a hearing aid.

Unlike hearing aids, which amplify sounds so they may be detected by damaged ears, a cochlear implant bypasses damaged portions of the ear and uses a mild electric currently to directly stimulate the auditory nerve, creating a signal that can be interpreted by the brain.

Hearing through a cochlear implant is different from normal hearing.

The device helps to provide a sense of sound to a person who is profoundly deaf or severely hard-of-hearing, so it takes time to learn or relearn hearing – often with intensive therapy.

A cochlear implant is a complicated device.

It consists of two parts: an external microphone and sound processor and the actual implant placed in the inner ear. The microphone picks up sounds, which are then processed into electrical signals. These are sent by the transmitter through the skin, via radio waves, to the internal receiver. The receiver picks up the signals and passes these down an electrode array which carries them into the cochlea, stimulating the auditory nerve.

Find out more

The RNID is a good source of information,

including a factsheet [link to https://rnid.org.uk/wpcontent/uploads/2020/05/Factsheet_Cochlear-implants_June-2016_v3.pdf]

Tasha Ghouri, the first deaf contestant on Love Island, gives her first-hand experience of what it’s like to have a cochlear implant [link to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-1D2FcTj0E]