Cochlear Implants

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Basics

• Summary
• Start Here

Learn More

• Related Issues

See, Play and Learn

• Videos and Tutorials

Research

• Statistics and Research
• Journal Articles

Resources

• Find an Expert

For You

• Children
• Patient Handouts

Summary

A cochlear implant is a small, complex electronic device that can help to provide a sense of sound. People who are profoundly deaf or severely hard-of-hearing can get help from them. The implant consists of two parts. One part sits on the outside of the body, behind the ear. A second part is surgically placed under the skin.

An implant does not restore normal hearing. It can help a person understand speech. Children and adults can benefit from them.

National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders

Start Here

• Cochlear Implants (Food and Drug Administration)
• Cochlear Implants (National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders) Also in Spanish

Related Issues

• Benefits and Risks of Cochlear Implants (Food and Drug Administration)
• Use of Vaccines to Prevent Meningitis in Persons with Cochlear Implants (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)

Videos and Tutorials

• Hearing and the cochlea (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish

Statistics and Research

• Quick Statistics about Hearing (National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders)

Journal Articles References and abstracts from MEDLINE/PubMed (National Library of Medicine)

• Article: A monocenter, patient-blinded, randomized, parallel-group, non-inferiority study to compare cochlear implant...
• Article: Gene mutations as a non-invasive measure of adult cochlear implant performance:...
• Article: Experimental Investigation of Acoustic Features to Optimize Intelligibility in Cochlear Implants.
• Cochlear Implants -- see more articles

Find an Expert

• Directory of Organizations (Deafness and Communication Disorders) (National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders)
• Find an Audiologist (American Academy of Audiology)
• National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders

Children

• Cochlear Implant (For Parents) (Nemours Foundation)
• Cochlear Implants (For Parents) (Nemours Foundation)

Patient Handouts

• Cochlear implant (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish