Fact File

A cochlear implant (CI) is a surgically implanted electronic device that can help provide a sense of sound to a person who is profoundly deaf or severely hard of hearing.

The cochlear implant is often referred to as a bionic ear.
Unlike other kinds of hearing aids the cochlear implant does not amplify sound, but works by directly stimulating any functioning auditory nerves inside the cochlea with electrical impulses. External components of the cochlear implant include a microphone, speech processor and transmitter.
An implant does not restore or create normal hearing. Instead, under the appropriate conditions, it can give a deaf person a useful auditory understanding of the environment and help them to understand speech, although post-implantation therapy may be required. According to researchers at the University of Michigan, approximately 100,000 people worldwide have received cochlear implants; roughly half are children and half adults. The vast majority are in developed countries due to the prohibitive cost of the device, surgery and post-implantation therapy.

Parts of the cochlear implant
The implant is surgically placed under the skin behind the ear. The basic parts of the device include: External: a microphone, a speech processor which selectively filters sound to prioritise audible speech and sends the electrical sound signals through a thin cable to the transmitter, a transmitter, which is a magnetic pad placed behind the external ear, and transmits the processed sound signals to the internal device by electromagnetic induction,  Internal: a receiver and stimulator secured in bone beneath the skin, which converts the signals into electric impulses and sends them through an internal cable to electrodes, an array of up to 24 electrodes wound through the cochlea, which send the impulses directly into the brain.