While most of the hearing aids are worn by the people suffering from hearing loss, cochlear hearing aids are surgically implanted, directly in the ear of the person affected by the hearing loss. After the cochlear hearing aids are implanted, one should go through intense therapy to learn the sense of hearing. While the rest of the hearing aids enable the persons hear better, cochlear hearing aids will help the person to sense the sound and thereby understand what is spoken.
Cochlear hearing aids are electronic devices. They consist of a microphone (to receive the sound), a speech processor (which organizes the received sounds), a transmitter and receiver/simulator combination (for converting the sensed sound to electrical signals) and electrodes to transmit the generated electrical signals directly to the auditory nerve system in the brain, bypassing the damaged sens ory cells.
Cochlear hearing aids are for those people who have very severe levels of hearing loss or completely deaf. They are also recommended for people who do not have much benefit from the usage of hearing aids. People who cannot understand more than 50% of the words in a sentence are also recommended with these. Usually it takes lot of practice for the people to get acquainted with the device, once implanted. The procedure for implantation is different for children and adults. After the training, adults will be able to associate any sounds they hear, to the sounds that are already familiar to them. Initially people have reported that they are hearing robotic sounds and sometimes just a beeping sound. Over a period of time, after continuous training, they will be able to sense the sounds without any problem. In some cases the hearing ability has improved much better than with regular hearing aids. For children affected with severe hearing loss, cochlear hearing ai ds should be implanted as early as possible. Children, through rigorous training, can learn to speak and develop social skills. In addition to the audiologist, you need to seek professional help from the speech-language pathologists, after the surgery, for the training.
As the cochlear hearing aids are implanted through surgical procedures, these are very expensive. People usually have a sort of fear to this surgery, due to various myths. However, this surgery is safe. However the same is true with any type of surgery, though there is a small risk factor associated with each surgery. The surgery usually takes two to four hours and the patients need to stay in the hospital, for around 24 hours, for observation. The patients can leave for home after the surgery. It takes two to four weeks for the scars to heal. The external parts of the implant are fitted then.
Major companies of the cochlear hearing aids (cochlear implants) are as follows:
Cochlear Ltd - Th ey manufacturer Nucleus cochlear implant.
Advanced Bionics - They manufacture Clarion cochlear implants.
Med EI - They manufacture Pulsar implants.
Neurelec - They manufacture Digisonic SP cochlear implant.
Cochlear hearing aids prices start from around £16,500. In addition to this the cost of implantation is around £27,000, for the first year. For children, due to more intensive care required, these costs may go beyond £30,000. However, for many people who qualify all the requirements, the device and surgery are available free of charge, from NHS.
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