If you have moderate to profound hearing loss, including deafness, you know that being hard of hearing can significantly impact your quality of life. For some degrees and types of hearing loss, hearing aids are ineffective in restoring hearing. But there is hope.
Cochlear implants provide the chance to hear—even for people who have never had the ability. At WMCHealth’s Cochlear Implant Center, our expert ENT team specializes in this highly advanced and transformational technology. As the first robotic cochlear implant center in New York, we are at the forefront of this innovation, with an approach that provides optimal outcomes.
What Is a Cochlear Implant?
A cochlear implant is a specialized hearing device surgically implanted in the cochlea, a tube in the inner ear. It electrically stimulates nerve cells in the inner ear, allowing people to perceive sound and better understand speech. It has an external component that sits behind the ear and another component that is placed just under the skin. A cochlear implant can benefit you even if hearing aids haven’t because it bypasses the area that causes the hearing loss.
Unlike hearing aids, a cochlear implant does not make sounds louder. Instead, it stimulates the auditory nerve and transmits a signal to the brain that the brain recognizes as sound.
Who Is a Candidate for a Cochlear Implant?
WMCHealth’s Cochlear Implant Center provides treatment customized to each individual and their degree of hearing loss. You will undergo an in-depth evaluation to determine eligibility, but generally, eligible patients:
- Have profound hearing loss in one ear
- Are children 9 months to 18 years old with moderate or profound hearing loss in both ears and poor speech comprehension skills
- Have seen limited benefit from properly fitted hearing aids
- Are willing to commit to follow-up rehabilitation and therapy
- Have no medical restrictions regarding surgery
To determine if a cochlear implant is right for you, you will meet with a multidisciplinary team of experts, including audiologists and speech pathologists, for evaluation.
Innovation at WMCHealth
The Cochlear Implant Center at WMCHealth is the first robotic cochlear implant center in New York. The robot-assisted cochlear implant insertion system, iotaSOFT, allows for slower, more controlled insertion of the implant. This approach decreases trauma to the inner ear and preserves residual hearing, resulting in better outcomes. This procedure is available to both adults and children.
The Cochlear Implant Process
A cochlear implant procedure requires surgery and follow-up therapies to “learn” how to hear in this way.
Day of Surgery
The surgery takes less than two hours, and patients usually go home the same day. You may experience mild to moderate pain the first few days and will be given medication to manage it. You will not hear until the external portion of the device is activated.
Follow-up and Rehabilitation
One week after surgery, patients return for a checkup. Approximately three to four weeks after surgery, the device is activated and mapped. This is when you will begin to experience hearing! Further mapping is done every few weeks for the first six months and continues indefinitely every 6 to 12 months.
Follow-up care also includes aural rehabilitation with a speech pathologist. This helps patients acclimate quicker. Children are evaluated for appropriate educational support and resources.