How Do Cochlear Implants Work?

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A cochlear implant is an electronic device that enables people who are deaf or have profound hearing loss to perceive and process sounds. Hearing loss can make it difficult or even impossible for people to perform daily tasks like using a telephone, listening to the radio, or having conversations with friends and family. Because people who are very hard-of-hearing may not be able to hear fire alarms or traffic sounds or doorbells, it can affect personal safety and autonomy. Hearing loss can also affect employment. Children with hearing loss may have difficulties learning to speak or understanding speech; adults may find employment opportunities limited. For people with significant hearing loss, cochlear implants can be life-changing. Not only can the device help people detect sounds they couldn’t hear before, it can also improve quality of life. “Hearing loss can be extremely disabling,” says Yale Medicine ear, nose, and throat specialist and skull-base surgeon Douglas Hildrew, MD. “Our ability to hear helps us shape and interact with the world around us. Severe hearing loss can therefore cause isolation, social withdrawal, loneliness, and even early-onset confusion.” “Cochlear implants are a life-changing technology that provides the ability to restore one of the most important senses for patients for whom all other technologies have failed,” says Yale Medicine head and neck surgeon Nofrat Schwartz, MD. Dr. Hildrew agrees. “They are truly amazing and have advanced considerably over the years,” he says. “One of the most amazing parts of my job is to have a patient describe what it’s like to hear the birds again, and a family member tell me their loved one is ‘back.’ It seems nothing short of a miracle.”