It’s Official: Bilateral Cochlear Implants Improve Quality Of Life
What people like Michael Chorost have long-suspected appears to be true: hearing in stereo is good for your health. A study by the Indiana University School of Medicine found “cochlear implants in both ears significantly improve quality of life in patients with profound hearing loss and that the cost of the second implant is offset by its benefits.” Read more
Vaccination Can Lessen Meningitis Risk For Cochlear Implant Patients
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has issued a new warning that cochlear implant patients make sure they get vaccinated against bacterial meningitis, a potentially deadly infection causing inflammation of the meninges, or lining of the brain. Read more
NBA Basketball Legend Kevin McHale Supports Cochlear Implants For Kids
Former Boston Celtics great and current Minnesota Timberwolves General Manager Kevin McHale has recently made news for his 5-for-1 NBA mega-trade, but it’s his 4-for-1 deal that’s been turning heads outside the basketball world: four cochlear implants for the cost of one. In partnership with four other board members, McHale has co-founded the Help Me Hear Foundation, an organization dedicated to granting free cochlear implants to impoverished deaf children. Read more
Future Cochlear Implant Patients Might Preserve Some Residual Hearing
Researchers at the University of Michigan have developed a new, less-invasive means of implanting electrodes into the cochlea that may ultimately do less damage to hearing nerves in the cochlea and preserve more residual hearing in the patient. Read more
Advanced Bionics Is An Independent Cochlear Implant Maker Again
In 2004, it seemed to be a marriage made in heaven: Boston Scientific, the world’s leading manufacturer of cardiac stents and other implant devices, acquired Advanced Bionics, one of the world’s three cochlear implant manufacturers for $740 million plus additional payments based on future growth. But the marriage quickly soured and after several difficult years dissolved entirely last week. Read more
Josh Swiller Can Tell You Exactly What It’s Like To Be Hard-Of-Hearing
Josh Swiller, who started an excellent blog several years ago about what it’s like to get a cochlear implant, wrote a great article for the New York Times Sunday Magazine today that may be the best description I’ve read of what it’s like to be hard-of-hearing. Read more
Postmodern Man: Michael Chorost’s Cochlear-Implant Book, Rebuilt, Is About A Whole Lot More Than Cochlear Implants
You can learn everything you ever wanted to know about cochlear implants, and more, from Michael Chorost’s new book, Rebuilt: How Becoming Part Computer Made Me More Human. Read more
Infants With Cochlear Implants Get More Language Sooner
A recent research report published by a team at Indiana University provides more evidence that the younger a hearing-impaired child receives a cochlear implant, the quicker he or she is to acquire spoken language. Read more
Cochlear Implants and Music
I went to my daughter’s piano recital last night and she was phenomenal. Because all music is horribly distorted for me, I couldn’t hear how well she played, but the response from the audience was awesome. My heart swelled. It also reminded me I’ve been meaning to point out a good article in the Bionic Beat newsletter. Read more
What About Cochlear Implants?
There’s a terrific story in today’s Wall Street Journal about the rapid increase in the number of children receiving implants before the age of three. To date approximately 10,000 children have received cochlear implants in the U.S., and the reported results are outstanding: kids who in the past would have found it very difficult to develop normal speech are able to start hearing early enough to learn spoken language at a normal developmental age. Read more