What is a cochlear implant?

Cochlear implants are designed for people with severe-to-profound hearing loss. With this type of hearing loss, the hair cells in the inner ear are damaged, and can’t detect sound properly. A cochlear implant bypasses these damaged hair cells and sends electric signals to the brain, where the are interpreted as sound.

A cochlear implant system has two main components. The externally worn audio processor detects sounds and sends them to the internal implant, which is placed just under the skin behind the ear. Would you like to find out more about cochlear implants?