Cochlear Implant Consultation and Surgery Center in India

Hearing loss affects millions of peoples of all ages around the world. For many, hearing aids provide a possible solution, but if you experience a significant hearing problem, hearing devices may offer little or no benefit. While there are most people with hearing impairment are quite successful with hearing machines, there are some with severe to profound hearing loss for whom these devices do not provide enough benefit.

That is when it is time to consider cochlear implants, a medical device technology that thousands of people around the world rely on, as a way to restore hearing.

But before moving further, let’s read in detail about cochlear implants?

What Is Cochlear Implants?

A Cochlear Implants is a small, complex electronic device that partially restores hearing. They provide an effective alternative to hearing devices because they do not use amplification.

It takes learning and time to learn to interpret the signals received from a cochlear implant. Within a year of use, most individuals with implants make considerable gains in speech.

An implant does not restore normal hearing. Instead, they do provide an opportunity for the severely hard of hearing or deaf to understand the sensation of sound bypassing the damaged inner ear.

When a person finds difficult to understand speech, even with properly fitted hearing machines, an implant should be considered. If the machine is turned appropriately and the recipient is committed to rehabilitation therapy, the cochlear implant can increase hearing in adults significantly. While in toddlers and infants may help them listen and learn to speak.

Cochlear Implant Surgery

The cochlear implant surgery is a surgical procedure in which an electronic aid or device is fixed inside the inner ear in order to repair the damaged functions of the inner ear.

However, it is well known that its a surgical procedure. But is it necessary to go under this surgery in all types of hearing impairment? What are the specific conditions which demand surgery? Let’s discuss.

You can book a cochlear surgery in India with the best surgeon. Contact us on +91-9327901950 to know about the cochlear implant hearing aid cost in India.

How Does A Cochlear Implant Work?

A cochlear implant is very different from a hearing device, the hearing takes time to learn or relearn. They usually pass the peripheral auditory system which normally collects the sound and then converts that received sound into hair cells movement in the cochlea. These hair cells inside part release potassium ions in reaction to the hair cells’ movement.

Therefore, the potassium also stimulates other cells in order to release neurotransmitter, glutamate. All this makes the cochlear nerve to send a signal to the brain which in turn produces a sound experience.

Here the cochlear implant parts collect the sound and digitize the sound. Then, converts the digitized sound into electrical signals and transmit the digitized signals to the electrodes implanted in the cochlea. The electrodes start stimulating the cochlear nerve, sending the signals to the brain.

Parts of Cochlear Implant

A cochlear implant operates two main components – The internal is the implant. The external is the sound processor.

Internal: The internal part includes a receiver, which is located under the skin on the temporal bone, one or more electrode arrays. These parts work together to allow the user to understand sound.

External: The external component contains a microphone, a speech processor and a transmitter.

Step By Step Working of Cochlear Implant

• A microphone is a small part that is placed behind the ear. The microphone picks the sound from the environment.
• The sound is received by the microphone and is sent to the sound processor.
• The Reciever or stimulator then start analyzing and digitizes the received sound into a coded signal. Then, the coded signal is sent to the transmitting coil.
• The transmitting coil then sends the coded signal to the skin of the stimulator or the receiver of the internal component of the cochlear implant.
• Then the signals are sent to the electrodes to start stimulating the remaining nerve fibers. These electrodes directly stimulate the auditory nerve throughout a portion of the cochlea.
• The signals are recognized by your brain as sounds and therefore produces a hearing sensation.

Who Is Candidate For Cochlear Implant?

The growth of spoken language is an important goal for the people. Both children and adults can make exceptional candidates for cochlear implants depending on the loss of hearing.

The latest cochlear implant technology help those –

• Individuals who have moderate to profound hearing impairment in both ears,
• People who got the score of 50 percent or less on sentence recognition tests taken by the specialist in the ear to be implanted,
• People who get a little or no benefit from the use of hearing devices,
• Individuals who got the score of 60 percent or less on sentence recognition tests taken by the specialist in both ears with hearing machine or the non-implanted ear.

Cohlear Implant For Children

Children with hearing impairment as young as 12 months old can be eligible for implantation. Experts recommend this as early as possible to expose children to sounds during the critical time of acquisition of language.

Eligibility for children, if they –

• have a profound hearing loss in both ears.
• get little or no benefit through the use of hearing devices.
• experience with hearing and language before surgery
• understand their role in the successful use of cochlear implants, along with their parents
• have support from an educational program that will emphasize the development of auditory skills.

Cohlear Implant For Adults

Adults may qualify for implantation irrespective of whether they lost their hearing before or after learning a language. And those adults who developed language before losing their hearing normally have greater success with cochlear implants than those who had not developed yet.

Adult candidates eligible for an implant if they:

• Have profound or severe hearing impairment in both ears.
• Get little or no benefit from hearing aids.
• Have no medical issues that could put them at risk during surgery.
• Have a strong desire to be part of the hearing world and communicate through listening, speaking, and speech reading.

Cochlear Implant Surgery Cost

Cochlear implants and surgery cost is much higher in western countries as compared to developing countries. The cost of cochlear implant surgery at NHS is 40,000$ and the device costs itself 18,000$. Thus it approximately becomes a total of 90,000 USD.

Its price includes the implant, operating room medical supplies and medications, recovery supplies and medications, physician’s fees and anesthesiologist fees.

The cost of the cochlear implants surgery in India is usually a fraction of the cost for the same procedure in the US. You can contact our experts for the best price in cochlear implant surgery.

What Is The Process Of Cochlear Implant?

Cochlear Implant Pre Surgery

An individual who requires a cochlear implant needs an initial referral and for that, they should consult an audiologist or an ENT physician. At the center, the candidate will undergo a full medical evaluation which involves psychological and audiological testing, a medical exam and also imaging studies to access level and type of hearing.

Also to make sure that if they will get the proper advantage from a cochlear implant. There will also be auditory training and post-training evaluation for all the individuals.

After the training, counseling is also compulsory for the candidate, to make sure he/she and their parents, understand the large follow-up commitment needed after the cochlear implant surgery, as well as the requirements regarding the device performance and limitations.

What Happens During The Cochlear Implant Surgery?

Cochlear implant surgery is done in a clinic or hospital. It surgery lasts two or four hours. You are given proper medications to make you sleep during the procedure.

• The surgeon gives you medication in order to sleep.
• Afterward, he makes a cut behind your ear and opens the mastoid bone.
• Along with the identification of the facial nerves, he creates the opening between facial nerves and mastoid bone to access the cochlea. He then finally inserts the implant electrodes into the cochlea.
• He places the receiver under the skin behind the ear.
• At the final step, the surgeon closes all the incisions and you are moved into the recovery area.

What Happens After The Cochlear Implant Surgery?

While leaving the clinic or hospital you will be given instructions on how to care for the incisions. A follow-up appointment is made for about one week later or at activation to examine the incisions and remove the stitches.

Here are some following instructions that a patient can expect to –

• Keep the bandages on for a while, let them stained with some blood or fluid,
• Go home in about a day after surgery,
• Have stitches for a while,
• Get instructions about caring for the stitches, showering, washing the head, and general care and diet,
• Have an appointment in about a week to the stitches removed and have the cochlear implant site tested,
• Have the implantation “turned on” (activated) about 3-6 weeks later.

What Are The Benefits Of This Surgery?

Hearing impairment can majorly impact a person’s daily life. And if you are thinking about whether to pursue a cochlear implant, it is important to know that improvements decrease the longer loss of hearing.

After a successful surgery, a person may be able to have these following benefits –

• Hear better with a cochlear implant than with a hearing machine
• With this surgery, you can achieve an average of 80% sentence understanding, compared with a 10% sentence understanding for hearing aids.
• Able to focus better when in noisy environments
• Understand voices over the phone
• Feel safer as they can hear alarms, people calling them or approaching vehicles
• Reconnect with sounds that are missed so they could not hear before their cochlear implant
• Hear & enjoy music better

What Factors Can Affect These Benefits?

A person with hearing loss benefit from these cochlear implants but the advantages of these implants vary from person to person.

Thus these differences are often due to some factors –

• How long they had hearing loss before receiving a cochlear implant
• How severe their hearing problem is
• The condition of their inner ear i.e cochlea
• The presence of other medical conditions in their body
• How much practice they include in the everyday life of cochlear implants

Results

Cochlear implants have come a long way in their 40-year history, and many advances remain to be made. The more you practice, the better you will hear. As you go out and listen to the sounds around you, you are training yourself to hear better with your cochlear implant.

Outcomes may vary from person to person. Factors that can affect the outcomes of implantation include the age when the hearing was lost and the time length between a cochlear implant and hearing loss.

Research indicates that young children who have a cochlear implant develop better hearing and speech than children with hearing aids.

In adults, the best outcome is associated with a shorter period of profound hearing loss before implantation. With little or no experience of sound in adults tend to benefit less from cochlear implants.

If you are interested in learning more about whether you might be a good candidate for cochlear implantation, talk to an audiologist today. Or you can contact us on our toll-free number +91-9327901950 for a referral to a cochlear implant center.