The Portsmouth Herald interviews Dr. Donald Eddington, director of the Cochlear Implant Research lab at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, to find his take on the cochlear implant from Advanced Bionics. His bottom line is that the device is far from perfect. The clinical response to the device is very patient specific. However it is surely a promising technology and it will improve. More here…
In the picture above:
1. Sound processor— captures sound from the environment
— processes sound into digital information
— transmits to the implant over a transmitting antenna, or headpiece, held in place by magnets in both the headpiece and implant
2. Implant— converts digital information into electrical signals
— sends signals down tiny wires to the electrode array in the inner ear
3. Electrode array— delivers electrical signals through tiny contacts, or electrodes, to the hearing nerve
— the hearing nerve carries the sound information to the brain, where it is heard