My Brother's New Adventure: A Cochlear Implant

  My brother and sister have both had severe hearing losses since infancy. Nothing genetic; just things went wrong when they were very little. Both wear hearing aids. My brother's hearing, however, has suddenly worsened to the point where he qualifies for a cochlear implant, which is pictured here. On August 16th he will have outpatient surgery to have it implanted in a little niche that will be carved out of his skull. One is the electrode array, which is threaded very carefully into the inner ear (he will have 20 electrodes so he can be upgraded when improvements are made). Two is the receiver for the electrode array which will be placed in the niche carved out in his skull. It's the thickness of a quarter and about one square inch in size. Three is the processor, a small electronics package that can be worn on a belt or placed in a pocket. Four is the transmitting coil. Five is the microphone. The last two are worn behind the ear. The transmitting coil magnetically attaches to the implanted receiver. He also just got a new phone at home and at the office. It has captioning so he can read what the caller says if he doesn't understand what's being said. He called me on it the other day and it worked like a charm. The only time he didn't understand me was when he looked away from the screen. Pretty cool.