Cochlear Implants

Cochlear implants are not the same thing as hearing aids because they are implanting surgically. They are meant for deaf or severely hearing impaired people; however, they cannot restore normal hearing, but for all daily purposes are much better than being deaf. In a typical ear, the outer part (composed of the pinnea and an auditory canal), the middle ear consists of three small bones that help transmit sounds from the outer ear to the inner each which contains the cochlea and auditory nerve which transmits electric signals to the brain. Cochlear implants work by stimulating the auditory nerve located in the inner ear with electrical impulses to the brain that would normally be created by the inner eat (deaf people do not have functioning inner ears), but for some reason the function is impaired. One must remember that cochlear implants do not constitute hearing as normal people have it, but a sort of hearing that can help people who are hearing-impaired get along with their lives.

Normal Ear

Ear with cochlear implant