HOW DOES EAR
WORKS?

The outer ear
Pinna gather sounds from the environment and directs it into the ear canal. Ear
drum is present at the end of ear canal. Ear drum vibrates, when sounds hit the
ear drum through ear canal. There are three tiny bones in the ear called
hammer, anvil and stapes. These tiny bones detect the ear drum vibrations and
pass them onto the snail shaped organ called cochlea. Cochlea has a fluid and
hair like structures called Cilia. The cilia detects those vibrations and send
as electrical signals to brain, which we hear as sounds of different frequency.

WHEN DOES HEARING

LOSS HAPPENS?

Hearing lose
happens when there is a damage or blockage in the path between the outer inner
and brain. Blockage or damage may happen at different parts of the ear. One of
the most common causes for hearing loss is the damage of hairs in the Cochlea
(Cilia). As a result of damaged cilia, there is a less stimulation for the
brain which in turn we hear as a reduced sound.

WHAT ARE THE

IMPORTANT COMPONENTS

OF COCHLEAR IMPLANT?

The cochlear implants has two main components, the external component and the internal component.

EXTERNAL COMPONENT

The external
component of cochlear implants are placed outside the ear. It consists of Microphone, speech
processor and transmitter. A small wire connects the microphone and speech
processor to the transmitter.

INTERNAL COMPONENT

The internal
component of cochlear implants are surgically implanted deep inside the inner ear. The internal
component consists of receiver and one or more electrode arrays. It contains an
electronic circuit system that receives signals from the external system.

WORKING MECHANISM

The sound gathered
by the microphone and speech processor of cochlear implants are transmitted to the receiver placed
inside the ear. It converts the received signal into electrical pulses and
sends it to electrode. The electrode in turn artificially stimulates the auditory
nerve. The auditory nerve consists of two branches, one is cochlear nerve and
vestibular nerve. Here cochlear nerve is the one that transfers signal from cochlea
to brain. Thus the brain receives signal from stimulated cochlear nerve
and  process it as sound. Hearing through
cochlear implants takes time to learn and relearn.

WHO CAN USE
COCHLEAR

IMPLANTS?

According to FDA, children
between the age of 12-24 months old with profound SNHL, children between the
age of 2-17 years old with  severe to
profound SNHL, adults of age 18 years and up with moderate to profound SNHL can
be suggested to use cochlear implants cochlear implants. All age group people must show limited
to no benefit from hearing aid in both ears.

WHO ARE THE

MANUFACTURERS OF

COCHLEAR IMPLANTS?

Following are the cochlear implants manufacturers who market their device.

1. Advanced Bionics, America.

2. Cochlear Limited,
Australia.

3. MED-EL, Austria.  

4. SOPHONO, Ireland.

5. Oticon Medical,
France.

Now I hope you have acquired some knowledge about cochlear implants. We will discuss in detail about a topic related to Biomedical Engineering  in our next blog.

NOTE: Dear friends!!! …Please do comment a topic related to Biomedical, so that we can discuss it in future blogs.

Check out for this blog about Computed Tomography and x ray.

Generations of CT Scanners

COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY|TECHNOLOGY|ARTIFACTS

x ray machine working principle

components of x ray tube

DON’T FORGET TO FOLLOW THIS BLOG PAGE

DROP YOUR MAIL ID TO GET IMMEDIATE UPDATES

If you find this blog post knowledgeable, comment & share it with a friend!