July 22, 2008
Advanced Bionics Settles Financial Suit With FDA
Advanced Bionics has agreed to settle an administrative complaint arising from a disagreement with the FDA.
The FDA asserted that Advanced Bionics should have made a formal submission five years ago before using a second vendor for a particular component in its cochlear implant system.
The component, called a feedthru, contained a hidden weakness that allowed a very slow leak of water molecules into the implanted devices containing this vendor's feedthru's while blocking the passage of much smaller helium and nitrogen gases.
Posted @ 12:05 AM
Hearing Aid Mistaken for Bluetooth Headset Stolen
A young boy and his mother were having lunch at a McDonalds when someone suddenly stole the boy's hearing aid.
Three-year-old Jose Franco still doesn't understand why his world went silent. He was born deaf and relies on a Cochlear implant to hear. Last week, while playing at a Los Angeles McDonalds, two teenage boys stole the external portion of the device called The Speech Processor.
"Suddenly someone came from behind and took his implant off his head," said Jose's mother Hilda Giron.
Posted @ 12:04 AM
Romanian Girl Gets Cochlear Implant
Francesca Burcea was born with normal hearing 3-1/2 years ago in her native Romania. She had started to say a few words when she contracted meningitis at 18 months. It spared her life but took her hearing. Doctors aren't sure why the disease can have that complication. It could be the disease process itself, the high fevers or even the life-saving medicines that doctors need to prescribe.
Francesca's father called his sister, Kristina Bigu in the St. Louis area to ask if there was anything she knew of that could help. She asked St. Louis audiologist, Stanton Jones and he suggested a cochlear implant. They are not available in Romania, so Kristina appealed to Dr. Jones for help. That got the ball rolling.
Posted @ 12:03 AM
July 1, 2008
Local Doctors Test New Hearing Aid
A surgically implanted hearing aid that stays under your skin is being put to the test in the Bay Area. It could drastically change the way the hearing impaired lead their lives.
A new, invisible hearing aid being tested in the Bay Area could soon change thousands of lives.
David Steele is an avid swimmer and kayaker. But there's something he can never forget when he hits the water -- taking out his hearing aids.
Posted @ 8:09 AM
May 29, 2008
Deafness No Bar to Woman's Goal of Legal Career
Everything from television technology to text messaging has made life easier for Sonya Smith.
When she watches programs on Lifetime, her favorite cable channel, she sometimes reads the closed captioning - a feature that allows text to be displayed on the screen; at other times she reads the characters' lips.
"I love looking at people and reading their lips," said Smith, who was born deaf.Text messaging also is popular and she uses it as another tool to communicate with family and friends via her cell phone.
Posted @ 4:15 AM
May 18, 2008
Implant gives back gift of hearing to man
Southeast Salem resident Jack Fischer was deaf — for four months. An ear infection cost most of his hearing in his right ear five years ago. But when it happened again to his left ear in July, he became almost totally deaf.
And he didn't know what to do.
At 59 years old, he wasn't ready to retire from his private practice as a clinical social worker who counsels families.
Posted @ 1:31 AM
Implant helps deaf student achieve honor
There was a time in Amber Sprenger's life when only her mother could understand what she was saying. About six years ago, everything changed.
It was then that Amber, now 12, had a cochlear implant. The procedure, which involves surgically implanting a system of electrodes inside the ear and then connecting them to transmitter's and microphones placed on the outside of the ear, allows users to better interpret sounds.
Posted @ 1:30 AM
February 6, 2008
World of noise proves too much for deaf teen to bear
Nanthaporn referred to the world she entered after receiving cochlea implants three years ago.
Born profoundly deaf, Nanthaporn lived in a world with no voices until she was 16 when a public hospital doctor agreed to implant her with an artificial cochlea. Unfortunately, she didn't believe she belonged to the new world of noise introduced to her which cost her parents almost Bt1 million. "I heard all the voices but did not know their meaning," she reasoned as to why she prefers not to use an electronic device that assists her hearing.
Cochlea implantation is regarded as a safe and effective treatment for the profoundly deaf. Besides an artificial cochlea that is implanted inside the patient's ear, there is an external electronic device that sends sound-generated impulses directly to the brain and bypasses the flawed part of the inner ear.
Posted @ 2:28 AM
January 16, 2008
New Cochlear Implant Technology Possible
How well today’s cochlear implants work varies in patients. Some may be able to hear sounds such as thunder. Others can understand speech but are not able to appreciate music. But new research could make it all possible.
The implants are surgically placed into the cochlea – the snail-shell shaped structure in the inner ear. Normally hair cells line the cochlea and convert acoustic signals into electrical signals that nerves carry to the brain. Sounds can be amplified with a hearing aid if there are some hair cells. If the hair cells are missing or damaged – which is usually associated with severe hearing problems – an implant can help replace their function.
Posted @ 7:17 AM
November 28, 2007
Bill Proposed to Have State Cover Cochlear Implant Surgery
About one year ago, the only thing Troy Nguyen would say to his school secretary was the word "fish." Now, with the help of a new hearing device, a formerly shy young boy has turned into a chatterbox.
Nguyen, an eight-year-old from Lowell, was born almost completely deaf and used a clunky hearing aid that precluded him from playing sports and participating in OTHER school activities.
Last year, just two weeks before Christmas, Nguyen got the gift of a lifetime, a cochlear implant from the Boston-based Gift of Hearing Foundation.
Posted @ 7:07 AM
Cochlear Ltd. Deploys PTC® Windchill® as a Key Element of Its Strategic Growth Agenda
PTC (Nasdaq: PMTC), the Product Development Company®, today announced that Cochlear Ltd., the global leader in implantable hearing solutions, has adopted Windchill® as a platform for strategic product lifecycle management (PLM). Cochlear has utilized PTC Pro/ENGINEER® as its primary design tool for the past ten years. The selection of Windchill, PTC’s content and process management solution, extends the company’s existing relationship with PTC and enables Cochlear to realize the value of an integral product development system.
Posted @ 7:05 AM
November 1, 2007
She leads walking team so others can hear
A Frederick woman who lost then regained her hearing headed up a team in the National Capital Area Walk4Hearing on Sunday in Damascus.
Denise Portis, 41, slowly lost her hearing over 10 years. She was completely deaf for five years. Today she can hear.
She received a cochlear implant in April 2005 and started to hear people's voices again. "Everybody sounded like Mickey Mouse at the beginning," she said. "It was like they had helium."
Posted @ 4:01 AM
October 19, 2007
Aculight awarded SBIR contract to develop optical cochlear implant
Aculight Corporation has been awarded a new contract under the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program to develop an optical cochlear implant (OCI). The $750,000 Phase II award from the National Institutes of Health is funding a joint effort with Northwestern University (Evanston, IL).
"We're laying the foundation for a laser-based cochlear implant that provides users with dramatically improved fidelity over current electrical implants," said Mark Bendett, Aculight's director of medical products. "This Phase II will enable Aculight to produce an OCI that can be used in research studies at Northwestern University prior to developing a model for clinical applications."
Posted @ 8:59 AM
September 18, 2007
Younger Cochlear Implant Recipients Have Stronger Language Skills than Non-Implant Hearing Aid Recipients
Children with profound hearing loss who receive cochlear implants before the age of 6 show significant gains in language acquisition, and compare favorably with other children who can hear, according to a new study.
The research, first presented at the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery Foundation’s Annual Meeting & OTO EXPO in Washington, DC, indicates that children that receive cochlear implants scored higher on language assessments test, compared to children fitted with non-implanted hearing aids.
Posted @ 4:44 AM
August 25, 2007
Young city boy can finally hear the roar of the crowd
Blake Russell will be going to his first wrestling show tonight, and he'll be more than just a spectator. The four-year-old Cornwall boy will the guest of honour at the show, sharing the spotlight with the stars of Canadian Grand-Prix Wrestling (CGPW) as they take to the ring at Murphy's Inn.
At some point, the youngster will make his way into the ring with his father Jason to greet the crowd.
"I know he's going to love it," said CGPW promoter Joe Dunlap.
Blake will get to hear the roar of the crowd, the ring of the bell and the thud of bodies being slammed in the ring. That's a big change from just a few short years ago.
Posted @ 3:59 AM
August 16, 2007
Cochlear reports 25% jump in profit
The boss calls it a 25-year-old start up, but to tens of thousands of deaf people it is more likely an institution.
Hearing-implant company Cochlear Ltd reported on Tuesday a full year net profit of $100.13 million, a rise of 25 per cent, while core earnings were up 24 per cent to $107.56 million. Moreover, global sales of Cochlear's implants jumped by 24 per cent on last year, with 15,947 units sold.
After 25 years on the scene, and with continued financial good health, one would think Cochlear had well and truly established itself.
Posted @ 3:02 AM
July 26, 2007
Deaf teen tapping her way to fame
Disability doesn't deter state's Outstanding Teen American from competition. For the next few weeks, Elena LaQuatra, 15, will be spending a lot of time in a dance studio at the Center for Theater Arts in Mt. Lebanon spinning, twirling and tapping like crazy as she prepares for her big day.
Elena was recently named Pennsylvania's Outstanding Teen America when she won the Miss Pennsylvania Scholarship Pageant held in Nazareth, Pa. She's now preparing for the national competition, Miss America's Outstanding Teen Pageant, which will be held Aug. 7-11 in Orlando, Fla.
Posted @ 11:07 AM
Brain may reorganize after implant of cochlear device
Cochlear implants—electronic devices inserted surgically in the ear to allow deaf people to hear—may restore normal auditory pathways in the brain even after many years of deafness.
The results imply that the brain can reorganize sound processing centers or press into service latent ones based on sound stimulation. Jeanne Guiraud, PhD, and colleagues at the University of Lyon, Edouard Herriot University Hospital, and Advanced Bionics, a firm that makes cochlear implants, worked with deaf subjects from 16 to 74 years old and found that younger subjects and those with a shorter history of deafness showed changes that mirrored patterns in people with normal hearing more closely. The results were published in the July 18 Journal of Neuroscience.
Posted @ 11:02 AM
July 22, 2007
Cochlear Implants Bring The Gift Of Sound
Thursday was a life-changing day for Austinites Cory and Kade Walters, two young boys who share what doctors call profound deafness. Parents Christy and K.C. Walters located doctors in Austin who could give their sons the gift of sound.
Doctors gave Kade a cochlear implant when he was 9 months old and at 3, he's getting his second implant activated. His little brother, Cory, had his implant operation a week ago and will hear for the first time Thursday.
Posted @ 7:49 AM
June 19, 2007
Tiny implant shows promise for deaf
An ultra-thin electrode planted in the auditory nerve of the ear may one day offer a superior alternative to cochlear implants for the deaf, researchers say.
A tiny array placed in the auditory nerve of cats transmitted a wide range of sounds to the brain, studies at the University of Michigan`s Kresge Hearing Research Institute found.
Posted @ 9:51 AM
March 27, 2007
Cochlear implants: miracle or an attack on "deaf culture"?
With a miniature computer behind her ear broadcasting signals to an electrode in her ear, Lisa Oliveri felt like there were golf balls bouncing around in her head.
It was an unpleasant feeling and a moment of despair.
A surgeon at Yale-New Haven Hospital had cut a small window in the mastoid bone, behind her ear, and inserted a tiny implant into a snail-shaped structure that translates vibrating air into sound.
Posted @ 7:26 AM
February 24, 2007
Deaf tot given gift of sound
A TODDLER left profoundly deaf after contracting a deadly form of meningitis is set to start hearing sounds again today for the first time in nine months.
The Worcester News reported last year how Cole Forse, who is now two, nearly died last year after contracting pneumococcal meningitis, which leaves half of survivors with permanent disabilities that can be as severe as brain damage, deafness, and cerebral palsy.
Posted @ 5:37 AM
February 8, 2007
Deaf brothers get implants to hear for first time
A Beaver Dam mother said she is grateful and looking forward to experiencing a miracle with her sons -- who will hear sound for the first time on Friday.
The brothers, who are deaf, will have cochlear implants. Mother Brenda Mueller said they are anxious and excited about their new journey.
Posted @ 8:14 AM
January 17, 2007
Belleville toddler may be youngest with cochlear implants
When Liam Collins was born Dec. 15, 2005, at Memorial Hospital in Belleville, his parents Danny and Liz Collins of Belleville were overjoyed. Then a hearing screening showed Liam was profoundly deaf.
"Basically, if he was next to a jet engine, he couldn't hear it," said Danny Collins, 24, a Belleville police officer.
Posted @ 8:44 AM
January 10, 2007
An MP3 player for the deaf
In a twist of fate, Sandy Mintz, an audiologist with medical device designer Advanced Bionics, lost her hearing about 10 years ago. Now, she is working with Samsung to help develop a wireless MP3 system so the deaf can enjoy music.
Posted @ 6:13 AM
January 7, 2007
Ear implant success sparks culture war for deaf
Could the end of sign language for deaf children be in sight? A spate of new studies has shown that profoundly deaf babies who receive cochlear implants in their first year of life develop language and speech skills remarkably close to those of hearing children. Many of the children even learn to sing passably well and function almost flawlessly in the hearing world.
Posted @ 4:48 AM
December 26, 2006
Deaf boy hears thanks to pioneering surgery
Jonathon Vickers, from Bamber Bridge, is one of the first children to undergo a new brain stem operation.
He was 18 months old when he was diagnosed after failing several hearing tests and was referred to a specialist at Manchester Children's Hospital.
Posted @ 7:29 AM
December 18, 2006
A sound idea helps partial hearing loss
Jeanne Yeoman had been dealing with her hearing loss for a couple of decades, but listening still exhausted her. And technology wasn't really helping her patience. She remembers driving down the road one day and coming close to just hurling her hearing aids out the window.
"Hearing aids made everything louder, not clearer," she says. "I didn't need amplification. I needed clarification."
Posted @ 8:24 AM
December 12, 2006
A more sound solution
Jeanne Yeoman had been dealing with her hearing loss for a couple of decades, but listening still exhausted her. And technology wasn't really helping her patience. She remembers driving down the road one day and coming close to just hurling her hearing aids out the window.
Posted @ 5:57 AM
November 14, 2006
Early screening, cochlear implants bring hearing miracles to Utah kids
Hearing loss... It is a serious medical condition, but fortunately new technologies allow doctors to screen infants just hours after they are born. Its called "universal newborn hearing screening" and ABC 4's Doctor Steven Mobley reports on a child whose life was dramatically changed when his hearing loss was caught early and doctor's were able to perform a modern day "bionic ear" surgery.
Posted @ 2:28 PM
October 19, 2006
North Miami author finds hottest fashions among old clothing
She always had a good eye, seeing hot fashion where others saw old clothes. But about the time Madeleine Kirsh launched C. Madeleine's vintage clothing store five years ago, progressive hearing loss rendered her legally deaf.
Posted @ 8:02 AM
October 16, 2006
Implant allows St. Joseph man to hear
Audiologist Kristen Dawson covers her mouth so firefighter Dennis Dornhoffer isn't tempted to read her lips.
As Dawson speaks, electronic pulses are created and sent into the St. Joseph Fire Department captain's brain, activating previously inactive nerves in his inner ear.
Posted @ 4:00 AM
September 25, 2006
Benefit planned for deaf child
If it weren't for the pink miniature hearing aids tucked behind 9-month-old Kynnedi Anderson's ears, no one would ever know she was born deaf. The happy baby girl babbles and coos just as most young toddlers do, but the difference is, Kynnedi can't hear herself. Her world is silent.
Posted @ 5:28 AM
Cochlear implants may open world of sound to the deaf
There's good news for parents who have a child born with significant hearing loss. Advances in technology are making it possible to address profound hearing loss in children as young as 12 months of age.
Posted @ 5:26 AM
July 6, 2006
Earlier cochlear implant, better language
The earlier a deaf infant or toddler receives a cochlear implant, the better his or her spoken language skills at age 3 and a half is, find U.S. researchers. Johanna Grant Nicholas of the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and Ann E. Geers of the Southwestern Medical School at the University of Texas at Dallas tested the spoken language skills of 76 children, all 3 and a half years old, who had cochlear implants and compared those results to the length of time each child had his or her implant.
Posted @ 12:24 AM
June 13, 2006
Cochlear implants changing park district's 'camp sign'
Historically, day camps for deaf kids are rather quiet places. When a soccer goal is scored, for example, the players don't applaud -- they wave their hands and wiggle their fingers. That's changing, though, as more deaf and hard of hearing children are being equipped with cochlear implants, a surgically implanted device that allows them to "hear" through electrical impulses.
Posted @ 5:20 AM
June 8, 2006
$10M music to UI's ears
Craig Watt was in his mid-20s when he first noticed he was losing his hearing. By the time he was 50, he could only recognize 20 to 30 percent of the words spoken to him. Today, Watt, 53, of Iowa City, has better than 90 percent word recognition, the result of a hybrid cochlear implant in his right ear that he received at University Hospitals in November 2004.
Posted @ 7:47 AM
June 5, 2006
Study focuses on cochlear implant placement
Sequential placement of cochlear implants -- electronic devices that can help restore partial hearing to deaf people -- in both a child's ears may help improve speech perception in quiet and noisy settings, a U.S. study finds. The study included 30 children, aged 3 to 13, who received one cochlear implant and then a second in the other ear a minimum of six months later.
Posted @ 5:08 AM
June 1, 2006
Entire family gets the gift of hearing
Amazing advances in medical technology seem to touch families here in the Bay Area every day. Sometimes we hear so much about them that we don't pay much attention to what these advances mean to those they help. Today, three members of one family were the latest to have their lives changed. ABC7's Wayne Freedman has this very special story.
Posted @ 4:43 PM
May 29, 2006
Deaf student overcomes obstacles with personal strength
Lee Anne Davidson does not feel any different than other students at Purdue, even though she faces many obstacles every day. The sophomore in the College of Liberal Arts said she struggles with understanding strangers and professors during lecture, crossing the street and talking on the phone, all things most college students take for granted.
Posted @ 11:19 AM
May 24, 2006
Cochlear implantation in both ears may improve speech perception
A new study suggests that sequential bilateral cochlear implantation, or the placement of cochlear implants in both of a child’s ears through separate surgeries, has the potential to improve speech perception abilities in quiet and in noise. Cochlear implants are electronic devices that have the potential to restore partial hearing to the deaf.
Posted @ 11:04 AM
May 22, 2006
Tonsil removal doesn't hurt cochlear
Cochlear implant device integrity is not compromised by electrosurgery used in removal of tonsils and adenoids, say U.S. researchers. Dr. Patrick J. Antonelli of the University of Florida and Dr. Roxana Baratelli of Tulane University say cochlear implant recipients have been discouraged from having monopolar electrosurgery for ear, nose and throat procedures due to concerns over possible damage to the implant and the auditory neurons.
Posted @ 9:14 AM
May 18, 2006
Deaf man's joy at hearing again
For 43 years the Gibson Way telecoms engineer had managed without hearing in one ear, but when the hearing went in the other, he was plunged into terrifying silence and depression. But now, thanks to a cochlea implant switched on recently, he can hear again.
Posted @ 12:06 PM
May 13, 2006
Cochlear implants allow deaf family to hear
Although Samantha McBride was born deaf, she can hear with the help of a magnet on one side of her head. Her curious kindergarten classmates like to pull the magnet off. "I tell them, 'Don't take it off,' but they keep doing it," the 6-year-old said. "They want to know what it is."
Posted @ 6:37 AM
May 11, 2006
Hear's my boy
When Isaac was born severely to profoundly deaf, his mother thought he'd never attend a regular school. Thanks largely to Blackburn's Taralye oral language centre for deaf children, mum Melinda's dream will come true.
Posted @ 6:22 AM
May 9, 2006
Cochlear implants restore hearing by covering for inner-ear hair loss
Reader response to my recent column about modern hearing aids included an e-mail message from Jeanne Leffers, who recommended that I devote a column to cochlear implants. Leffers had used a hearing aid for more than 30 years before her implant operation.
Posted @ 4:43 AM
May 4, 2006
Children with cochlear implants doing well In mainstream classrooms
The WRAL Health Team has been following the Allen family of Wake Forest since 1999. That's when 7-month-0old Evan Allen was the youngest child in the country to receive a cochlear implant. All three of the Allen children have cochlear implants. Their success hasn't come without a lot of work at school and at home.
Posted @ 7:15 PM
Engineers try to solve playground cochlear implant problem
For some deaf children, a plastic slide is a more formidable foe than the school wedgie-giver. Static electricity buildup from sliding down a plastic slide — instant summertime fun for the hearing set — can temporarily silence the world to cochlear implantees.
Posted @ 7:14 PM
Advances in cochlear implants
About one in a thousand children are born each year with an auditory deficiency that is susceptible to treatment by means of a cochlear implant. A cochlear implant is an electronic device capable of substituting for the external, middle and inner ear, picking up the sound vibrations, transforming them into electrical stimuli and applying them directly to the auditory nerve in such a way that the brain processes this signal in a meaningful manner.
Posted @ 7:13 PM
Cochlear implants become family affair
By 1999, 2-year-old children were the youngest to receive a cochlear implant, but two years of silence put those children far behind others in their ability to speak and understand oral language. That is why the Allen family became national pioneers for earlier implant surgery.
Posted @ 7:11 PM
May 1, 2006
Ear implant was born in Memphis 50 years ago
Shea has since performed the same ear surgery on more than 25,000 patients, while millions worldwide have also had their hearing restored with his invention, an artificial stapes bone. Shea is 81 today, and still performing the same procedure.
Posted @ 1:42 AM
April 26, 2006
Implants help child emerge from silent world
When preschooler Kimberly Hunt was diagnosed as profoundly deaf two years ago, her mother made a choice that seemed like the only one: cochlear implants. The first of two $45,000 electronic sound-transmitting devices was sewn into Kimberly's skull last summer. Within weeks, the child who once didn't respond to slamming doors began to hear.
Posted @ 11:33 AM
April 17, 2006
Helping children hear
Audiologists Ana Dausa and Robert Fifer bring a special sensitivity to the deaf and hearing-impaired children they work with at the Mailman Center for Child Development at the University of Miami. They both recognize that hearing loss affects not just children, but also their families.
Posted @ 5:45 AM
April 15, 2006
Titanium implant lets Shirley hear again
Suddenly, she can hear the stories again. My wife, Shirley, is a self-confident, warm and caring person, and she loved to be with others even after the sudden loss of hearing in her right ear 30 years ago. A few years ago, hearing in her left ear took a dramatic dip, probably because of chronic infections. The gradual loss may have been accelerated by a hearing aid that blocked air from entering the ear canal.
Posted @ 5:48 AM
April 14, 2006
Cochlear receives Medical Design Excellence Award for Nucleus Freedom Implant System
Cochlear today announced that it is the recipient of a 2006 Medical Design Excellence Award. The Medical Design Excellence Awards (MDEA) competition is the premier awards program for the medical technology community, recognizing the achievements of medical product manufacturers and the many people behind the scenes -- engineers, scientists, designers and clinicians -- who are responsible for the groundbreaking innovations that are changing the face of healthcare.
Posted @ 5:55 AM
April 10, 2006
Boy with new cochlear implant can talk and sing
My son Alex told me about his day recently. He played cars with Max and Aidan, sang the "Mr. Sun" song and danced—a typical day for a 2-year-old. His report, however, was anything but routine. It was the first real conversation we had ever had. Alex is hearing-impaired. Every word he utters is hard-won, but his battle got a lot easier a few months ago when he received a cochlear implant.
Posted @ 4:36 AM | TrackBack (0)
March 23, 2006
Cochlear implant opens up Queens boy's world
Jeremy Michaels is a straight-A student at Queens Lutheran School. Last quarter, he made Principal's List and is preparing for high school. He hopes to attend either Stuyvesant or Bronx Science, two of the city's most prestigious and academically demanding secondary schools, and wants to become a scientist.
Posted @ 4:57 AM
March 22, 2006
Regents urge unified plan for university economic development
Iowa does not fully capitalize on the technologies developed at its three public universities, or how they could aid Iowa's economic development, members of the state Board of Regents said Tuesday. One regent, Tom Bedell of Spirit Lake, said Iowa should consider whether to require companies that want to build and market technology developed at the universities to build an Iowa plant. They would agree to produce the devices in exchange for the technology license.
Posted @ 5:03 AM
March 16, 2006
10-month-old receives two cochlear implants at NYU Center
After spending all 10 months of his life in utter silence, Lawrence Goldfeld heard sound for the first time on Tuesday. And it was terrifying. Sitting in a highchair in a small examination room at NYU’s medical center, Lawrence, in a striped polo shirt and khaki pants, chewed contentedly on rubber building blocks.
Posted @ 4:30 AM
March 15, 2006
Cochlear implant may help profoundly deaf
A cochlear implant is a device for severely-to-profoundly deaf people who do not benefit from traditional hearing aids. It's designed to produce hearing sensations by electrically stimulating nerves inside the inner ear.
Posted @ 5:24 AM
March 13, 2006
Cochlear implants aim for age-related loss
Cochlear implants may not be just for the profoundly deaf anymore: Iowa scientists are developing the next generation, a "hybrid implant" to combine the best of bionics with regular hearing aids for age-related hearing loss. If it works - and early study results are promising - it one day may help thousands of older Americans whose hearing is progressively fading. The key difference: Unlike regular cochlear implants, the hybrid model would let people keep their natural music appreciation even as it helps them hear speech more clearly again.
Posted @ 4:54 PM
March 11, 2006
Cochlear gains 14% thanks to rival's woes
Shares in hearing implant maker Cochlear surged almost 14 per cent on Friday after its major rival in the US was forced to recall a product.Advanced Bionics, a subsidiary of Boston Scientific Corp, has urged doctors in the US and Europe to return the yet-to-be implanted hearing aid, HiRes 90K, due to the possibility of malfunction from moisture in its circuitry.
Posted @ 4:50 PM
Cochlear gains 14% thanks to rival's woes
Shares in hearing implant maker Cochlear surged almost 14 per cent on Friday after its major rival in the US was forced to recall a product.Advanced Bionics, a subsidiary of Boston Scientific Corp, has urged doctors in the US and Europe to return the yet-to-be implanted hearing aid, HiRes 90K, due to the possibility of malfunction from moisture in its circuitry.
Posted @ 4:50 PM
March 7, 2006
Cochlear implants
A cochlear implant is a hearing device that gets sound to the brain when a deaf ear can't. A new study shows why it's critically important for children born deaf to receive the implants sooner rather than later.
Posted @ 6:18 AM
March 5, 2006
Kaiser fills high-tech demand
Joyce Bonner has relied on Kaiser Permanente for her health care the past 40 years. Except for the birth of her third son, at the Morse Avenue hospital 36 years ago, most of her doctor's visits have been routine - the kind of preventive maintenance for which the health care giant is best known.
Posted @ 4:03 AM
March 3, 2006
Ear implants: Patients can hear you now
Once children who were born with malformed ears would have been sentenced to a lifetime of deafness or at least greatly reduced hearing. Now, doctors are able to build what nature does not. Imagine life like TV with the sound turned down, especially if you're 7 years old. Jacob Ferchau knows.
Posted @ 12:37 PM
February 19, 2006
Deaf find implants help break silence
For Jodie Rodrigues, deafness was akin to being under water. Actually, it felt more like being a bug in a jar. "You know when you take a cup and put it over a bug?" she asked Saturday. "When you're seeing things but you don't get what's going on? I felt like that bug." Rodrigues, 31, of Denver, was born deaf. Today, she can hear, thanks to a cochlear implant. The device, surgically placed under the skin behind the ear, carries sound to the inner ear and directly stimulates the auditory nerve.
Posted @ 1:16 PM
February 18, 2006
Seminar offers insights to cochlear implants, speech
Tina Sleyster, owner of North Idaho Speech & Language Associates in Sandpoint, recently attended a two-day seminar in Boise on the topic of cochlear implants. The seminar, which was sponsored by the state of Idaho Infant & Toddler program and School for the Deaf and Blind, focused on the importance of early intervention for children with hearing impairment and deafness as well as techniques for stimulating auditory perception for speech in infants and toddlers.
Posted @ 8:42 AM
February 17, 2006
Girl learning to speak after cochlear implant
A Western Maryland toddler is learning how to hear after getting a cochlear implant. Ashley Ober's family said the technology is helping change the 2-year-old's life. "I never thought I'd be so excited that my kid would say 'Poo' or 'Ba,'" said Lynn Ober, Ashley's mother. Until now, Ashley communicated with her family only through sign language. Ashley is just learning to speak because she's just learning to hear.
Posted @ 11:04 AM
February 9, 2006
First simultaneous cochlear implant operation for WA
A 25-year-old man will undergo Western Australia's first ever simultaneous bilateral cochlear implant operation on Thursday 9 February at St John of God Hospital in Subiaco. Danny Clarke will have two cochlear hearing devices implanted in both his ears at the same time. Danny, who became a successful search and rescue helicopter air crewman despite losing his hearing in his right ear due to a fall at the age of 11, became permanently deaf last year after being attacked by a stranger after a night out with friends.
Posted @ 7:07 AM
Family hopes auction will raise funds to give deaf boy cochlear implant
A Colorado Springs couple is hoping an auction will help introduce their 20-month-old son to the world of sound. Aidan Davies was born profoundly deaf; the first hint anything was wrong came during a newborn screening test, said his mother, Rebecca Davies. “We’ve gone through a lot of tests and we’ve tried hearing aids, and our doctor recommended a cochlear implant,” said Rebecca Davies.
Posted @ 7:06 AM
February 8, 2006
Scheckter raises more than $30,000 through raffle
IndyCar Series driver Tomas Scheckter’s raffle to help pay for his cousin’s cochlear implant surgery raised more than $30,000 with Sasenndra Meka from Huntsville, Ala. winning an autographed 2004 Panther Racing helmet. “My progress has been remarkable,” Jaki Scheckter told Panther Racing’s website. “I’m used to (hearing) noise, but still need to understand speech sounds so I can be comfortable to listen. Still a long way to go. It may take up to a year before I’m comfortable listening to speech.”
Posted @ 7:36 AM
February 7, 2006
New cochlear implant could improve hearing
A ribbon-like cochlear implant developed at the University of Michigan could greatly improve hearing for profoundly deaf patients, and simplify insertion to help surgeons minimize damage to healthy ear tissue. A team led by U-M's Kensall D. Wise, director of the NSF Engineering Research Center for Wireless Integrated Microsystems (WIMS), made the implant using thin-film electrode sites that directly stimulate the auditory nerve.
Posted @ 8:39 AM
FDA warns of cochlear implant risks
Children with an early version of the cochlear implant face an increased risk of bacterial meningitis beyond just the first two years following implantation of the hearing devices, the Food and Drug Administration warned Monday. The increased risk means the young implant patients should be monitored as long as the electronic devices are in place for signs of the sometime fatal infection of the fluid surrounding the brain and spinal cord.
Posted @ 8:37 AM
February 4, 2006
Deaf Long Island girl learning to hear
A cochlear implant was activated Friday and now a 4-year-old girl is learning how to hear. 1010 WINS reporter Mona Rivera was at the hospital as Adriana Figlia started to hear her first sounds through her cochlear implant. Listen to Mona Rivera's report here. Adriana was born seven weeks premature and was immediately diagnosed as being profoundly deaf.
Posted @ 7:57 AM
February 1, 2006
One family, four cochlear implants
A Rochester, New York, family of four all received cochlear implants during one week in 2004. As “Deaf community” members, how do their experiences compare with those of other cochlear implant users? The Matchetts tell their story. Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester, New York, hit the jackpot when Douglas and Mary Karol Matchett and both their children, Kara and Scott, all received cochlear implants over one week in March 2004. Kara was nine and Scott 11 when they received their implants.
Posted @ 4:19 PM
January 31, 2006
Helping him hear
Every day holds a discovery for Austin Top. A world of sound has emerged for the 4-year-old since he received a second hearing implant in December. Now the Valley Springs boy can be seen leaning into his glass of soda, transfixed by the fizzing noise. He laughs with his sister. And, best of all, he can hear his mom say "I love you" without turning his head to read her lips.
Posted @ 5:18 PM
January 27, 2006
Bob Turk speaks to kids about cochlear implants
Last summer WJZ'S Bob Turk went to doctors to get a life-changing cochlear implant. This week he spoke with a younger group who shares his story. Bob shares something in common with each of the kids at the Hearing and Speech Agency in Baltimore--cochlear implants. Before his procedure Bob was almost clinically deaf. He explained to the kids how far he's come.
Posted @ 5:56 AM
January 20, 2006
What a cochlear implant is and statistics on hearing disorders
According to the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communications Disorders (NIDCD), a cochlear implant is a small, complex electronic device that can help to provide a sense of sound to a person who is profoundly deaf or severely hard of hearing. The implant is surgically placed under the skin behind the ear.
Posted @ 10:53 AM
January 17, 2006
MRI best for cochlear implant diagnosis
For determining the correct type and method of cochlear implant surgery, MRI examination of the inner ear works better than the more widely used high resolution CT scanning, researchers conclude. Cochlear implants enable people with congenital hearing loss to perceive sound. Before surgery to install the implants, doctors view either MRI or CT images to check for abnormalities in the inner ear, the condition of related nerves, and obstructions in the ear ducts.
Posted @ 11:16 AM
January 13, 2006
Amazing technology lets little boy hear the world
A relatively new medical breakthrough changes the life of a south Georgia toddler. Landon Mosley was born deaf. In August, his mother made a tough decision to send Landon, who's now almost three, into surgery to receive a cochlear implant. A cochlear implant is surgically implanted in the inner ear and activated by a device worn outside the ear.
Posted @ 8:44 AM
January 11, 2006
MRIs better at diagnosing needs for "bionic ear" implants
Magnetic resonance imaging is a better diagnostic tool for cochlear ear implants than the more commonly used high-resolution computed tomography, a UT Southwestern study shows. A cochlear implant, sometimes called a "bionic ear," allows patients with congenital hearing loss to bypass the problem and again perceive sound. Surgeons conduct radiologic studies using either an MRI or CT scan prior to implantation to determine abnormalities in the inner ear, conditions of related nerves and any obstructions in the ear ducts.
Posted @ 9:42 AM
January 10, 2006
Age barriers soften for cochlear implants
At both ends of the age spectrum, the market for cochlear implantation is expanding. For children, the Food and Drug Administration has lowered the age limit to one year -- it was two years in 1980 -- on the strength of studies showing early implantation aids in the development of oral communication. Richard Miyamoto, president-elect of the American Academy of Otolaryngology, has implanted kids as young as 6 months old in clinical studies.
Posted @ 8:02 AM
Wired for sound
One afternoon in 1999, Denise Portis's son Christopher fell and hurt himself badly. But Portis didn't answer his cries. The reason: She couldn't hear him. Since age 27, she'd been living with a profound and progressive hearing loss, its cause unknown. She thought she'd adapted. Then the incident with Christopher "shook my world," the Frederick woman recalls.
Posted @ 7:57 AM
January 5, 2006
Surgery opens sounds of the world and an opportunity to help for Sevierville woman
At midnight on New Year's Eve, Imogene Suttles of Sevierville went out onto her front porch to listen for fireworks in the neighborhood. "I didn't hear anything, but I think it was because I was the only one in the neighborhood who was up that late," said Suttles.
Posted @ 8:11 AM
December 30, 2005
A gift heard loud and clear
For Adriana Figlia, 4, the big moment came when she held up her drawing before a battery of cameras. Her signed crayon rendition of mountains, a tree and a big heart was a thank you to the philanthropist who had given her the gift of hearing.
Posted @ 1:02 PM
December 29, 2005
Implant gives hope to local family
The sound of a child's first words fill any household with joy. A Brockville-area couple robbed of that delight when their home fell silent after their daughter, then 14 months old, went deaf in May now have a chance to relive it.
Posted @ 1:48 PM | Comments (1)
December 28, 2005
Implants right choice for some, not for others
Steven Boyce enjoys silence, solitude and being alone with his thoughts. "I'm used to it, and I'm comfortable with it," he said. He might not always hear the crowd cheer for him as he shoots the game-winning basket, or the sound of his opponent hitting the mat as the second-degree black belt delivers a blow - but he likes it that way.
Posted @ 12:43 AM
December 24, 2005
That sounds good
A University of Oklahoma associate scientist is working to develop the world's first hearing aid that would be completely implanted within one's head. Huh?
Posted @ 10:58 AM
December 22, 2005
Cochlear implants in the elderly
A new study offers encouraging news for older individuals suffering from profound hearing loss. When compared to younger patients who received cochlear implants, patients older than age 75 showed no reduction in ability to hear with the device.
Posted @ 10:37 AM
Two ears for Christmas
The sound of children laughing and playing outside, the Christmas music on the radio, the excitement and joy in everyone's voice as they wish you a Merry Christmas. These are all sounds of the Christmas season that most people take for granted everyday.
Posted @ 10:28 AM
December 20, 2005
Elderly benefit from cochlear implants
Age should not influence the selection of patients for multichannel cochlear implants because even elderly patients can benefit from this device, researcher here reported.
Posted @ 10:09 AM
December 18, 2005
Deaf Stuart woman tries to regain her hearing
Everybody was crammed into a little room at the University of Miami's Cochlear Implant Center. Nobody could see the implant, of course. That little $90,000 triumph of science was already embedded in Robin Peterson's right inner ear.
Posted @ 8:37 AM
December 17, 2005
Janesville woman gets hearing implant
Dominic Martinelli said something Friday that made his mother cry. "Hi mom," the 13-year-old said. Kate Martinelli, 43, was hearing her son speak for the first time.
Posted @ 7:45 AM
Ear implant gives woman hearing for first time ever
Madison: Kate Martinelli has been severely hearing impaired all her life. She'd never really heard the voices of her Mom, her siblings, her husband or her kids. All that changed Friday.
Posted @ 7:44 AM | Comments (1)
December 13, 2005
Cochlear Americas announces medicare coverage for Baha hearing system
Cochlear Americas has announced that the Baha(R) system, an osseointegrated auditory implant system, is now covered by Medicare under a new policy issued by Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).
Posted @ 7:11 AM
December 12, 2005
Bionic ear transformed Royer's life
Michael Royer blends in with the crowds filling the Metro trains each morning in the suburbs of Washington, D.C. He carries an iPod and listens to music or recordings of sermons that he downloads from his church's Web site. "It's very easy to do — just download the audio file and put it in into your iTunes program," he said.
Posted @ 6:03 AM
December 9, 2005
Static from plastic slides can drop deaf children back into silence
Six-year-old Taylor Zinderski slid down a plastic slide and slipped into silence. It was October at a church playground. Taylor, deaf for almost two years, ran to her father. She told him her cochlear implant - an electronic device that lets her hear - had suddenly fizzled.
Posted @ 7:39 AM
December 8, 2005
Boy meets a world of sound
Twenty-month-old Jordan Dyer sat at the end of a long table at the Northeast Ear Institute on Tuesday, blissfully eating a chocolate chip cookie as audiologist Sharon Rende rang bells behind his head.
Posted @ 7:11 AM
December 6, 2005
Sooner is better with cochlear implants
Cochlear implants allow the deaf to hear. Their brains learn to understand the artificial electrical stimulation that the implants provide to the cochlea as sound.
Posted @ 11:43 AM
December 5, 2005
Cochlear implant clues
A study in cats demonstrates how cochlear implants in very young animals allow them to develop normal nerve fibers to transmit sound and restore hearing by reversing damage to the brain's hearing network.
Posted @ 12:11 PM
December 2, 2005
How cochlear implants help restore hearing
Scientists say they've discovered why the electronic hearing devices called cochlear implants restore hearing for some, but not others. It's a finding that could help reopen the world of sound for many deaf people.
Posted @ 5:36 AM
December 1, 2005
Cochlear implants prevent or reverse damage to brain’s auditory nerve system
New research at Johns Hopkins has clearly demonstrated the ability of cochlear implants in very young animals to forge normal nerve fibers that transmit sound and to restore hearing by reversing or preventing damage to the brain’s auditory system.
Posted @ 11:33 PM
South Valley Hospital offering cochlear impants
It's something a lot of people fear as they grow older — losing their hearing. As many as 28 million Americans have a hearing impairment.
Posted @ 11:31 PM
November 24, 2005
Florence assistant coach enjoys a whole new world of hearing
Karen Hegarty awoke one morning last fall to find her husband staring out their bedroom window with a quizzical look on his face. "Is everything all right?" Karen asked. Dan Hegarty scratched his head.
Posted @ 3:58 PM
November 23, 2005
'Ear implants restored my hearing'
Joshua Foreman, 14, was born profoundly deaf. He now has a cochlear implant fitted in each of his ears, and was one of the first people to have two implants fitted. The implants send electronic impulses of sound past his damaged auditory nerves to his brain, letting him hear again. Here is his story...
Posted @ 3:21 PM
A cyborg explores what it means to be human
When 40-year-old Michael Chorost decided to get a cochlear implant, a device that uses a computer chip implanted in the brain to process auditory signals, he knew it would change the way he would perceive sound — and the way he would perceive himself.
Posted @ 3:17 PM
November 22, 2005
Cochlear implant hearing devices
Fifteen years after cochlear implants were approved by the Food and Drug Administration, many people are just starting to learn about the devices and the sound they bring to those living in a world of silence.
Posted @ 3:14 PM
November 17, 2005
Cochlear implants and transhumanism
How Becoming Part Computer Made Me More Human, spoke at the Institute. Below are my notes from the talk (which haven't been vetted by the author, so all caveats apply--- quotes are approximate, and you should assume that the overall shape of these notes reflects my attention and interpretation, not what Mike actually said or meant).
Posted @ 7:20 PM
Cochlear implants and music
For 30 years, cochlear implants have been giving the profoundly deaf the ability to hear. New technology is now allowing them to bring music back into their lives.
Posted @ 7:18 PM
November 13, 2005
Teen proves hearing implants really do work
It's hard for Kellie McCleery, 18, to describe how it felt to re-enter the world of sound. But 11 years ago, when doctors fired up the cochlear implant they had surgically placed under the skin behind her ear and neurons that lay dormant were called back into action, her world forever changed.
Posted @ 11:30 AM
November 12, 2005
Surgery gives gift of hearing
Despite having a bevy of hearing aids and a phone so loud that the voice on the other end could be heard from the back yard, Donna Waldrum couldn't hear what she wants to the most: her great-grandchildren.
Posted @ 2:29 PM
November 8, 2005
Cochlear's Swedish know-how on show
As far as celebrity endorsements go, they don't get much better than this. The Australian hearing implant maker Cochlear will receive the royal treatment this week after a personal request from Her Majesty, Queen Silvia of Sweden, to inspect its technology.
Posted @ 10:35 AM
November 4, 2005
Four-year-old undergoes live cochlear implant surgery at Delhi hospital
Four-and-half year-old Pooja Shah underwent a unique and technically difficult cochlear implant surgery at the Army's Research and Referral Hospital in New Delhi on Friday.
Posted @ 1:23 PM
October 31, 2005
Cochlear's Roberts says double-implants to help drive growth
Cochlear Ltd. Chief Executive Chris Roberts said more patients opting to have two, rather than just one, of the company's inner-ear hearing implants will help drive earnings growth.
Posted @ 7:30 AM
October 30, 2005
Sounds like heaven
A day after doctors at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary turned on a cochlear implant in his right ear, Jacob Waring was in school Friday, hearing his classmates' voices for the first time.
Posted @ 5:25 AM
October 20, 2005
Cochlear sales to lift on implant uptake
Cochlear Ltd believes sales of its hearing implants could get an extra boost in the next few years as an increasing number of patients elect to have a device in both ears.
Posted @ 2:22 PM
October 19, 2005
Former Miss Deaf Indiana to get cochlear implant
Amber Kay is a former Miss Deaf Indiana, but very soon she may be able to hear. Amber, who has been deaf since she was a child, looks at pictures from the pageant. "It was nice to go out there and show, ‘I'm deaf but look at me; I can do anything anybody can do,’" she said. It's been six years since Amber won the title of Miss Deaf Indiana.
Posted @ 1:04 AM
October 18, 2005
Welcome to the world of sound
Pueblo grandmother hearing words for the first time after undergoing cochlear implant surgery. She lost most of her hearing to an infection at age 4. Within a couple years, she was sent home from a deaf and blind school. She had been deemed unteachable.
Posted @ 3:16 AM
October 12, 2005
A Junior Miss succeeds big
When Ashley Quintavalle, 13, Otsego, was named her community’s first Junior Miss last month, it was another crowning achievement for a young lady who has already accomplished — and overcome — a lot in her life.
Posted @ 2:02 AM
October 1, 2005
Infant hearing screening
A Pittsburgh boy has become the 100th patient at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh to receive a cochlear implant, a tiny device implanted in the skull that will allow him to hear.
Posted @ 3:45 PM
September 30, 2005
Devices help people with dual hearing loss
People with different degrees of hearing loss in both ears can achieve good outcomes by using a device called a cochlear implant in their worse-hearing ear.
Posted @ 4:55 AM
September 27, 2005
New cochlear implant surgery safer, less invasive
Cochlear implants have restored or improved hearing for thousands. And now researchers say they've developed a minimally invasive cochlear implantation (MICI) procedure that reduces risks of complications compared with the traditional technique.
Posted @ 12:48 AM
September 26, 2005
Less invasive cochlear implantation
A cochlear implant provides useful hearing and improved communication ability for people who have profound to total hearing loss. However, a less invasive implant could reduce complications caused by the traditional procedure, according to a new study.
Posted @ 8:35 AM
September 23, 2005
Minimally invasive cochlear implantation offers benefits over traditional procedure
Researchers in Texas propose minimally invasive cochlear implantation as a technique in which creation of a large scalp flap is avoided, thereby reducing complications. The most common complications with cochlear implantation involve flap breakdown and electrode misplacement.
Posted @ 5:36 PM
September 15, 2005
Cochlear implant to repair hearing loss for teenager
Jacob Waring is as ready as anybody can be. So is Dana Waring, who with the help of so many in the community has made repeated trips to Boston, trying to help her deaf son. The big day is at hand.
Posted @ 4:33 PM
September 10, 2005
Cochlear Americas donates batteries and funding to Hurricane Katrina Relief Effort
Cochlear Americas is reaching out to victims of Hurricane Katrina by donating batteries for cochlear implant sound processors. The company also is showing support during this terrible tragedy by matching donations made by Cochlear employees and customers to organizations assisting with providing basic life necessities to these victims.
Posted @ 1:03 AM
Cochlear implants' performance not affected by amount of hearing loss in the implanted ear
There is growing evidence that the amount of hearing in an ear prior to surgery is unrelated to a patient's ability to interpret speech using an implant, says Howard W. Francis, M.D., lead author of the study and an associate professor of otolaryngology-head and neck surgery.
Posted @ 12:56 AM
September 9, 2005
Help for the hearing impaired
Hearing the birds chirp or the wind blow is something many of us take for granted. But for one man, those simple sounds mean everything.
Posted @ 3:22 AM
September 6, 2005
Cochlear implants: Any ear will do
Ever wonder whether the good ear or the bad ear should get the cochlear implant? It turns out that it doesn't matter, which is good news for the hard of hearing, according to researchers at Johns Hopkins.
Posted @ 11:15 PM
September 2, 2005
Cochlear implants’ performance not affected by amount of hearing loss
Hearing-impaired individuals with severe to profound hearing loss and poor speech understanding who possess some residual hearing in one ear may experience significant communication benefit from a cochlear implant even if it is placed in the worse-hearing ear, a Johns Hopkins study suggests.
Posted @ 8:15 AM
September 1, 2005
Ear implant changes life for educator
Mild-mannered Sharon Hobbs had become a master of reading human emotions. That's not the trademark skill of a superhero, but it was a somewhat astonishing feat she used to manage in a world where her hearing was failing her.
Posted @ 12:13 AM
August 30, 2005
Cochlear implant fills her heart with music
Mary Beth Green still remembers a life-altering experience she had while watching a PBS program six years ago. "There was this Irish tenor on TV," Green recalled, "and he touched my heart."
Posted @ 2:37 AM
August 29, 2005
MED-EL Corporation's revolutionary cochlear implant system offers highly sophisticated hearing capabilities to profoundly deaf
MED-EL Corporation, an implantable hearing technology firm, today introduced the revolutionary PULSARCI100, which offers some of the most highly advanced cochlear implant technology available in the United States.
Posted @ 2:35 AM
August 28, 2005
Device offers a sound solution
The first time Brandon Lane heard the sound of a mandolin, he had no idea what it was. "My church had an organ," Lane said. "That was about the only music I’d ever heard because they played it loud enough."
Posted @ 1:23 PM
August 19, 2005
Devices reopen world of sound to deaf people
In September, Joyce and Glenn Atchison celebrated their 20th wedding anniversary with a walk around Clemens Gardens.
Posted @ 9:56 AM
August 15, 2005
Cochlear expected to book strong result
Hearing implant firm Cochlear Ltd is expected to book a strong annual profit for fiscal 2005, largely driven by new product releases.
Posted @ 1:22 PM
August 6, 2005
From a silent world to the miracle of sound
Until May, 31/2-year-old Peyton Jones had lived much of his life in a world without the sound of his parents' voices or his own, where the monster trucks he loves to watch were powered by mute engines and his favorite cartoon characters never uttered an audible word.
Posted @ 4:23 PM
August 5, 2005
Cochlear implant surgery first step in 30-year-old's quest for independence
Greg York has a goal: He wants to move out of his parents' home and live independently. That move might seem overdue for a 30-year-old, but there's a reason Greg has not yet taken the plunge: He has been struggling since birth to overcome profound hearing loss, which progressed to deafness after he suffered irreparable sensorial hearing loss due to a genetic condition.
Posted @ 12:20 PM
Desperate mom fears for deaf Tiana's future
Heartbreak mom Delah van Eck scrimped to save the R1200 to take her "profoundly deaf" daughter to Cape Town's Tygerberg Hospital for tests.
Posted @ 12:14 PM
August 3, 2005
Double ear implants eyed
Boston Scientific Corp. yesterday said it would sponsor a California Ear Institute study that will determine whether two bionic ear implants are better than one in treating children who are born deaf.
Posted @ 1:18 PM
August 2, 2005
14-month-old twins will hear for the first time with initial activation of bilateral cochlear implants
Boston Scientific Corporation (NYSE: BSX - News) today announced the initial activation of bilateral cochlear implants for 14-month-old identical-twin girls at the California Ear Institute (CEI) in Palo Alto, California.
Posted @ 4:10 PM
July 29, 2005
New implant being used at Driscoll Childrens Hospital
A 9-year-old girl from the Valley visited Driscoll Childrens Hospital Wednesday where she was able to hear sound for the first time, thanks to a new cochlear implant.
Posted @ 12:24 AM
July 25, 2005
Child no longer deaf to the world
Ten years ago Charmane Howard watched a documentary on the Discovery Channel about a deaf boy and his ear implant that always stuck with her.
Posted @ 12:30 PM
July 21, 2005
Computer implants aid hearing, walking
When it comes to relying on technology for help completing everyday tasks, most people depend on the kind they can leave behind.
Posted @ 12:48 AM
July 18, 2005
Briscoe debuts latest novel since surgery restored her hearing
A popular and prolific writer, Ellicott City's Connie Briscoe has published five novels since 1995. She was profoundly deaf when she wrote her first four.
Posted @ 10:03 AM
July 16, 2005
Device helps 12-year-old hear clearly for first time
It was an emotional moment for Jeanie Reinthaler Friday when a sound processor attached to her head allowed her to hear clearly for the first time in her life.
Posted @ 10:55 AM
July 15, 2005
The sound of freedom
For a mother, there is nothing like listening to the babbling of her child. But what if the child is hearing and speech impaired. With advances in technology, these problems can easily be overcome.
Posted @ 1:54 AM
July 14, 2005
'Listen and speak up' helps preschoolers with hearing impairments
Preschoolers can be enthusiastic learners, and it's no different for the 2- to 5-year-olds in the "Listen and Speak Up" program at the University of Iowa Wendell Johnson Speech and Hearing Clinic.
Posted @ 1:16 AM
July 11, 2005
Westerly boy hears again, thanks to ear implant
Four-year-old Peyton had the sense of hearing when he was born and also as he began walking and talking. He had just turned three in mid-October when his parents, Angela and Bob Jones, noticed he had stopped saying a few familiar words. The little boy did not respond when they spoke to him.
Posted @ 12:02 AM
July 10, 2005
'Gift of sound' feted by Baystate
Some four dozen people, thankful hearing-loss patients and their families, celebrated "the gift of sound" at the second annual reunion of cochlear implant patients yesterday at Baystate Medical Center's Chestnut Conference Center.
Posted @ 12:07 PM
A new chapter
A popular and prolific writer, Ellicott City's Connie Briscoe has published five novels since 1995. Yet she was profoundly deaf when she wrote her first four.
Posted @ 12:05 AM
July 8, 2005
Surgeon's knife brings music to deaf ballerina
A young ballerina who dances yet has never heard music or anything else since birth, may soon overcome the disability thanks to surgery being done in a local hospital.
Posted @ 1:47 AM
Beautiful noise
A symphony exploded inside Beth Spencer's head Wednesday as the 28-year-old heard sounds missed since she was a teen.
Posted @ 1:44 AM
June 30, 2005
Deaf tot hears parents for first time
Ever since their son was born nearly deaf 19 months ago, Chris and Christina Edwards have yearned that he hear them whisper his Hungarian name, which sounds like "Casey."
Posted @ 12:07 PM
Hi, I'm bionic
Humans can't seem to agree on what cyborgs want. Some say freedom; others say feelings. Still others say cyborgs won't rest until they've assimilated mankind into an empire of biomachines.
Posted @ 12:05 PM
June 28, 2005
Cochlear implant reunion scheduled at UI hospitals and clinics
Patients who have received cochlear implants for the treatment of hearing loss will attend a special reunion and picnic at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics from 12:30 to 4:30 p.m. Saturday, July 9.
Posted @ 12:49 AM
June 26, 2005
Implants help deaf students learn
The slight, dark-haired youngster stood in a Skane School hallway, attempting a farewell to a visitor. He seemed to mouth some words, then, his facial muscles struggling, he said: "Bye ... bye."
Posted @ 8:26 PM
June 18, 2005
Child entertainer sings praises of new hearing aid treatment
Children's entertainer Bram Morrison is one of the first Canadians to test a new high-tech hearing device for one-sided deafness.
Posted @ 10:49 AM
June 13, 2005
The Man with the bionic ear
On July 7, 2001, 36-year-old Michael Chorost was renting a car at the Reno, Nevada airport when the nearby traffic suddenly sounded fuzzy. Chorost initially thought the problem was with his hearing aids; he had been born with damaged hearing due to a rubella epidemic in 1964.
Posted @ 6:08 AM
June 11, 2005
'Miracle' helps toddler to hear
The parents of a girl who was born deaf have thanked surgeons for the "miracle" they performed. After an operation to implant an electronic listening device in her ear, Ava Osker is well on the way to recovery.
Posted @ 6:37 AM
Cochlear implant gave local boy opportunity to hear
Heath Turney flips open his cell phone and brings it to his right ear. Quickly, he tells the caller he'll call them right back. He's getting his picture made and can't talk at the moment.
Posted @ 6:35 AM
June 7, 2005
Gift of hearing for heartache children
Deaf children in Bahrain were promised new hope yesterday by Health Minister Dr Nada Haffadh.She promised that a newly re-started cochlear implant programme for deaf children would not only continue, but would be extended to include adults.
Posted @ 4:02 AM
June 2, 2005
Hearing innovation means Len is all ears
Imagine never hearing a sound as simple as your fingers tapping on a computer keyboard or the rustle of a newspaper.
Posted @ 3:40 PM
MED-EL Corporation launches revolutionary cochlear implant in Canada
RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. -- MED-EL Corporation, a North American implantable hearing technology firm, announced today that it has received approval to distribute a revolutionary cochlear implant system - the PULSARCI100 into the Canadian market.
Posted @ 3:34 PM
June 1, 2005
Operation lets Samantha hear
Samantha Haupert doesn’t take the sound of a howling dog for granted. She actually enjoys the sound. She also enjoys the sounds of piano keys striking a cord, even if it’s out of tune.
Posted @ 7:03 AM
May 31, 2005
Cochlear waiting list to be alleviated
The current waiting list for cochlear implants is set to be alleviated, the Health Service Executive (HSE) has announced. It has approved additional funding of €500,000 for 2005 to deal with this.
Posted @ 2:16 AM
May 29, 2005
Luis' language
Luis Hernandez, 5, sits quietly at a table in the middle of the classroom with a big red pencil in his hand, focused intently on a worksheet containing words ending with "ot." Pot, hot, tot, cot, dot, knot. He looks at the pictures, the words, then writes each word twice.
Posted @ 2:15 AM
May 27, 2005
Cochlear unveils new implant
Australian hearing implant developer Cochlear has unveiled a new implant system it says will revolutionise the lives of the hearing impaired.
Posted @ 6:55 AM
May 26, 2005
Hosp gets hearing aid
The sound of a slamming door could make any infant jump. But not Alannah Pearce.
Posted @ 6:57 AM
May 24, 2005
New hope for deaf children
Deaf children are being given new hope, thanks to the development of the cochlear implant surgery, says a visiting Indian specialist.
Posted @ 2:03 PM
New York Times bestselling author Connie Briscoe has hearing restored with cochlear implant
Bestselling fiction author Connie Briscoe became profoundly deaf at age 30. Two years ago, she had cochlear implant surgery and most of her hearing was restored. This spring and summer she travels across the country for the first time without an interpreter as she promotes her fifth novel, "Can't Get Enough."
Posted @ 1:57 PM
May 23, 2005
Parents face hard choices for hearing-impaired kids
Two Phoenix area families each awoke one day to the same news: They have a deaf child. With that, they had to make education choices in a time when technology has given parents more options.
Posted @ 10:27 AM
Cochlear implants for kids
Sounds of birds chirping, car horns and a mother's voice might not be lost forever to a deaf child. A cochlear implant might help.
Posted @ 10:24 AM
May 19, 2005
Awaiting the sounds of life
A door slams shut, a dog barks, a baby coos and a brother laughs at the blaring TV. All are sounds of life.
Posted @ 10:04 AM
May 18, 2005
Pusan workers give more than $1,200 for hearing aid implant for orphan
PYONGTAEK, South Korea — Employees of the U.S. Army’s Pusan Storage Facility have raised more than $1,200 toward helping a South Korean boy get high-tech hearing aid implant surgery, officials said Monday.
Posted @ 9:00 AM
May 16, 2005
Implant switches on a new world of sound
For most of his life, David Moores could sit outside on a sunny spring day and enjoy the sight of colorful flowers, the scent of jasmine and the sight of children running and playing.
Posted @ 9:59 AM
May 14, 2005
They can't hear, but these two can run
Following the conclusion of Friday's O-K Red Metro Conference track and field meet, Josh Hembrough of Forest Hills Northern and Casey Schneider of Grandville met in the infield, shook hands and smiled.
Posted @ 6:40 AM
May 13, 2005
Latest cochlear implant technology launched in India
The latest cochlear implant technology, Contour Advance, recently introduced in India, is specifically designed to protect the small and delicate cochlea structures during surgery.
Posted @ 12:53 PM
Younger is better when implanting cochlear implants
Deaf children who receive cochlear implants do better learning language and speech the younger they receive the implants, according to research by scientists at Indiana University School of Medicine.
Posted @ 7:58 AM
May 11, 2005
Cochlear implant comes full circle for implant user
A cochlear implant at age of 21 gave Chad Ruffin the gift of sound. Almost six years