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Published by
Australian Academy
of Science
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Cochlear implants – wiring for sound
Box 3 | The bionic ear industry
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The cochlear implant industry is an Australian success story.
The cochlear implant market has grown strongly in recent years and this growth is expected to continue. An Australian-based company, Cochlear Limited, is the world market leader with over 16,000 of approximately 19,000 cochlear implant users worldwide using the Australian device.
Growth of the industry is backed by research and development conducted
in Australia and overseas. In Australia, the Cooperative Research Centre for Cochlear
Implant, Speech and Hearing Research, the Bionic Ear Institute, the University of Melbourne Department of Otolaryngology and the Human Communication
Research Centre are all involved in cochlear implant research. Ongoing research aims to:
- improve the cochlear implant by increasing understanding of
how electrical stimulation by the cochlear implant is perceived
by the users, and how best to present speech information to them;
- minimise the impact of noise on the clarity of the speech
signal provided by the cochlear implant;
- maximise the benefit that young children gain from the cochlear
implant;
- improve the understanding of how the auditory nerve fibres
and brain respond to the electrical stimulation of the cochlear
implant, including the testing of newer modes of electrical stimulation;
- develop new speech processing strategies through computer
simulations of the response of the auditory system to acoustic
and electrical stimulation;
- improve the design of the cochlear implant electrodes;
- improve pre- and post-operative clinical management;
- improve surgical procedures;
- develop a technique for direct electrical stimulation of the brainstem for deaf people who are unable to use the cochlear implant
- particularly those with few residual auditory nerve fibres;
- make the cochlear implant suitable for people who still have
some hearing;
- combine cochlear implant and hearing aid strategies, so that
people – particularly those with some hearing – can continue to
benefit from a hearing-aid once they have a cochlear implant;
- investigate the use of two microphones – one behind each ear
- to improve the perception of speech in noisy environments;
- develop a cochlear implant or hearing aid that resides entirely
under the skin: the first stage of this research is the development
of a microphone system that can be completely implanted; and
- develop ways of initiating auditory nerve regeneration to
enhance the effectiveness of existing cochlear implant systems.
Even at its current level of sophistication, the cochlear implant
has improved the lives of thousands of people. As science and
technology continue to push the frontiers of hearing research,
it seems inevitable that the capacity of the deaf to hear will
only increase.
Related sites
Other boxes
Box 1. How the implant works
Box 2. The mathematics of hearing
Box 4. Breaking the silence
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