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Dr. MacDonald
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - Nov. 13, 2003
Device offers hope to young deaf and hearing impaired patients
Dr. Bruce MacDonald recently performed the Memphis area's first HiRes 90K™ cochlear implant surgery at Le Bonheur Children's Medical Center. MacDonald, a neurotologist with UT Medical Group, Inc. and associate professor at The University of Tennessee Health Science Center, successfully implanted the device in a six-year-old girl who had been deaf since birth.
A cochlear implant is designed to restore partial hearing to people who are deaf or have profound hearing loss, generally caused by damage to the inner ear, or cochlea. The device is surgically implanted under the skin behind the ear and activated by an external sound processor. The processor then captures and transmits sound digitally to the implant, which converts the information to signals that are sent to the brain and interpreted as sound.
"This new implant's exceptionally small size and high resolution sound capabilities make it particularly adaptable for use in children, although it has also been approved for adults," said MacDonald. "Since the HiRes 90K™ is small enough to use in children as young as one-year-old, it can significantly enhance a growing child's ability to develop speech, language, and social skills."
Since the FDA first approved cochlear implants in 1985, about 10,000 American children and 13,000 adults have received the devices.
The surgery takes about three hours and requires a general anesthetic and a one or two-day hospital stay. Approximately one month after the operation, doctors fit the patient with an external processor and activate the implant. In the following weeks, the medical team adjusts the processor and helps the patient learn how to interpret the sounds.
The HiRes 90K™ was developed and manufactured by Advanced Bionics Corporation. For more information on the device, visit www.bionicear.com or call the UTMG Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery at 901-347-8220.
WHO CAN BENEFIT FROM THE IMPLANT
Both children and adults with severe hearing loss may be candidates for the HiRes 90K™ cochlear implant.
Adults
- 18 years or older.
- Severe to profound, bilateral sensorineural hearing loss ("nerve deafness"), greater than or equal to 70dB HL.
- Postlingual onset of severe or profound hearing loss.
- Limited benefit from appropriately fitted hearing aids.
Children
- 12 months through 17 years of age.
- Profound, bilateral sensorineural deafness (greater than or equal to 90dB HL).
- Use of appropriately fitted hearing aids for at least six months in children aged two through 17. Or at least three months in children 12 through 23 months of age. (Minimum duration is waived if x-rays indicate ossification of the cochlea.)
- Little or no benefit from appropriately fitted hearing aids.
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