Been Cochlearized!

vLog on "The Greatest Irony"

2007-08-02T11:12:00.000-04:00

I was watching Amy Cohen Efron's vlog and I was truly impressed with her vlog. I couldn't agree more. I would like to emphasize the parents of deaf babies, to do your own research before making decision for the future of your deaf babies.

DO NOT RELY on the advice of the doctors and audiologists only, please do take a heed to the advice of Deaf people as well! There are many good resources on DeafRead.com on various topics relating to ASL, Deaf culture, and assistive technologies.

Before you can make research adventure, it is a good start with this "The Greatest Irony" vlog and it is voice-interpreted.

Go and visit her website at Deaf World as Eye See It.

And also a parental response to The Greatest Irony, click here.

Brain implanted electrodes has brought consciousness back

2007-08-02T07:28:00.000-04:00

Sometimes, technology does some wonders. For this man, he has been in "minimally conscious state" which is very close to coma or vegetative state. He has been in that condition for 6 years, feeding on a tube into his belly.

After the brain implant electrodes were implanted into his head and researchers turned on and off the electrodes over six months and reported that it became effective for this man. He is able to chew and swallow instead of using feeding tube.

It looks very risky by looking at that picture, electrodes going real deep into the brain. But with man in "almost" vegetative state, it surely worth to do that kind of research work! If you disagree with that research process, is it worth for man to stay in "almost" vegetative state for the rest of his life? What if Terri Schiavo had that implanted, would she be successful? Her parents believed that she was not in vegatative state, but her husband did.

BTW, interesting story! CLICK FOR FULL STORY

Cochlear Implants do work???

2007-08-01T08:47:00.000-04:00

As I am a failed implantee. I wanted to express my concerns on how the hospitals and cochlear companies release success rates in their statistics. Actually, they never wanted to show their FULL statistics and only expose statistics BASED on most successes.

I have asked an audiologist at Johns Hopkins about the statistics on successes and failures for the patients who were pre-linguals and post-linguals so I can look at real hard data. She responded that there is no such data to release and cases do vary greatly on individual basis.

I do not believe in her claims. I really do think that cochlear companies should disclose all statistic data to the public. Or have an independent statisticans to survey on all implantees about their satisfication with the implants. I believe somewhere about 1 to 5% of deaf prelinguals were successful implantees as compared with postlingual adults with higher rate.

As well as AgBAD, the most heated talk in the DeafRead-sphere. I believe likewise that AgBAD are trying to suppress ASL and advocate oralism. There should be some kind of statistics on the success rates between ASL and oralism. I do believe that ASL do fare well and is more successful than oralism.

I do think likewise cochlear companies and AgBAD prefer to suppress the real data and continue their own propaganda.

It is all about MONEY and POWER after all, folks.

New Hearing Implant

2007-07-27T12:18:00.000-04:00

Here's interesting new technology that bypass hearing bones, cochlea and goes into auditory nerves.

I remember European countries do "brain-stem" implants that bypass cochlea but it was huge failure on that kind of implant.

Not everyone succeed using cochlear implants, why? Like in my case, I have severe ossified cochlea which was caused by Spinal Meningitis. Doctor and audiologist believed that my case with cochlear implant was a failure due to problems of ossified cochleas. In a result, I simply gave it up and proud to continue to be Deaf.

Now with newest technology, it can give hopes for the future Deaf/deaf people who have been in contact with spinal meningitis and other diseases that deformed cochleas. It can bypass cochleas and in direct contact with the auditory nerves. I am not sure if that new technology would benefit prelingual deaf people as it looks promising for postlingual deaf people. Maybe I could try again! :)

Here is the article from ScienCentral NEWS on New Hearing Implant.

Hat tip: Oscar the Observer

Video clip by Michael Chorost, etc.

2006-12-07T08:14:00.000-05:00

I got it off from Michael Chorost website for this video clip. It is good documentary video for anyone to learn what the cochlear implants are all about.

Click here for the video.

Also what's more on Michael Chorost's view of Gallaudet protests, you can visit his website here, and scroll down to two posts: "October 18, 2006: Chaos at Gallaudet" and "October 30, 2006: My visit to Gallaudet."

In there, he wrote,

An audiologist there said to me, “Gallaudet’s slogan is, ‘Deaf people can do anything, except hear.’ Sooner or later we’re going to have to change that to ‘Deaf people can do anything, including hear.’”

I really disagree with that part... Why? Then hearing folks would have expected deaf people to hear eventhough they reject the implant or implant doesn't work for them. In my case, I am not 100% hearing on everything. I only can hear some and still not able to recognize the sounds yet.

I am not 100% convinced that cochlear implants do work 100% for many deaf people who have been profoundly deaf by many years. Most cochlear implant centers do withheld statistics on how successful prelingual deaf people who wore cochlear implants. Cochlear implant centers tend to give positive data results than giving out full data of success and failures. Cochlear implant centers should be forced to be transparent with full data of successes and failures with prelingual and postlingual profiles.

Yesterday's mapping session

2006-07-25T08:44:00.000-04:00

Hey everyone, it has been about 3 months since the last mapping!

Actually, I didn't get good mapping last time. But I had another speech processor with old mapping, I used it for the last two weeks before the appointment.

I was able to use that mapping in yesterday's appointment and modified it to hear more in new mappings. I am hearing more sounds from voices and environmental noises.

What I heard that I didn't hear before... my daughter's crying and laughing - there's more but I can't remember what it was. One time, I thought I heard elevator making noises. I am sure there is more to come, I haven't recognized noises yet.

Last three months is not really that great, but now I am relieved to continue with positive attitude after the new mappings. Seems like to me that I am ready to throw it out, but I am being patient and persist in the process!

Again, it is taking LOTS and LOTS of time to adjust and LOTS and LOTS of patience are required to be in the process. I think that I have ossified cochleas that is BIG disadvantage to speedy process compared with others who does not have ossified cochleas. So I am glad that yesterday's mapping have gone well. WHEW!

Otologics' MET implant device

2006-05-19T13:09:00.000-04:00

It is not cochlear implant device, it's the Middle Ear Transducer implant. Why I put it up with this? There are some features on this implant which is very interesting. If it is successful, it could be applied to cochlear implant technology in the future.

Middle Ear Transducer implants are going under testing with 20 people (as in this article).

What's interesting about this implant. This implant does include battery built in and you can recharge the battery at nights thru your head. Reminds of me Star Trek's Seven of Nine being slept under energy being transitted thru her head. Striking similarity, isn't it? LOL Recharging device which takes one hour for implanted battery to be fully charged, see this photo below.

Also you couldn't change volumes or turn implant on/off directly. You will have to use remote control to adjust the volume or turning implant on/off. Recharger device unit can also adjust volume levels as well as turning on/off the implant. Remote control thru the skin. Wow. Wondering if two implantees messing around with others' implants with their remote control. ("Ouch thats LOUD!" to one another) That's my concern, but it could be coded to unique device. Picture of Remote control is shown below.

About battery built-in, I am very concerned on its battery life. Most rechargable batteries life is about 3 years. Will that mean the patients will have to undergo surgery in explanting and replanting the device every 6 years? I think mechanisms do have wear and tear in MET devices compared to cochlear implant, it only simulates electrical signals. But they say that battery life span is about 6+ years. Also it's length of battery operating power is about 2-4 days. It is impressive compared to Advanced Bionics' large rechargable battery that lasts only about 15 hours and its life span is about 3 years.

Also, built-in microphone makes me wonder how does it work. How does the sound go through the thick skin surface to the microphone? Wow, really.

Implant device:

Very interesting technological advancement.

Here's this link at:
http://www.otologics.com/us/index_us.cfm

Ongoing process...

2006-03-20T09:26:00.000-05:00

Now it is already about a month from last mapping session. Actually, my hearing have improved to some degrees over a month.

I used P2 mapping immediately after P1, it makes my muscles twitching often, same with P3 and P4 which is stronger. So I stayed on P1 for three weeks, it seemed to iron out twitching problem before I switched to P2. I liked it and am hearing more.

For a while, my hearing was very sensitive to voices. Music wasn't bothersome for me but voices. I have lowered volume on voices, but it didn't help... so I tried to reducing on sensitivity level and it does work!

When I didn't focus on hearing, I wouldn't have hear much. But when I started to concentrate on TV and people talking, I heard them. I guess that concentration is the key to listening. I was informed by my parents that they met with realtor who have a son with cochlear implant. She passed the information to my parents to me. So it was the website Earobics at www.earobics.com. The word "Earobics" are similar to "Aerobics", Earobics is an exercise with listening. They have online listening games, it helps you to listen then pick out right words or letters. I seem to see some differences in these words... most words I couldn't discriminate yet. These games are for the kiddies, but adults could benefit from these games.

Remember, I still have only one channel out of 22 channels turned on. Audie said that once one channel improve, and she will switch on other channels. It looks like this time is more reliable because it doesn't fade out very fast. And seems sooner I will get more channels so I will be able to tell differences in sounds than just with one channel.

My next appointment would be within third week of April.

5th Activation Appointment

2006-02-20T10:24:00.000-05:00

I have called to reschedule to have mapping done at earlier time. That's three weeks after the fourth mapping session instead of waiting for 2 months. Went in last Friday the 17th.

Why? I have faded out all maps on the programs and that's the reason I have to go back again.

So audie had me remapped and this time she's giving me new P1 map, the same P1 map into P2, P3 and P4. P2 contains ADRO, P3 contains Autosensitivity, and P4 contains Whisper. All of these maps use SPEAK strategy. SPEAK strategies are the best for the time being.

I decide to put away music for now. I'd rather to focus all on environmental and talking.

I heard garage door opener gone whirring... It was really loud! Isn't it too loud for you hearies?! Huh?? LOL I heard people talking once again after my old maps had faded out quickly.

UM's Cochlear Implant contains of 128 Electrodes

2006-02-07T19:42:00.000-05:00

It would be available for humans within 4 to 5 years from now.

READ FULL ARTICLE

Advanced Bionics and Cochlear companies are ahead or behind UM's technology??? I wonder.

Surgeon, Dr. Charles Limb

2006-02-02T12:41:00.000-05:00

Click on my surgeon's profile from The Department of Otolaryngology - Head & Neck Surgery at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

Here's his feature article from Electronic Musician, Ears to You! (link) It's pretty long article, you will need to go over there to read it.

Really good article to read!

Listening Demo from UTD's Cochlear Implant Lab

2006-02-02T05:57:00.000-05:00

It's just a good education tool for normal hearing folks.

Click for Listening Demos

Hattip: Hear Again blog

Polymer Polypyrrole plastics can help regrow hearing nerves

2006-01-31T11:29:00.000-05:00

Interesting article about regrowing nerves, it can help those with nerve-deafness and spinal cord injury. It is reassuring news for the future cochlear implants.

Scientists are building a new bionic ear coated in a smart plastic that boosts the growth of nerve cells in the inner ear when it's zapped with electricity.

The technology, which also has potential for healing spinal cord injuries, is being developed at the Australian Centre for Medical Bionics and Hearing Science, part of Melbourne's Bionic Ear Institute.

Collaborator, Professor Gordon Wallace of the Intelligent Polymer Research Institute at the University of Wollongong, says the polymer polypyrrole is unusual because unlike most plastics, it can conduct electricity.

It can also act as a host structure for the molecules that stimulate nerve regrowth, known as neurotrophins.

Passing a small electric current through the plastic releases the molecules and helps to reverse the death and degeneration of hearing cells that occurs after prolonged deafness.

READ FULL STORY

Cochlear Welcome Kit

2006-01-31T09:02:00.000-05:00

Hey, I got the welcome kit from Cochlear! As I mentioned that Cochlear already sent to me Freedom Personal Audio Cable and Freedom TV/HiFi Adapter Cable, that's because I asked for it and they sent it to me earlier! So it would come with welcome kit if I didn't ask for it. Thank God, I don't have to wait for audio cables until now!

Cochlear cloth bag and key chain were included in the welcome kit, my wife could make use of this bag! Kinda looks like a beach bag with Cochlear logo on it.

There's three-batteries key ring... Nice! I could keep these extra batteries in a 'apparently' watertight compartment.

Also, I got the accessory catalog.

So there!

4th Activation Day

2006-01-26T16:04:00.000-05:00

I went back to Johns Hopkins Listening Center for mapping session. While audiologist was rebooting her computer, said that she have some problems with the computer. She took me to the sound booth, if I hear any sounds then I should raise my hand. After it was finished, we returned to her office and sat down to look at the audiogram.

Wow!! What a progress! I am in average of 35 dB! My eyes couldn't believe in this audiogram! About 10 to 20 dB is where most normal hearing people hear. I was at 100-110 dB loss before I got the implant. A big status jump from profound deafness to mild hearing loss!

So we went ahead with the new mappings, so I hear better with new maps! She kept my old P1 map into P4 slot. She added new maps to P1, P2 and P3. Strange... I am using now new P1 map and later she asked me to switch to P4 map which has old P1 map... I hear nothing! She said to use all P1 thru P3 at every several days to compare the best map. So my next appointment isn't 6 months away! It will be 2 months.

Here's my new audiogram with implant:

Little progress here...

2006-01-23T08:21:00.000-05:00

Thanks for the feedback on MP3 files! I used variety of MP3 music, talk show, and more... I seem to improve hearing on these things than before.

What I can hear myself typing on this keyboard, surprising that keyboard keys are making clicks everytime! Same thing with a mouse! How could you hearies live with that!? ;-)

Another thing, when I turn the pages of the book, I heard the paper making the sound as I turn it!

I will have 4th activation session at Johns Hopkins on Thursday the 26th. Will keep you posted soon!

MP3 Sound Files

2006-01-10T11:05:00.000-05:00

I have PDA for since almost 3 years, my ultimate purpose for owning PDA was to use for reading Washinton Times news, using Bible software, and playing solitare/hearts games. But now, I am using it for playing MP3 and WMV files by using Windows Media Player. It works.

I am not familiar with MP3/WMV free audio files out on the internet. I am trying to find more clean MP3 files.

So far, I found these sites for downloading MP3 files:

Christian MP Free

Christmas MP Free

Free Solo Guitar

Free Solo Piano

Anyone know any other good free legal MP3 or WMV sites without userid and password? Please post at the comments box. Thanks!

Third Mapping Session

2006-01-09T12:20:00.000-05:00

I have been to the third mapping session on Dec 28th. I was greeted with my audiologist and a representative from Cochlear. In a week before, I asked my audiologist for the cable to connect CD player or computer to my BTE speech processor. She told me that she would call Cochlear to get one for me. BTW, this representative from Cochlear seems to be there for just looking at my mapping problem as my audiologist seems to struggle at the 2nd mapping session. She seems to resolve issues with audiologist and told me she will make sure that my accessories for connecting to iPod, CD player, etc be sent to my address. Then she asked for my address.

BTW, after the mapping session was done and went home... I seemed to hear less than I heard before but I can hear on P1 much better than P2, P3, and P4. I contacted my audiologist that I can't do well on P2 thru P4... but only P1 is good. She suggested me to either go back for re-mapping or continue with P1 until next mapping session. So it gave me thoughts what to do...

On Friday, Jan. 6th, I recieved the package from the Cochlear. Whoopie! I knew what it is going to be in it! I opened up the package, yep! It's cable for iPod/CD player and another cable for connecting to computer or anything that is plugged into household electricity.

I had to help my wife finish cooking the dinner, no playtime for cables...

Until yesterday, Jan 8th, I finally started to play with the cables... I had portable CD player and put on Mozart music since his biography was attractive and interesting... Yep! I am hearing some of it... Not all are too clear but much better to listen to something than nothing! I started to experiment connecting to my computer, but I don't seem to hear anything out of it. I haven't put Mozart music CD into my computer to test as I have heard on CD player.

Umm my next session is on January 28th, I think I can just wait little more for re-mapping. Next mapping session is pretty scary because after that, the next mapping session would be 6 months away!

Delta's Sky magazine

2005-12-23T08:56:00.000-05:00

My dad flew on Delta for the business trip. He found an article interesting in the Sky's magazine as of December 2005. He brought the magazine for me to read!

Click for the article: The Human Cyborg

Thanks Dad.

Auditory Performance of Cochlear Implantees

2005-12-22T13:13:00.000-05:00

Here's interesting information from National Institutes of Health.

What Factors Affect the Auditory Performance of Cochlear Implant Recipients?

Subject Factors

Auditory performance, defined as the ability to detect, discriminate, recognize, or identify acoustic signals, including speech, is highly variable among individuals using cochlear implants. Since the 1988 CDC on Cochlear Implants, however, some factors associated with outcome variability are now better understood.

Etiology

Because of a larger subject sample, the effects of etiology can now be distinguished from other factors such as the duration of deafness and the age of onset. For example, deafness due to meningitis does not necessarily limit the benefit of cochlear implantation in the absence of central nervous system complications, cochlear ossification, or cochlear occlusion. Children with congenital deafness and children with prelingually acquired meningitic deafness, for example, achieve similar auditory performance if the cochlear implant is received before age 6. In general, etiology does not appear to affect auditory performance in either children or adults.

Age of Onset of Deafness

The age of onset continues to have important implications for success with cochlear implantation, depending on whether the hearing impairment occurred before (prelingual), during (perilingual), or after (postlingual) learning speech and language. At the last CDC, data on cochlear implantation suggested that children or adults with postlingual onset of deafness had better auditory performance than children or adults with prelingual or perilingual onset. Current data about auditory performance in children over longer times support this finding. However, the difference between children with postlingual and those with prelingual-perilingual onset of deafness appears to lessen with time. Large individual differences remain within each group, however.

Age at Implantation

Previous data suggested that prelingually or perilingually deafened persons who were implanted in adolescence or adulthood did not achieve the same level of auditory performance as those implanted during childhood, although individual differences were recognized. Current data continue to support the importance of early detection of hearing loss and implantation for maximal auditory performance. However, it is still unclear whether implantation at age 2, for example, ultimately results in better auditory performance than implantation at age 3.

Duration of Deafness

As deafness endures, even in postlingually deafened individuals, some auditory and linguistic skills may decline and some behavioral traits that work against successful adaptation to a sensory device may develop. Individuals with shorter durations of auditory deprivation tend to achieve better auditory performance from any type of sensory aid, including a cochlear implant, than do individuals with longer durations of auditory deprivation.

Residual Hearing

Initially, cochlear implant use was restricted to persons with profound hearing loss (pure-tone threshold average (PTA) of greater than 100 dB HL and no open-set speech recognition ability with best-fit hearing aids). The average auditory performance of these cochlear-implant users has been better than the average auditory performance of hearing-aid users with some residual hearing, that is, severe hearing loss (PTA > 90 dB HL) and some (<30 percent) open-set speech recognition ability with best-fit hearing aids. Recent data show that auditory performance in people with residual hearing improves after cochlear implantation relative to preoperative auditory performance, although the degree of improvement could not be predicted from preoperative hearing sensitivity. Research is now addressing the critical distinction between the importance of residual hearing sensitivity compared with overall residual auditory capacities and functional communicative status.

Electrophysiological Factors

Some surviving spiral ganglion cells are necessary for auditory performance with a cochlear implant. Degenerative changes occur in both ganglion cells and central auditory neurons following sensorineural deafening. Although a relationship between the number of surviving ganglion cells and psychophysical performance has been demonstrated in animals, a direct relationship between ganglion cell survival and level of auditory performance in humans has not been shown. Animal studies also suggest that electrical stimulation increases ganglion cell survival and also modifies the functional organization of the central auditory system. The implications of these new findings for humans remain to be determined.

Device Factors

The task of representing speech stimuli as electrical stimuli is central to the design of cochlear implants. Designs vary according to (1) the placement, number, and relationship among the electrodes; (2) the way in which stimulus information is conveyed from an external processor to the electrodes; and (3) how the electrical stimuli are derived from the speech input (and other signals). Changes in cochlear implant design/processing strategies and their effects on auditory performance are discussed in the section on technical and safety considerations.

Source: What Factors Affect the Auditory Performance of Cochlear Implant Recipients?

Second Activation

2005-12-21T08:00:00.000-05:00

I was back to JHLC for the second time. I was re-mapped to get 3 more channels. I was able to get sensations from channels 21, 20, and 19. Yesterday, I didn't get sensations like that, I guessed that it takes time to have my brain and nerves to adjust and it helped to spread to more channels.

Same thing, channel 22 gave me sensations behind my right ear. Channel 21 gave me muscle twitching in my upper lip, so audiologist reduced lower level to prevent muscle twitching. Then channel 20, I get like little pain in my head and shoulder. Audiologist also reduced to comfortable level. Same goes for channel 19, it gives me some feeling behind my head. After it was remapped, and she left 4 channels on and 18 other channels off. She gave me 4 different programs in my BTE processor (Behind the ear). All four programs contain same mapping, but use different strategies such as ACE, CIS, etc. She asked me to switch to different programs during one week period. When I come back for next week's activation, I will need to tell her which 4 programs are best for me and she will focus on this strategy and probably also the second best strategy, and to increase more channels as well. I am seem to get more sensations than I did on the first activation.

After everything were finished, I asked her about baby cry, and I wasn't able to hear my daughter crying... She said that cochlear implant is not similar to hearing aids which simply amplifies to louder sounds. Cochlear implant only sends electronic signals to the nerves, and the nerves still doesn't recognize the sounds, either loud or soft sounds. It takes time for the brain to adapt and re-wiring the nerves from sensation feelings to hearing sounds. So my daughter's crying/screams aren't yet recognized in my brain, and I am not still hearing it yet.

So far I am progressing and I keep my faith in God to help me with the whole progress.

First Activation

2005-12-21T07:28:00.000-05:00

On December 19th, my wife, my daughter and my mom couldn't attend to my first hookup day, because my wife and my daughter were sick with the stomach flu. My daughter had been vomitting since Friday night, and it is almost full three days that she had been vomitting. It seemed very serious for my daughter, so my mom called the advice nurse for me. Also, my wife got sick in the same morning as my first activation, she wasn't feeling very well. So there I went with my dad to the appointment at Johns Hopkins Listening Center.

My audiologist was running the electrode cycles throughout all of the channels... It made me felt like little weakened on my whole body and little dizziness experienced. But then she ran channel 22, I heard nothing, nothing, nothing... then little pain simulated behind my ear, I told her I get the pain so she marked it there. Then she went on to the channel 21, nothing, channel 20, nothing, channel 19, nothing. So she set only channel 22 on, and the rest of the channels were set off. My map was using ACE strategy and I am only experiencing sensations like little pain spasms against my right ear. None of these sensations do make sense... So I let my CI running through my head today all afternoon and night.

After the appointment was over. My dad and I were on the way to my home, then my mom called that she wanted us to meet at her home instead to admit my daughter to the urgent care. My wife went along with my mom and we met at my parent's home. My dad had to stay at home because of his business trip to Tennessee and Michigan. He had to get up about 3am for the airport shuttle. So I drove with my mom, wife and daughter to the urgent care. After we were there, we asked if my wife could go in for appointment as well. They accepted and had my daughter and wife going through blood tests and the nurse put IV into my daughter's arm and she screamed out loud. My wife was put on IV also. When my daughter screamed, my mom asked if I heard that... I told her no, I don't.

Chris Roberts, CEO of Cochlear - 'We have a unique opportunity'

2005-12-12T13:30:00.000-05:00

Roberts recently spoke with BusinessWeek's Bruce Einhorn about what's in store for people who are losing their hearing. Edited excerpts follow.

What sort of advances can we expect in hearing technology?

It's still early days in terms of where the technology is going. We are going to see significant advances in the next three to five to 10 years. There's a lot happening.

So what is Cochlear trying to do?

There aren't many companies working in this space. We have understanding of hearing, of implant technology, we work with opinion leaders. [For many people with hearing loss,] you need things other than cochlear implants, you need cochlear implants plus.

What can you offer such people?

One is an electro-acoustic type of device. Cochlear implants work very well at high frequencies, but if you have a little bit of residual hearing, it's often at the lower frequencies that you have it. So it's been that people wait until they have lost hearing enough so that if you put an electrode in the cochlear, there's no downside.

What you would like to be able to do is to preserve what little bit of hearing they have. What we want to do is put an electrode in for the higher pitches -- typically for speech -- and acoustic stimulation for the lower frequencies. We need to work with the surgeons to develop electrodes that are atraumatic, so you can put the electrodes in the cochlea and preserve those delicate structures [of the hair cells in the inner ear].

How big is the potential market for these hybrid devices?
There are probably 50 to 60 times more patients who would be suitable for that device than for a cochlear implant.

Is this something that people will be able to get soon?
There's a trial going on at the University of Iowa [with] interesting results. There's real stuff going on. [The timing] is a couple of years off -- it's not months, but it's not decades. There aren't many people in the world working on this. I think we have a unique opportunity to really contribute to this space.

...

Today, very few people with cochlear implants have them in both ears, but you've said that you see a trend toward having bilateral implants rather than unilateral ones. Why?

There are probably 50,000 to 100,000 people who go single-sided deaf a year. Thirty years ago, if you got a hearing aid, you got one. Now you get two. We listen with two ears for good reason. I don't know when it will happen, but it will happen that kids will get two. It might be five or 10 years before it's routine.

Cochlear implants are controversial among some people in the deaf community who are opposed to parents getting the devices for their young children. What do you say to them?

I think that their opposition is becoming less and less. And that's through the results. These children may be in deaf schools before being mainstreamed, and the teachers see these kids get transformed. You can't look at these results and say they're not real -- it's very hard to argue against technology. If you look at these kids [with hearing because of implants], you can't say you want to take that away from them.

Source: READ FULL ARTICLE AT BUSINESSWEEK

Many misconceptions

2005-12-08T11:27:00.000-05:00

I have gotten many misconceptions from someone I know about how cochlear implant works.

I had a deaf friend who feared about drilling and creating hole, he said do I have hole in my head? I told him, "Here it is look at my head, do I have any hole?" He said, "Huh, no. Can you hear now?" I told him, "No, I don't have external components, once I have external components at the first hookup day, then I may be able to hear with it." He said, "How?" I explained about magnetic connection over the skin, just like kids love playing by putting a paper between two magnets. So he said like, "Oh! Got it."

Even he is much involved with the Deaf culture... He was simply ignorant on how CI works. Even he thinks that I couldn't go swimming!

Here's the interactive flash video on how the CI works... Very good one.

WATCH THE INTERACTIVE FLASH VIDEO

Miss America in 1995, Cochlearized in 2002

2005-12-02T14:57:00.000-05:00

From Cochlear Corporation:

In 1995, Heather Whitestone, deaf since infancy, was crowned Miss America. She was the first disabled woman to receive this honor. Now, Heather is embarking on a new path into the hearing world. On August 7, 2002 Heather received the Nucleus® 24 Contour™ cochlear implant. Her surgery was performed at Johns Hopkins by John K. Niparko, M.D., one of the nation's leading cochlear implant surgeons. Heather's device will be activated during mid-September.

Learn more about her, visit:
Cochlear Corporation on Heather Whitestone
Heather Whitestone's website

Complex Surgical Conditions: Ossification and Dysplasia

2005-12-02T14:06:00.000-05:00

I have severe ossifications in my both ears which was caused by meningitis. Left ear seems to be completely solid and my right ear is partly ossified. So that's why my surgeon chose my right ear to implant. It was about 80% of electrodes implanted into my right cochlea.

So here's interesting info from University of Miami School of Medience:

Cochlear implant surgery is usually a routine procedure taking one to two hours under general anesthesia as an outpatient. However, when the fluid spaces of the cochlea are partially or totally filled with abnormal bone, or when the cochlea or other structures are not formed properly, cochlear implantation is more complex.

The cochlea may fill with bone in response to inner ear infection, meningitis, auto-immune inner ear disease, ototoxicity, and other conditions. It is called ‘labyrinthitis ossificans’ and can be diagnosed by CT or MRI. Surgical techniques have evolved that allow cochlear implantation even in such cases. When the cochlea is only partly obstructed, surgery is usually straightforward and results are very good. When the cochlea is completely filled with bone, surgery is still possible but is more complex and results are variable.

The same is true of inner ear malformation, usually called ‘dysplasia’. Milder forms of dysplasia such as enlarged vestibular aqueduct (EVA) and Mondini syndrome require surgery that is straightforward and have excellent results. However, severe dysplasia, such as common cavity deformity, requires more complex surgery and results are variable.

Source: UMSM's Cochlear Implant Center

Here's my ct-scan image of my right and left ears. You will see solid whites which is an ossification. In the right cochlea, you will see little grayish hole in there. It means very little space for the electrodes to be inserted. My surgeon said that ct-scans is not perfect image of what's really there... it may be more or less space to insert. (image to be posted soon)

Volta's Crazy Experiments

2005-11-29T09:06:00.000-05:00

Guys and gals, don't try this experiment at home! You wouldn't want to run 120V household electricity in your ears! Just kidding, but please just don't try it at any voltage levels!

"Interest in stimulating hearing with electricity began with Count Volta in the 18th century. Volta, an Italian physicist who developed the electric battery, connected batteries [approximately 50V] to two metal rods that he inserted in his ears. In 1800 he described that when the circuit was completed he received a 'jolt in the head' and then a sound 'a kind of crackling, jerking or bubbling as if some dough or thick stuff was boiling' (Epstein:1989: 34). Not surprisingly, Volta found that it was quite uncomfortable and did not repeat the experiment too often!

Fifty years after Volta, a Frenchman, Duchenne of Boulogne, tried using an alternating current to stimulate his hearing and heard what he described as a sound like an insect trapped between a glass pane and a curtain."

Source: powerhouse museum

Cochlear Implant History (AB)

2005-11-29T08:52:00.000-05:00

Cochlear implant history
Two-hundred years ago, a scientist by the name of Alessandro Volta inserted metal rods attached to an active circuit into his ears. He described the sensation as similar to the sound of boiling water. This was the first documented attempt to provide electrical stimulation directly to the auditory system.

Although additional attempts continued throughout the next 50 years, by the mid 1800's the thought of using electrical stimulation as a therapeutic method was rejected. It wasn't until the 1930's that the effects of electrical stimulation on hearing were studied again. Two independent research teams, one from the United States and one from the Soviet Union, found that hearing sensations were achieved by individuals who were deaf when they received electrical stimulation to the middle ear. Neither of these investigations, however, resulted in a practical application for a hearing implant primarily because the technical difficulties encountered at the time could not be overcome.

By the late 1950's, scientists in France reported the first successful electrical stimulation of hearing nerves by inserting an electrode in a deaf subject's inner ear. The patient perceived the rhythm of speech and reported that the stimulation provided assistance in lipreading. This was the beginning of the development of modern-day cochlear implants.

Throughout the 1960's tremendous energy was devoted to studying and developing cochlear implants, and by 1970 the first wide-spread clinical application was underway. These early generation cochlear implants were single-channel devices that sent coded information to only one electrode site in the inner ear. These devices provided patients with speech and sound awareness and enhanced lipreading ability, but generally did not provide auditory-only speech recognition.

The introduction of multichannel devices in the 1980's represented a major advance in cochlear implant technology. Multichannel devices stimulate hearing nerve fibers at multiple locations along the length of the cochlea and where all electrodes are stimulated at once, or sequentially, where electrodes are stimulated one at a time.

Stimulating nerve fibers at multiple locations is important because each nerve fiber in the inner ear is "tuned" to a different pitch depending on its location. Hearing nerves are organized so that high frequencies are picked up at the base of the cochlea while low frequencies are picked up at the center or apex. This arrangement is referred to as the "tonotopic" organization of the ear. With the introduction of multichannel systems, the ability to understand speech without lipreading was achieved.

Source: Advanced Bionics

PBS Documentary

2005-11-29T08:28:00.000-05:00

Here's interesting about Deaf people opposing views on Cochlear Implants. Some anti-implant deaf guy thinks that the cochlear implant may create a robot culture. Ummphh!

Click for Sound and Fury documentary.

Rush Limbaugh, Cochlearized in 2001

2005-11-28T09:57:00.000-05:00

Here's some interesting articles about Rush's cochlear implant experience. Remember that he is a postlingual which is unlike me. I am a prelingual. Just read some interesting information below.

Rush's Cochlear Implant Surgery A Success

Rush Talking About His Hearing

Media Q&A with Rush's Doctors

CI Surgery Videos

2005-11-27T12:57:00.000-05:00

Unfortunately, these videos aren't the videos of my surgery!

It is very graphic surgery video and please be prepared to pass out. :P

SEE THE SURGERY FLASH VIDEO (Flash required)

SEE THE SURGERY VIDEO (RealPlayer required)

Bandage removed

2005-11-20T19:18:00.000-05:00

It really feels good to have the bandage removed!

Learn about Cochlear Implants

2005-11-18T15:04:00.000-05:00

My surgeon recommended this brand over other brands because of my case with severe ossification of cochleas. My left ear's cochlea was solidified with ossificated bones which cannot insert any electrodes on my left ear. So surgeon said that he saw little hole in my right cochlea and Nucleus Freedom have the thinnest electrodes over other brands for that reason, it can be inserted up to 80%.

For all those who don't know about cochlear implantation systems, you may be able to browse lots of information about CI. So go to each links below:

Cochlear's Nucleus Freedom (my implant)

Advanced Bionics' Bionic Ear

Cochlear Implants: Navigating a Forest of Information... One Tree at a Time (Gallaudet University's Clerc Center)

About.com's Cochlear Implants Information

CI Surgery Completed.

2005-11-18T14:42:00.000-05:00

I have gone under surgery known as cochlear implantation. It has occurred on November 17th 2005 at Johns Hopkins Outpatient Center. Began surgery at noon and completed about 3:30pm.

Got home about 8pm and I got very hungry. Only can eat liquid foods or soda. I can't eat solid foods to prevent vomitting, oh well! But in the morning, it was a blessing to eat solid food once again! No dizziness and no pain, but continued to maintain my medications to prevent from feeling the pain.

Implanted with Nucleus Freedom.