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Cochlear implants are devices that take the place of damaged
inner ear structures that cause profound hearing loss.
In the past, profound hearing loss was commonly referred
to as nerve deafness. This was incorrect because the problem
was often not with the hearing nerves, but with the hair
cells that line the cochlea. The cochlea is the spiral
part of the inner ear containing nerve endings that carry
information about sound to the brain. 
Potential Benefits
- Improved hearing for the severe to profoundly hearing
impaired person
- Environmental awareness of sound
- Enhanced speechreading ability
- "Open set" speech discrimination*
- Ability to use the telephone
- After programming is completed, the speech processor
can be converted to an ear level device, know as the
"ESPrit3G."
* "Open set" speech discrimination is the
ability to understand words or sentences without visual
cues.
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About
the Cochlear Implant
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