Cochlear Implants

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Defective Cochlear Implants

Defective cochlear implants have been of recent concern among members of the healthcare community.

What is a Cochlear Implant?

Also known as bionic ears, cochlear implants are surgically implanted electronic devices that allow deaf or severely hearing impaired individuals to experience the sense of sound.

Different from hearing aids, cochlear implants don't amplify sound, nor do they restore hearing loss. Instead, they:

detect sounds in the environment
convert them to electric impulses
transmit them to functioning parts of the auditory nerve

Subsequently, the auditory nerve sends these signals to the brain, where they are interpreted into sounds.

Despite their effectiveness at improving patients' perception of sound, however, cochlear implants have been found to cause a few serious side effects. Similarly, in recent years manufacturing defects have led to a worldwide cochlear implant recall.

Structure of Effective Cochlear Implants

For proper, effective use, cochlear implants will operate with the following parts:

a microphone to pick up external sounds
a speech processor to arrange and organize sounds
a transmitter and receiver to covert these noises into electric impulses
an electrode array to re-organize electric impulses and send them to the appropriate part of the auditory nerve

Should any of these parts malfunction, the defective cochlear implant will disrupt a person's ability to perceive sound.

Cochlear Implant Side Effects

As with most implanted medical devices, there is a risk of some serious side effects when using cochlear implants. These may include:

Total loss of natural hearing due to damaged cochlea cells (This damage can occur during implantation of this device.)
Bacterial meningitis, a life-threatening inflammation of the brain and/or spinal cord
Tissue death in the skin surrounding cochlear implants

Of these, meningitis is the most serious cochlear implant side effect. Should patients start developing fever, headaches, neck stiffness or seizures, they should seek emergency medical care to prevent serious injuries and death.

Defective Cochlear Implant Recall

In addition to its known side effects, cochlear implants can cause other health complications should patients be exposed to defective medical devices due to manufacturing mistakes.

In fact, in September 2004, Boston Scientific Corporation (BSC, a maker of cochlear implants) announced that it was issuing a voluntary recall of cochelar implant brands:

CLARION® cochlear implants
HiResolution® cochlear implants

BSC announced this cochlear implant recall following the discovery that some of these devices may contain moisture within the circuitry that causes them to malfunction. Experts estimate that there are about 440 defective cochlear implants in circulation.

Individuals with defective cochlear implants will know if their device is starting to malfunction when they experience:

complete loss of sound
discomfort or pain
intermittent functioning
sudden loud noises or popping

Should these symptoms arise, it's essential that patients:

Do NOT attach the external piece of their cochlear implant
Seek immediate care from their auditory specialist