Cohclear implant

Approximately 1.4 million Americans are deaf in both ears, leaving them with significant struggles to communicate with the hearing world. Cochlear implants (a medical device surgically implanted in the inner ear) help, and a new study of cochlear implant patients seen by Indiana University School of Medicine physicians shows that implants in both ears yields dramatic improvements in lives of patients with profound hearing loss.

The study, which appeared in the journal Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, found that when cochlear devices were implanted in both ears, critical quality-of-life factors improved, such as hearing in noisy environments, focusing on conversations, and speaking at an appropriate volume.

"We didn't know that cognitive skills and emotional issues would so significantly improve with the implantation of a second cochlear device," says senior study author Richard Miyamoto, Arilla Spence DeVault Professor and chairman of the Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery at the IU School of Medicine. "In addition to the physiological improvements, we found that patients were able to function better in noisy environments and definitely felt better about themselves."

The researchers' conclusion that the benefits of the second implant outweigh the cost of the second device could help profoundly deaf individuals who hope to have their health insurance providers pay for bilateral implants.

"Profoundly deaf individuals who were born with hearing, their families, physicians, and health insurance providers now have the data they need," Miyamoto says. "There is definite improvement after one implant, but there is a significant added bump in sound and speech perception after the second implant. Emotional well being improves. And we found a favorable cost utility analysis. Our hope is that with these findings more health insurance companies will cover the cost of bilateral implants and bring a superior quality of life to a large number of individuals."

The IU School of Medicine cochlear program is one of the largest in the country. IU physicians have implanted more than 1,500 cochlear devices over the past 25 years at Indiana University Hospital and Riley Hospital for Children.

Miyamoto is the immediate past president of the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery. Bradford G. Bichey, former research fellow and resident at the IU School of Medicine and currently an otolaryngologist in Marion, Ind., was first author on the study. The study was funded by the IU School of Medicine's Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery.