Post 4: Improving the Implant

Thus far, all of my research has linked back to my driving question regarding assistive technology for school age children with cochlear implants. After reading about all of these different types of assistive technology devices, I wanted to take my driving question one step further and do a little research on what improvements are being made to cochlear implants themselves. After all, assistive technology is only necessary as long as improvements are still needed. So I was curious about what is being done to decrease the need for assistive technology so that cochlear implants can become as close to natural hearing as possible.

My search led me to a very helpful article called "Cochlear Implants: Past, Present, and Future." This article covers an interview held with Anne Beiter, who is an audiologist and speech-language pathologist who is highly involved with cochlear implants. Beiter explains in her interview how cochlears have already come a long way. These once bulky devices have now become smaller and less noticeable, and because of a newer sound processor that recently came out called Nucleus 6, sound quality has improved greatly. Cochlear's goals are to improve sound quality in areas where many people with cochlear implants struggle, so Nucleus 6 was designed with "new wireless remote options," like AutoPhone and AutoFM that will help school age children use the phone or hear better in social settings, which decreases their need for additional assistive technology.

When asked about the future of cochlear implants, Beiter was hopeful about many improvements to come. One of the biggest changes would be making implants more automatic. The way they are now, cochlear implants have different settings that can be changed manually to help users hear more clearly in different kinds of environments. With more automatic implants though, settings would change on their own to adapt to the environment, which could also potentially reduce the need for assistive technology. Additionally, Cochlear is working to design implants that will be completely internal, meaning that users will not have to wear a microphone piece around their ear like they do now. Also, research is being done on "hybrid systems." These devices are basically a combination of a hearing aid and a cochlear implant, and what they would do is provide a greater range of frequencies to the user to improve how many sounds they can hear. With this improvement, sound quality will increase and assistive technology use may be further reduced.

One thing I have learned from all of my research about cochlear implants and the assistive technology that goes with them is that this is a very fast growing field. So much research is being put into these devices right now and with more research comes more improvement. This project has made me very excited about the field I hope to enter in my future career and all the changes that are soon to come in the way we hear.