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Stanford Health Care

Cochlear Implants

Our Approach to Cochlear Implants

Hearing loss affects every aspect of your day-to-day life, including communication and social interaction. At Stanford Health Care, we offer personalized hearing loss treatments, such as middle ear surgery, hearing aids, bone conduction devices, and cochlear implants, to improve your quality of life and independence.

You have access to state-of-the-art audiology services through our Hearing Loss Program at the Stanford Health Care Ear Institute.

What We Offer You for Cochlear Implants

  • Specialized expertise for a wide array of hearing problems
  • A multidisciplinary team that includes ear, nose, and throat surgeons, audiologists, and speech-language pathologists
  • Innovative treatment options, including multiple types of cochlear implants
  • Robot-assisted implantation, which offers optimal surgical outcomes and preserves the delicate structures in your cochlea
  • Coordinated care for easy access to the services you need

Interested in an Online Second Opinion?

The Stanford Medicine Online Second Opinion program offers you easy access to our world-class doctors. It’s all done remotely, and you don’t have to visit our hospital or one of our clinics for this service. You don’t even need to leave home!

Visit our online second opinion page to learn more.

What Are Cochlear Implants?

About Cochlear Implants

A cochlear implant is an electronic device implanted under the skin behind the ear. It helps people with severe hearing loss receive and understand sounds when a hearing aid doesn’t help enough.

A cochlear implant has three external parts:

  • Microphone to capture sound 
  • Speech processor to turn sounds into digital signals 
  • Transmitter, a coil worn behind the ear that sends those digital signals to the device’s internal components

The implant processes sound through internal components:

  • Receiver implanted behind the ear turns digital signals into electrical impulses 
  • Electrodes in the inner ear (cochlea) stimulate the hearing nerve, which sends the electrical impulses to the brain

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved cochlear implants for both adults and children. In the United States, more than 118,000 adults and about 65,000 children have cochlear implants.

How cochlear implants work

Cochlear implants don’t restore or create typical hearing. Instead, they allow people with hearing loss to process and understand sounds, including speech.

Cochlear implants are very different from traditional hearing aids. They completely bypass damaged portions of the ear and directly stimulate the nerve running from the inner ear to the brain (auditory nerve). 

It takes time to learn how to understand the sounds you receive from a cochlear implant. People with cochlear implants have intensive therapy to learn to hear the electrical signals as words and sounds. It usually takes about three to six months of therapy to understand speech well. 

Benefits of cochlear implants

Cochlear implants can offer better hearing, enhanced communication skills, and greater independence. Many people report that cochlear implants improve their ability to:

  • Know where sounds are coming from 
  • Listen better in noisy environments 
  • Process speech with or without lip reading
  • Talk on the telephone and watch television 
  • Understand everyday sounds, including those that warn of danger

What to Expect

  • Before

  • During

  • After

Before the Procedure

You meet with an audiologist to get a special hearing test before cochlear implant surgery. The audiologist discusses your test results and whether a cochlear implant may be right for you. You may also have imaging tests, such as a CT scan or MRI, to look at your cochlea and inner ear. 

An ear, nose, and throat (ENT) surgeon performs cochlear implant surgery. Before the procedure, you meet with the surgeon to discuss what to expect. They help you understand the expected outcome and rehabilitation after surgery.

During the Procedure

You receive general anesthesia to remain asleep during cochlear implant surgery. Then your surgeon:

  1. Makes an incision (small cut) behind your ear 
  2. Creates a small opening in the bone behind your ear 
  3. Places the internal device underneath your skin 
  4. Creates a small opening in your cochlea
  5. Threads the electrodes through the opening in your cochlea 
  6. Closes the incision with stitches

Most people return home the same day as cochlear implant surgery. Adults need to arrange transportation, because you’re not allowed to drive for the rest of the day after having general anesthesia. 

After the Procedure

Your cochlear implant will remain inactive while you heal from surgery. You visit an audiologist within one to four weeks after surgery. The audiologist turns on the implant, adjusts the sound processor, and checks that the device is working.

You have follow-up visits with the audiologist or a speech-language pathologist to train your brain to understand the sounds you receive through the implant. Most people notice a difference within about a month after activating the implant. Reaching optimal hearing may take six to 12 months.

Cochlear implants are permanent. In the future, you’ll have regular appointments with the audiologist and ENT surgeon to ensure the device continues working properly.

Before

Before the Procedure

You meet with an audiologist to get a special hearing test before cochlear implant surgery. The audiologist discusses your test results and whether a cochlear implant may be right for you. You may also have imaging tests, such as a CT scan or MRI, to look at your cochlea and inner ear. 

An ear, nose, and throat (ENT) surgeon performs cochlear implant surgery. Before the procedure, you meet with the surgeon to discuss what to expect. They help you understand the expected outcome and rehabilitation after surgery.


close Before
During

During the Procedure

You receive general anesthesia to remain asleep during cochlear implant surgery. Then your surgeon:

  1. Makes an incision (small cut) behind your ear 
  2. Creates a small opening in the bone behind your ear 
  3. Places the internal device underneath your skin 
  4. Creates a small opening in your cochlea
  5. Threads the electrodes through the opening in your cochlea 
  6. Closes the incision with stitches

Most people return home the same day as cochlear implant surgery. Adults need to arrange transportation, because you’re not allowed to drive for the rest of the day after having general anesthesia. 


close During
After

After the Procedure

Your cochlear implant will remain inactive while you heal from surgery. You visit an audiologist within one to four weeks after surgery. The audiologist turns on the implant, adjusts the sound processor, and checks that the device is working.

You have follow-up visits with the audiologist or a speech-language pathologist to train your brain to understand the sounds you receive through the implant. Most people notice a difference within about a month after activating the implant. Reaching optimal hearing may take six to 12 months.

Cochlear implants are permanent. In the future, you’ll have regular appointments with the audiologist and ENT surgeon to ensure the device continues working properly.


close After

Our Clinics

Hearing Loss Program

The Hearing Loss Program brings together specially trained ENT specialists and audiologists who offer the highest level of care. We provide a range of treatments personalized to your needs. 

Hearing Loss Program
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Make An Appointment

To make an appointment with a cochlear implant specialist, call 650-723-5281