Today at 14:04
Kyiv celebrated Cochlear Implant Day on Sunday, May 13.
A cochlear implant is a prosthesis that gives people the ability to hear. Ukrainian children who had surgery to implant the device, showed that modern technologies work miracles. They allow for a life complete with sound.
Sofiya Medvedenko, one of the children that UATV interviewed, was able to learn dancing thanks to a cochlear implant. She had surgery when she was just over a year old to get the device implanted.
The sound processor of the device is outside the skin and worn behind the ear. It contains a microphone and a coil which transmits a signal to the implant. The implant has a coil to receive the signal. The implant is installed under the skin, and the little electrode, is inserted in the cochlea. The processor hangs on the ear. There is a control button, and there is a remote controller, which allows to change presets and control the volume.
The implant is effective even when an ordinary hearing aid is powerless. It can overcome a severe diagnosis such as a total loss of hearing, if the patient undergoes the surgery in an early age and completes the rehabilitation process. The device costs about $25,000.
