Welcome to Day Six of Stink Week 2016!
Day 6: Cochlear Implants
REMINDER: Every day of Stink Week we will be posting information to learn and challenges to try! Remember to come back every day to learn, share, and let us know how it all goes! If you share more of the facts and challenges during the day, you can log back in again at the end of the day and let us know that too!
Facts
1. Sometimes hearing aids don’t help children with hearing loss because their inner ear isn’t working well enough to receive the sounds made louder by the hearing aid. In these cases a cochlear implant (sometimes called a CI) can help them hear.
2. A cochlear implant is a surgically implanted device that helps overcome problems in the inner ear, or cochlea. A CI turns sound into an electronic stimulus, which is then sent to the auditory nerve for the brain to translate into sound.
- Sound goes through a speech processor/microphone worn behind the ear.
- The transmitter on the outside of the ear sends the sound information to an internal receiver/simulator using a radio-frequency link.
- The receiver/stimulator then sends electrical pulses to electrodes inserted into the inner ear that stimulate the auditory nerve and sends the sound information to the brain.
3. Children have to take their processesor and transmitter (which is held on to the head by a magnet) when they are playing where there may be static electricity, like going down a slide or jumping on a trampoline. The static could cause problems with their CI. This is another opportunity to use sign language!
Challenges
Challenge #1: Remember reading about 'Blue Ear on Day 5? He's the new Marvel Comics' hero with a hearing aid. Click here to read a comic with 'Blue Ear' and a new hero with cochlear implants:http://read.marvel.com/#/labelbook/40645
Challenge #2: When children hear sound through their CI for the first time, there is usually a lot of excitement. Click here to see a girl hear her own voice for the first time: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oyY2JfM1RlM
