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January
2007
An
Ardmore family won their appeal on a decision made by medicaid that denied
their deaf child a second cochlear implant. At a hearing Tuesday in
Oklahoma City, the Johnson's met with a state attorney, who told them that
the state had decided to reverse it's decision. KTEN's Andrea Kurys has
the story. The Johnson's say this was a landmark case that will pave the
way for other deaf children who need bilateral implants. Their son Jacob
was born deaf. Medicaid paid for a cochlear implant to be installed in his
right ear, but denied them the second implant.
Full
Story
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January
2007
Many
cochlear implant recipients are happy with hearing from just one ear,
but even good-hearing cochlear implant recipients commonly have
difficulty hearing in noise. Even in mildly noisy situations, a single
cochlear implant does not seem loud or clear enough, in part because two
ears are needed to provide direction of sound, focus on a speaker, and
suppress extraneous sounds. A growing body of research now shows that
many of these deaf individuals benefit from bilateral (two ear) hearing
restoration with cochlear implants. Fascinating is that the same
physiological tools normal hearing folks use to hear better in noise
with two ears (binaural hearing) also help bilateral cochlear implant
individuals. Full
Story
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June 2007
Campbell feels passionately enough about the
importance of having two implants that she took Jared from their home in
Massachusetts to Madison to participate in a research project at the
university. There, Prof. Ruth Litovsky and others on her audiology
research team are trying to understand what difference bilateral
implants will make for whom and at what age. "We are finding that when they go from one to two
implants there is significant improvement," Litovsky said.
"But how much better does it have to be to justify two implants?
That debate is ongoing." Increasingly
the case is being made that two implants can be justified, especially
for kids whose brains are still malleable enough to adapt to the
electrical signals they get from the tiny little wire threaded into
their ears. Full
Story
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June 2007
The movie shows parents who were shocked that CIGNA
initially approved coverage for only one cochlear implant instead of two
for their deaf daughter. The toddler's father says in the film that CIGNA
apparently felt it was 'experimental to hear in two ears.' The father
calls CIGNA to say Moore has taken an interest in the case and asks, 'Has
your CEO ever been in a film before?' The film shows CIGNA's Philadelphia
headquarters and replays a taped phone call from a company representative,
cheerfully reporting the denial was reversed and two implants would be
covered.
Full Story
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June 2007
A couple forced to pay CHEO $30,000 for a procedure
to restore their daughter's hearing is lobbying to change the way the
government funds expensive medical treatments. As much as she tries, Josee
Mondoux can't understand how, in Ontario, a child could be left deaf in
one ear simply because the government -- which will spend $37 billion on
health care this year -- wants to save $30,000. Ms. Mondoux says there is
no excuse for what is happening to many deaf children in Ontario. She says
the children, including about 20 in Ottawa and, until recently, her
five-year-old daughter, Sydney, are being denied vital cochlear implants
because the government is not convinced that spending the money is
justified. "If you have problems with your eyes, they don't say we'll give
you one glass for one eye," she said. "I don't understand why they are
prepared to let children go deaf in one ear for the rest of their lives."
Full Story
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September 2008
The human auditory system possesses an amazing
ability to accept and integrate sensory information from two ears. The
ability to understand sound using two ears allows listeners to hear more
effectively in noisy environments and to determine the directionality of
sound. In this paper, we will discuss the binaural processing cues that
our auditory system uses to recognize sounds and to separate them into
different sound sources. We will also talk about ways to determine if two
cochlear implants are necessary for optimal speech perception and
localization performance or if one cochlear implant or one cochlear
implant and one hearing aid on the opposite ear is sufficient.
Full Story
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February 2011
Today I'll talk about bilateral cochlear
implantation and the benefits of having two implants in terms of speech
perception in quiet and in noise, localization ability and implications on
language development in children. I'll review the auditory perceptual
disadvantages caused by unilateral hearing loss, and the advantages of
bilateral hearing, which is the rationale for bilateral cochlear
implantation. I'll also contrast simultaneous and sequential implantation,
talk about pros and cons of each, and review some published literature. My
associate, Dr. Kathleen Highhouse, will review clinical case studies of
three adults who use bilateral cochlear implants (CI), two of whom were
implanted simultaneously.
Full Story
