This could completely change Cochlear Implants forever.

Hey guys, Cliff Olson, Doctor of Audiology and founder of Applied Hearing Solutions in Phoenix, Arizona. And in this video I'm talking about a fully implantable and 100% invisible Cochlear Implant.

So I have a hearing aid patient that I've been working with for the past five years or so that I've been virtually begging to get a Cochlear Implant because his hearing is so bad. I mean, his hearing is so bad that he can't even wear a hearing aid in one of his ears and in his opposite ear, his word recognition ability is so low that it provides him with almost no benefit at all. And one thing is for sure he would absolutely be able to hear better than what he does now if he'd be willing to get a Cochlear Implant.

However, the one thing holding him back from getting a Cochlear Implant isn't concerned about the surgery and it's not concern over the amount of benefit that he would get from it. It's the fact that he doesn't want anyone to see that he has a Cochlear Implant.

You see, a Cochlear Implant is a device that's used by individuals when they are no longer receiving benefit from traditional hearing aids. In fact, if your better hearing ear has a pure tone average of 60 decibels or higher, and in that same ear you have a word recognition score of 60% or lower, then you should be considering a Cochlear Implant candidacy evaluation because you yourself may actually get more benefit from a Cochlear Implant.

Now the purpose of this video is not to discuss whether or not you should get a Cochlear Implant. If you would like to learn more about this process and whether or not you might be a candidate, you can check out that video that I'll link in the description.

That being said, individuals who get a traditional cochlear implant not only have an implanted portion of the implant, but they also have an external processor that they have to wear. The internal portion of a Cochlear Implant consists of a receiver and a magnet that is implanted under the skin and an electrode array that is implanted into the cochlea, which is your hearing organ. The external portion of a Cochlear Implant consists of a processor that has microphones to pick up sound and either a disposable battery or rechargeable batteries and a transmitter that also has a magnet that holds the transmitter over the receiver that was implanted under the scalp.

When a sound is picked up by the external processor, it converts that sound into an electrical signal that is passed through the scalp from the transmitter to the receiver and travels down the electrode array to stimulate the auditory nerve directly with electric impulses. This clever way of stimulating the auditory nerve completely bypasses all of the damage structures inside of the cochlea that prevents you from getting benefit from a hearing aid.

Now, Cochlear Implants are the closest thing that I have seen to a medical miracle. They are basically capable of taking someone who has absolutely no hearing in one of their ears and allows them to hear again. However, just like my patient, there are a lot of people out there who would benefit significantly from the use of a Cochlear Implant. They just don't want to have to wear the external processor.

Now, things have changed a lot with these Cochlear Implant processors over the past decade or so. You no longer have to wear a processor that goes on top of your ear. You can an off the ear processor like the Rondo or the Canso, and some people just do not want their processor to be seen. And even though hearing aids have gotten so small over the past several years to the point where really no one knows that you're wearing them, Cochlear Implants just aren't quite there yet.

And this is what makes a fully implantable 100% invisible Cochlear Implant. So exciting. But before I tell you all about this new type of Cochlear Implant, if you could do me a huge favor and click the like button, it really helps out the channel. And if you are not yet subscribed to the channel with notifications turned on, go ahead and do that as well. It's greatly appreciated. And let me know down in the comment section if you would be willing to get a traditional Cochlear Implant.

Now, some of you may be aware of Envoy Medical already because they have a fully implantable hearing aid called the Esteem that I talked about in this video right here. And yes, I will also link that down in the description for you. And just like the esteem, the Acclaim Cochlear Implant from Envoy Medical does not require an external processor, which makes it 100% invisible.

But how does it work? Well, the Acclaim Cochlear Implant consists of an internal battery pack that is implanted under the skin of your chest with a wire that provides power to the processor that is implanted under your scalp, behind your ear. The implant actually uses your own eardrum as the microphone, which then stimulates a electric sensor that is attached to the incus bone in your middle ear. This sensor is able to pick up the vibration of sound and sends this information up to the processor and then converts it into an electrical impulse that travels down to an electrode array inside of your cochlea. And just like a traditional Cochlear Implant stimulates your auditory nerve through electrical impulses instead of acoustic stimulation.

I mean, mind blown right Now, the secret to making this type of Cochlear Implant work is the implantable battery pack that is rechargeable and lasts up to a couple of days before you have to charge it and the ability to use your eardrum as the actual microphone. These two things are what allow you to be able to use this type of Cochlear Implant without having anything external.

Now, not only is the acclaim completely invisible, but it also has some other unique benefits. First, it is 100% waterproof because it is completely inside of your body, so you can jump in the shower, you can jump in the pool, and there's nothing to actually get wet. And second, you could technically still wear a hearing aid, an earbud or a pair of headphones because it's using your own eardrum to pick up the vibration of sound. So if you want to use the features of those different devices, you can still do it.

However, there is a catch that might make you a little bit upset with me, so I'm going to apologize before I tell you this, but the acclaim is not yet FDA approved. They are still going through clinical trials, so you cannot actually get it yet. Although recently a feasibility study completed at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota had three participants that were implanted with this particular Cochlear Implant, and they were able to hear after implantation, which is extremely exciting news.

In this feasibility study, they identified a variety of different things that could be limitations to using this particular type of a Cochlear Implant. First and foremost, you have to have enough space inside of your middle ear to be able to have this electric sensor. You also have to have an intact eardrum because remember, your eardrum is the actual microphone for this particular Cochlear Implant, and you cannot have any middle ear pathologies or ear disease that is going to prevent you from being able to use this device.

The surgery is more complex to implant this particular type of Cochlear Implant, but I have faith that pretty much every neurotologist would be able to learn this new method without too many issues. The programming of the Acclaim Cochlear Implant, on the other hand, is relatively complex at this point, and there just isn't enough patients who have been fit with it to determine how it should be programmed for optimal hearing ability. However, as more people are implanted, I do expect them to get significantly better at this in the future.

And for some reason, the implant is creating too much internal noise, which means that they are not able to increase the volume, so to speak, of the signal that you're receiving. So some individuals are not getting the full amount of benefit from this Cochlear Implant yet. In fact, I think this is how they identified that actually using a hearing aid in the implanted ear provides additional benefit to individuals who are using this type of Cochlear Implant, which is pretty cool.

Now, there is no long-term data as to the effectiveness of this particular type of Cochlear Implant because they just haven't had people implanted for that long. So we will need several years to identify does this have good longevity and does it have good performance? This is why it'll be so interesting once they start having larger scale clinical trials.

Nevertheless, this is some extremely exciting news for individuals who may need a Cochlear Implant and for all the audiologists out there who are trying to encourage their patients to get Cochlear Implants instead of using hearing aids, but they just don't want to because they don't wanna have that external processor.

With all that said, as Envoy Medical continues to pioneer the world of invisible hearing devices like the Esteem Hearing Aid and the Acclaim Cochlear Implant, it is extremely important that you treat your hearing loss as soon as humanly possible. I mean, that is if you want to potentially slow down your rate of hearing loss or if you even wanna lower your risk for cognitive decline in dementia later in life.

And if you're looking for a high quality hearing care professional who is committed to helping you find the best current solution for your hearing loss, make sure that you check out my website hearing up.com to find a hearing up network member in your area. All hearing up members have been vetted and are committed to following comprehensive Audiologic best practices to ensure that you are able to hear your absolute best with whatever hearing treatment is right for you.

So if you happen to live in North America or even Australia, and hearing your absolute best is your top priority, going to hearing up.com and finding a hearing up member in your area is the best decision you will ever make.

At the end of the day, we already know that Cochlear Implants are amazing pieces of technology, but some people do not want their Cochlear Implant processors to be seen, and Envoy Medical is right on the doorstep of making that a possibility. If you're excited about invisible Cochlear Implants, please let me know down in the comment section below. And if you'd like to learn more about Envoy Medical and what they've got going on, make sure that you check out their website, EnvoyMedical.com