cochlear implant

noun

: an electronic prosthetic device that enables individuals with sensorineural hearing loss to recognize some sounds and consists of an external microphone and speech processor and one or more electrodes implanted in the cochlea

Example Sentences

Recent Examples on the Web

In the lab’s back room, another model shows the second half of the concept: There, the e-nose sensor transmits its signal to a small array of electrodes taken from a cochlear implant. —IEEE Spectrum, 17 Oct. 2022

Above his right ear was a cochlear implant. —Keith Bierygolick, The Enquirer, 21 May 2021

About halfway through the film, Ahmed’s character, Ruben, who has lost his hearing after years spent touring as a heavy metal drummer, decides to get a cochlear implant, a neuroprosthetic device that stimulates the auditory nerves to create the sensation of hearing. —New York Times, 25 Mar. 2021

The trip is unforgettably visceral with intricate sound design, seemingly bringing viewers directly into the musician's head, from experiencing the sudden loss of hearing to the static buzzing of voices after Ruben takes the momentous, controversial step of undergoing cochlear implant surgery. —USA Today, 22 Apr. 2021

Research shows cochlear implant success is uneven. —Kristina Bernhardt, The Conversation, 31 Aug. 2020

This decreased the gap between the nerve and the cochlear implant, and improved communication between the two. —Breanna Draxler, Discover Magazine, 23 Apr. 2014

The beams of light can be controlled with a level of specificity that helps solve cochlear implant wearers’ major complaints, including voices that sound flat and robotic, stripped of the subtle inflections that help communicate things like sarcasm. —IEEE Spectrum, 24 Aug. 2022

Four-year-old Sawyer Lenglin heard his family for the first time after undergoing cochlear implant surgery in Toronto, Canada. —Carissa Quiambao, USA TODAY, 22 Feb. 2023

See More

Word History

First Known Use

1967, in the meaning defined above

Medical Definition

cochlear implant

noun

: an electrical prosthetic device that enables individuals with sensorineural hearing loss to recognize some sounds and that consists of an external microphone and speech processor that receive and convert sound waves into electrical signals which are transmitted to one or more electrodes implanted in the cochlea where they stimulate the auditory nerve

cochlear implantation noun