A couple who were both born deaf
have been able to hear each other after the implantation of cochlear for the
first time ever since they got married.
According to sources, it took
about two years for Helen to convince Neil (husband) to accept the implant due
to the failure of other devices which were administered to them. Thus making
them the first couple in Britain to such device implanted in to them
simultaneously.
The devices were fitted at the
University of Southampton Audiology Implant Service (USAIS), where they
underwent surgery to have tiny electrodes implanted into their skulls.
The moment the devices were first
switched on was captured on video with Neil, 50, at first joking that he didn't
like the sound of his wife's voice.
But he also said: "I am
getting used to it now. It felt incredible, in a happy way. It felt really
emotional."
The implant is made up of two
components that sits on the internal and external region of the skull above the
ear and are fused by magnet.
Information from the processor on
the outside of the skull is sent to 16 electrodes on the inside, which then
send electrical pulses to the brain.
The implants will now have to be perfected,
though it is not clear how much hearing the couple will eventually recover.
Initially, cochlear implants were
only thought to benefit people who had recently lost their hearing and already
had speech and language skills.
Nevertheless Dr Mary Grasmeder
said they are increasingly being used to treat people who have been deaf since
birth.
"People who have been deaf
for some time don't have the same expectation of sound will be like, compared
with someone who has just lost their hearing," she said.
"Because their auditory
system is not so well developed it will be more difficult for them to process
the information and to understand it."
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