by Neil Bauman, Ph.D.
A man wrote:
I had sudden hearing loss and need your help. If you had to have a cochlear implant today, which implant would you have, and where would you have it done?
Fortunately for me, I live close to one of the best cochlear implant surgeons, Dr. John Niparko at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore. (It’s only about 50 miles away.) Therefore, that would be my first choice. Don’t get me wrong. There are good CI centers scattered around the country, but Dr. John is one of the top rated CI surgeons anywhere.
As for which brand to select, you have three choices—Cochlear Americas, Advanced Bionics or MedEl. All three are about equal—that is, you will hear about the same with any of them.
Be sure to check out the reliability and track record of each of the CI manufacturers. They are all different. Decide which seems best for you.
Also, since the CI manufacturers are always coming out with new features, and leapfrogging over each other, the CI I’d choose today may not be the same make or model I’d choose tomorrow. Therefore, when the time comes that you need to make your decision, look carefully at the features that are available for each make. Then consider which features are important to you for your own specific lifestyle and situation.
For example, if you will need MRIs in the future, you may want to choose the CI with the highest Tesla rating without having to have the internal magnet temporarily surgically removed before you can have an MRI.
Some CIs have much longer battery life than others, so this may be a consideration.
Also, if music is important to you, then you may want to choose the CI with the most electrodes (currently 120 “virtual” electrodes) and the best music strategies (maps).
Perhaps the appearance of the external parts is important to you, or the specific controls, or the accessories available, or the kind of maps provided. There are so many features—and only you know which of them are important to you.
You also want to check to see if the model you choose can be upgraded when new technology becomes available without having to have the implanted part taken out and replaced.
The above are some of the “physical” things to look for. However, these are relatively minor when compared to two major things you want to check out.
First, of course, is getting an experienced CI surgeon. Get one that has done many cochlear implants and has an excellent track record.
Besides having a good CI surgeon, the next most important thing is to have an audiologist that is experienced in the brand of CI you are getting. You want someone that can program the best maps for you, because this is what ultimately gives you your hearing back. At the same time, you want your CI audiologist to be located reasonably close to you since you will be going back for a good number of mappings in the coming months and years. You don’t want to have to fly across the country every time you need your map changed.
Sometimes some of the above decisions will already have been made for you. For example, certain doctors and implant centers only implant certain makes—so if you want a given doctor, you have to go with the makes he implants. Likewise, your CI audiologist may have expertise in just certain makes—so choose a make that they are expert at mapping.
This is just a sampling of some of the things I’d consider. As you can see, there are a lot of factors to consider. All things being equal, go with the CI that comes out on top in your rating of each of the above factors as you see it.
I have bi-lateral Meniere’s and was recently approved as a candidate for a cochlear implant. Your article mentions one surgeon in Baltimore as being “one of the top rated CI surgeons anywhere”. Could you tell me how us non-medical people can find a list or ranking of CI Surgeons? What was your source that told you Dr. Naparko was top rated? A medical journal? A magazine article? I’d love to see the source so I could find a top rated CI surgeon near me. Thank you.
Hi Maggie:
As far as I know, there is no list ranking CI surgeons as such. What you need to do is “listen around” and see who’s name comes up the most often in relation to cochlear implant surgery; who is thought of most highly; who has a particularly good success ratio; who has done hundreds or thousands of CI surgeries; etc.
When you do this you’ll hear names like John Niparko and other good CI surgeons. Those are the ones you want to go to.
Neil
My sister, Vickie, just had a acoustic benign neuroma removed at Mayo last year. They preserved the nerve so she can get a cochlear implant. She lives in Louisville, Ky. We need a good physician and audiologist in the area. She can drive 1-3 hours for surgery, but would like to have an audiologist fairly close due to number of trips. Do you have any recommendations for that region or area? Please help.
Hi Kathy:
For your information acoustic neuromas are always benign. They are not cancerous.
I don’t keep track of who is good or not and where they are. A good source of such information is to join one of the cochlear implant groups on-line and ask there. A particularly good group since it includes all brands and there is no infighting about which brand is the best is the CI group of the SayWhatClub.org. This is a closed group so you have to “apply” to join, but that is very easy.
Cordially,
Neil
Hi there,
I just wanted to comment that there is NO cochlear implant system with 120 electrodes- its a marketing gimmick by a company- the implant has only 16 electrodes and they claim that they can create intermediate pitches- which not all recipients can actually hear! so, look for the company which has been around for the longest time, the reliability – available on all websites and the performance data.
regards,
Robert.
Mine has 24 electrodes
How did you find your surgeon. And is your surgery successful?
One thing I wanted to add is that a person researching Cochlear Implants will want to look at the facts of electrodes:
I can’t remember the exacts, but I know one co, maybe MedEl, has 16 electrodes that are always firing. Cochlear America’s strategy has 4 that are firing for a sound, but has a larger range–22 electrodes. (Correct me if I’m wrong.)
The Freedom is the most common CI, hands down. Most people have it, most can relate to it, and the most support is out there for that model. I don’t know if it’s the best, but I love it.
What i hae gathered that most of the companies manufacturing cochlear implants hae tie up finacially with the surgeons, so it is the doc whereeer he had tied up with the company prefers the implant.
It is utmost important that the doc performing the implant should have some credibility.
I am first venturing out into this. I am looking for a Great Dr. first. I figured I would start there. Then find out more about the newest implants. I know today things have finally moved forward.Being aware of the latest ci not seen at all. Sounds awesome but they still have to remove all inside the ear. I am wondering if the next step has started. Meaning not to remove anything inside and work it from NORMAL. I truly CANT belIeve that with all this crazy technology over PHONES,TVS,MUSIC,GAMES AND ALL THAT ARE SO FAR ADVANCED THAT MEDICAL SCIENCE CANT MAKE IMPLANTS PERFECT. IM STILL WAITING. I DO BELIEVE IT CAN BE DONE. PLS. RESPOND. I NEED TO MEET PEOPLE IN THE SAME SITUATION AS ME. THANK YOU SOMUCH.
Please help me with the advice of the most advanced technology in Cochlear Nucleus Implant for my child as to have the surgery in which place with the clinic’s name and the surgeon’s and audiologist’s names . We live in the capital city of Bangladesh , Dhaka . My child has a profound hearing loss in his left ear and severe to profound hearing loss in his right ear . As in our country we don’t have the facilities please help me with your valuable suggestion as my child is now 13 years old and he is going to a normal school and is competing with the normal hearing students . He uses hearing aids and reads the lips and my baby is now very eager himself to go far a Cochlear Nucleus Implant and us as well . We don’t know which would be the best clinic for my baby . Please help us as we want to give him the best treatment in the most advanced technology which is available in recent days . Looking forward desperately for your valuable reply .
Regards,
Dina
Is cochlear implant very popular in this society? Which one is the best, brand of cochlear implant that people appreaciate to wear?
Thank you
Karen
Hello, My son has been profoundly deaf with other challenges since birth he is now 29 years old and has always worn hearing aides. Now that i have the money i would like to help him with a C/Implant. We live in Greenville SC 2.5 hours from Atlanta Ga. and 1.5 hours from Charlot NC (large cities) Please i would like advice on the best surgeon’s and hospitals near us? Looking forward for your help. Jessica
Jessica. I went for an audiology evaluation in January at MUSC in Charleston. Their ENT department is highly ranked on the US News & World Reports hospital ranking. The scheduling department fit me in on short notice. The audiologists that met with me were delightful and very helpful. I did not meet with the doctor, but this hospital would be very close to you. Hope this helps. I don’t know what is in Atlanta or Charlotte, so I can’t speak for those cities.
Y’all hit the nail on the head. The marketing junk out there doesn’t mean it’s what you’ll hear. Anyone can say anything about a product. Sometimes the government will interfere with false data but often times they don’t know what’s real and what isn’t.
Music … speech recognition … it’s also about how our brains will adapt. You SHOULD look for FDA recalls, though. Consider one company that had recalls for meningitis in 2003. They boldly shut down in 2011 to correct this (and other horrible problems few people reported – I don’t want to be one of those few). Do I respect the company for shutting down without the government on them? Personally, no. It took them 8 years to do this.
It’s a tough gamble on a money-making industry. Be as careful as you can be. Don’t believe the marketing brochures because they’re made to sell not turn away business.
Good luck. I’m a very reluctant candidate right now and in the end, I may opt to simply go deaf.
My daughter has been deaf for 10 years , suffering from SSHL at age 9. There is no guarantee to speech discrimination, then we have decided to wait for research to reverse deafness. Injections of the Atol1 are being performed on humans via University of Kansas. My daughter can’t hear her own voice, uses English Sign & lipreads. She is an adult now, she has made her decision to continue to wait. BTW, people implanted are not eligible for this trial…when in doubt, don’t.
Does ur daughter have good speech skills if not she may not be a candidate…one of my qualification was that i had to have decent speech or speech that can be improved for communication thats why they implant mosty deaf before learning to talk or ppl who have lost there hearing but have decent speech skills
I have been diagnosed with meniere’s more than 30 years ago. My hearing hearing has progressiveley lessened both of my ears after each vertigo attack, left ear is now totally deaf and the right ear profound to severe. We lived in Orlando,Florida and my doctor said cochlea implant is available only in Tampa, Florida. What is the best clinic and ENT surgeon in Tampa, Florida or Miami, FLorida. My deep appreciation for any information.
I live in Coimbatore Tamilnad state India and I am 60 and need a implant surgery for my left ear.
So pls suggest the best and we’ll experienced cochlear implant surgeon in our country India pls.
Hi Ramachandran:
I can’t help you with finding the best CI surgeon in India, but perhaps someone from India reading this may have the answer.
Cordially,
Neil
Hi Dr. Neil
My 5 year old daughter is suffering from severe hearing loss. Audiologist at UHealth Miami recommended cochlear implant. We are waiting on appointments for cochlear implant evaluation. However, we want to take her to best cochlear implant center and best surgeon. Can you please name few of them in the country. I will be very grateful.
Hi Hina:
There are a number of good cochlear implant centers in the country. And there are a number of good cochlear implant surgeons. Just as important, you want to find a good cochlear implant audiologist to program the implant from time to time.
Here are just three great CI centers:
Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary in Boston, Massachusetts
Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota
House Ear Clinic in Los Angeles, CA
Here is a website that lists the best CI surgeons in his opinion. And he has also left out lots of good ones too. The link is:
http://p3nlhclust404.shr.prod.phx3.secureserver.net/SharedContent/redirect_0.html
Cordially,
Neil
I know this list of CI centers was provided in 2017, however, the House Ear Clinic in Los Angeles currently only has one audiologist for cochlear implant mapping and it takes anywhere from 4-8 weeks to get an appt…it’s very frustrating
Any thoughts on the best surgeon for a single sided implant for a 3 year old in Houston, Texas? He has enlarged vestibular acqueducts and some other cochlear malformations. Thanks.
Hi Randy:
Sorry, can’t help you there. Maybe someone reading this knows. I’d join one of the on-line CI lists and ask who they recommend.
Cordially,
Neil
I had a very successful Cochlear Implant (Med El) from Stanford Univ (2017) in Palo Alto, CA – Dr. Nikolas Blevins. No problems whatsoever, excellent audiologists. Stanford’s Medical Record systems is an uncoordinated mess, so just keep track of your own records.
I live in Chicago IL looking for the best CI surgeon in the midwest can you advise.
Thank you all for being so helpful. I am just starting to search for all you have talked about! Thank you.
I’m searching for a good CI surgeon in the Nashville TN area for my 77 year old mother. She is completely deaf in her left ear and has had two cysts removed from her right ear. Because of the two previous surgeries on her right ear, her speach recognition is only 32% now. I’m not confident her current surgeon, Dr. Mitchell Schwarber is the right one for this type of surgery.
Hi Janet:
Sorry, I can’t help you there. I don’t keep track of who is good with few exceptions. Maybe someone reading this has some ideas.
Cordially,
Neil
Looking for recs for CI surgeons in Boston. We started with Mass Eye & Ear but like the facility and staff better at Children’s hospital but have hear good things about Dr. Lee at Mass Eye & Ear so were torn again…
Hi Link:
Since no one is publishing the actual statistics comparing various CI manufacturer’s results, no one really knows. They are all good. So do your own evaluations between them and choose the one you like the best.
Here is a link to a physical comparison chart that can help you decide which one you like best.
https://cochlearimplanthelp.files.wordpress.com/2019/02/cochlearimplantcomparisonchart_v8.1b.pdf
Cordially,
Neil
Hi Ask:
Read this article again.
Cordially,
Neil