Audiologists at our University have conducted what is thought to be the first remote switch-on of a cochlear implant in the UK, allowing a young girl to hear for the first time.
Staff at the University of Southampton Auditory Implant Service (USAIS) are currently unable to see patients at their clinic due to the COVID-19 emergency measures. However, they were keen to get 18-month-old Margarida Cibrao-Roque, from Camberley in Surrey, using her new implants as soon as possible.
With some ingenious thinking, the team worked out a way to conduct their tests over the internet – connecting two computers, utilising specialist software and hardware and monitoring progress via video link.
Professor Helen Cullington of both USAIS and the University’s Institute of Sound and Vibration Research (ISVR) conducted the switch-on from her home – linking remotely to Margarida’s parents’ home. She explains: “Usually we do the switch-on of a cochlear implant at our clinic at the University, but with some technical creativity and some advice from colleagues in Australia, we were able to do everything necessary over the internet. The session went really well and everyone was thrilled with the outcome.”
A cochlear implant is an electronic device that can help both children and adults with severe to profound hearing loss. Microphones on an external speech processor pick up sound, which is then transmitted as electrical signals to an internal device placed inside the inner ear during an operation. The brain interprets these signals as sound.
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