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Cochlear implants are small, electronic devices that can be surgically implanted to enable profoundly deaf children and adults who are not helped by traditional hearing aids to hear better. The May 19, 2004, issue of JAMA includes an article about cochlear implantation in children, and the May 2004 issue of the Archives of Otolaryngology Head & Neck Surgery is a theme issue devoted to this topic.

HEARING

• Sound waves funneled into the ear cause the tympanic membrane (eardrum) to vibrate.
  
• These vibrations are transmitted across a bridge formed by 3 small bones to the cochlea of the inner ear.
  
• The fluid-filled cochlea contains hair cells that sense vibrations transmitted through the fluid.
  
• The hair cells trigger impulses in the auditory (hearing) nerve that transmit to the brain where they are interpreted as sound.
  

Sharon Parmet, MS, Writer; Cassio Lynm, MA, Illustrator; Richard M. Glass, MD, Editor

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ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT