A cochlear implant is a surgically placed device that bypasses damaged parts of the inner ear and stimulates the hearing nerve directly, letting people with severe to profound hearing loss perceive sound. It pairs an internal implant with an external processor worn behind the ear.
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Pick your situation below for an instant indicative range. Your exact figure comes back within 1 hour of us seeing the audiogram and CT.
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The most implanted system in the world with the longest reliability record and the biggest audiologist familiarity — which matters when you go home to a smaller city. Perimodiolar electrode hugs the hearing nerve, off-the-ear and behind-the-ear processor options, MRI at 1.5T with the magnet in place.
Indicative ranges only. Final cost depends on brand and processor model, one ear or two, whether the cochlea is ossified or malformed, revision surgery, and how many mapping and therapy sessions you take locally. We share a written, itemised estimate before you travel and name the device model in it.
45 seconds to check if an implant makes sense for you
Four questions. No sign-up, no phone number.
Copy the numbers from your hearing test — one slider per frequency, in decibels. We draw the curve, show which everyday sounds are already missing, and tell you where you sit against implant criteria.
Frequency (Hz) across, loudness needed to hear (dB HL) down. Lower on the chart = worse hearing.
Educational estimate only. Candidacy is decided by aided speech testing, a CT and MRI of the cochlea and — in children — language development, not by the audiogram alone.
At this level hearing aids amplify noise rather than deliver speech. A cochlear implant is the established treatment and results in this group are the strongest. Send the reports today — we escalate these cases.
For a child born deaf, nothing else on this page matters as much as this slider. Move it to your child's age today and see the spoken-language outcome the evidence supports.
Still inside the critical window. The great majority reach normal spoken language with consistent daily wear and weekly auditory-verbal therapy.
of listening already missed against a 12-month implantation. This is the number that shrinks with every week you act sooner.
Based on published outcomes for children born profoundly deaf with consistent device use and therapy. Additional disabilities, inner-ear malformation and hours of daily wear all change it.
"Am I a candidate?" has no single answer. Find yourself below — the honest expectation is written into each one.
The clearest indication in all of ear surgery, and the most time-sensitive. Implanted before age 2 — ideally by 12 months — most children go to a normal school, speak their mother tongue and are hard to tell apart from hearing classmates. Every year of waiting costs measurable spoken-language ability.
If you once heard and spoke normally, the auditory brain is already trained and results are excellent — often open-set conversation within weeks. Post-lingual adults are the fastest group to succeed with an implant.
One dead ear with a normal ear on the other side. Implanting restores direction of sound, hearing in noise and, in many patients, dramatic relief of severe tinnitus in the deaf ear.
A failed device, an electrode that needs reinsertion, or adding an implant on the second ear years later. Both are routine at high-volume centres, and bilateral hearing is what makes noisy rooms and traffic safe.
Which implant brand is actually right for you?
All four are excellent. The differences that actually matter are MRI compatibility, electrode length, streaming, price and who can service it in your city. Tap one.
The surgery is the easy part. This is the timeline families actually live through — slide across it and see what each stage really sounds like.
The implant is inside and tested, but stays silent while the wound heals. Expect mild swelling behind the ear, some taste change and occasional dizziness for a few days.
Nobody benefits from oversold promises. This is the realistic picture at 6–12 months with daily wear and proper therapy.
From the first WhatsApp message to your one-year mapping review at home.
A pure-tone audiogram with aided results if available, BERA/ASSR or OAE for a child, any CT or MRI of the temporal bone, and a note on speech: what the patient can say and understand today.
A senior implant surgeon and an audiologist review the reports together and tell you honestly whether an implant is indicated, whether a hearing aid trial should come first, and which ear to do.
An itemised estimate with the implant and processor model named, plus a hospital invitation letter for the medical visa, usually issued in 2–4 hours, for the patient and attendants together.
High-resolution CT and MRI of the cochlea, repeat audiology, vestibular check, paediatric physician and anaesthetic clearance, meningococcal and pneumococcal vaccination if not already done.
General anaesthesia, a small incision behind the ear, electrode inserted through the round window, and intra-operative telemetry and neural-response testing to prove every electrode is working before you leave theatre.
A light dressing, oral antibiotics and painkillers. Most patients — including small children — eat normally the same evening. No hearing yet: the implant is not switched on until the wound has settled.
The moment families travel for. The processor is fitted and the audiologist sets each electrode's levels. Early sound is thin and robotic; that is normal and it changes fast over the following weeks.
Mapping sessions at week 1, 1 month, 3 months, 6 months and 1 year, plus auditory-verbal therapy weekly. We set up sessions with an audiologist near your home and review progress on WhatsApp.
These are typical results at high-volume partner programmes performing 200+ implants a year. Outcome depends far more on age at implantation, how long the ear was deaf and the therapy afterwards than on which brand is chosen.
Outcome tracks total hours of use more strongly than any other factor. Ten hours a day beats two hours a day, every time — for adults and children alike.
Rechargeable or disposable batteries, spare cables and coils, and a drying kit. Budget roughly $200 a year and keep one spare cable in every bag.
Pneumococcal and meningococcal vaccination before or soon after surgery, for life-long protection. Any middle-ear infection gets treated promptly, not watched.
You get a device identity card: some implants allow 3T MRI, others 1.5T or need magnet removal. Airport scanners are safe. Helmets for cycling, and take the processor off for contact sport.
The internal implant is designed to last decades. Every 5–7 years you can upgrade only the external processor to the newest technology — no second operation.
Mapping and auditory-verbal therapy do not need to happen abroad. We help you find an audiologist and therapist in your own city and share the mapping file with them.
No forms, no payment, no obligation. A senior implant surgeon and an audiologist read the reports together and tell you honestly whether an implant will help, which ear, which device and what it costs.
We reply on WhatsApp within 1 hour. Your reports are never shared with anyone else.
A cochlear implant needs two things travel-wise: a comfortable stay for a small child and a return for the switch-on. We plan both together so you are not flying twice without reason.
"Our son was 14 months and had never heard a sound. Both ears in one surgery, switch-on three weeks later. He said 'mama' before his second birthday."
"I lost my hearing after meningitis at 34. They warned us the cochlea was closing and moved fast. I take work calls again — I never thought I would."
"One dead ear and screaming tinnitus for six years. The implant quietened it in the first month. The written price never changed by a single dollar."
A hearing aid makes sound louder. A cochlear implant does something completely different: it bypasses the damaged hair cells of the inner ear altogether. A slim electrode array is threaded into the spiral of the cochlea, and an implanted receiver converts sound picked up by an external processor into tiny electrical pulses that stimulate the hearing nerve directly. The brain learns to read those pulses as speech. That is why it works when hearing aids no longer do — and why the result depends as much on the mapping and speech therapy afterwards as on the two-hour operation itself.
Still wondering what a cochlear implant really is? Read on
No forms, no payment, no obligation. A senior implant surgeon and an audiologist read the reports together and tell you honestly whether an implant will help, which ear, which device and what it costs.
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