Cochlear Implants celebrate milestone

NEW HAVEN, Conn. (WTNH) -- 30-years-ago, it was hailed as a significant breakthrough for the hearing impaired. Cochlear implants are celebrating a milestone anniversary.

"So how does the sound quality of my voice sound?" Bernadette Palmese said.

"It sounds great," Maureen Vonick said.

Maureen Vonick has worn hearing aids for most of her life.

"I was diagnosed with nerve deafness," Vonick said.

But sought out cochlear implants.

"I was depending more and more on my lip reading skills," Vonick said.

When hearing aids were not as effective. Now, simple things are crystal clear.

"Yeah that's the noise I hear. That's your directional signal in your car, you never heard that? I said no, I never heard that before. I didn't know they made noise," Vonick said.

Bernadette Palmese is an audiologist at the Yale Hearing and Balance Center.

"30 years ago, you had to have a profound hearing loss in both ears to be eligible," Palmese said. "A lot of times these people were deemed as unteachable or uneducated when it fact they really just couldn't hear."

Now more and more people with varying degrees of hearing loss are eligible. Here's how it works.

"This part is implanted under the skin for the physician while their in surgery," Palmese explained.

What's implanted inside the ear, into the cochlea, is the electrode array. An external sound processor is worn by the patient.

"The sound is entered through the external, travels down into the electrode array and then the electrode array is stimulating different areas of the cochlea," Palmese said.

Enabling people like Maureen to hear.

"I've gained so much confidence in myself," Vonick said.

In the past 30 years, the devise has grown smaller, more compact and runs on rechargeable batteries, with more advancements coming soon.

"There is the option down the road for what we all hybrid cochlear implant, which is part hearing aid and part cochlear implant for patients who have good low frequency hearing and poor high frequency hearing," Palmese said.

Meanwhile, quality of life is no longer an issue for Maureen Vonick.

"I don't feel alienated anymore when I'm in a group of people," Vonick said.

For more information, a free seminar is being held in New Haven on Saturday, Oct 20 from 8:30 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. at the Omni Hotel at Yale, located at 155 Temple Street.

Light beverages will be provided and parking will be free or validated upon leaving.