Since 1990, over 370 people have obtained a new sensation of hearing with their cochlear implant and the University of Southampton’s South of England Cochlear Implant Centre currently manages over 350 patients with cochlear implants.
Julie Brinton, Joint Head of the South of England Cochlear Implant Centre (SOECIC) at the University, says:
‘Rehabilitation is required after implantation to promote optimal benefit from the device, especially in the case of young children who may never have heard before. Younger and younger patients, some as young as 12 months old, are receiving implants, since these children get the greatest benefit from the device by learning to use it at a critical period in their development.’
The South of England Cochlear Implant Centre is part of the Institute of Sound and Vibration Research (ISVR), one of the University of Southampton’s most famous research centres. It was established in 1990 to help severely to profoundly deaf adults and children.
The Centre assesses the benefit that patients could derive from a cochlear implant, arranges for the surgical implant to be carried out and then trains the patient to use the system over a period of about a year.
