In 90 minutes, lives are forever changed

By Joseph Gallivan

The Portland Tribune, May 1, 2007, Updated Oct 30, 2009

A cochlear implant is not a standard hearing aid. It’s a medical miracle and a taste of the future where machines will interface directly with the body.

The device consists of an array of 24 electrodes that pass electrical signals from a microphone and processor directly to the auditory nerve and thence to the brain. (Adults with implants who could once hear compare the sound quality to the voice you hear on a telephone, that is, tinny yet rich enough to carry nuanced meaning.)

By drilling a hole the size of a dime in the skull behind the ear, the surgeon bypasses the bones of the middle ear to implant the tiny electrodes right next to the auditory nerve.

Sean McMenomy of Oregon Health & Science University was Aliyah Huget’s surgeon and sees her annually. “Her progression has been wonderful,” he says.

The procedure, which McMenomy does several times a day, takes 90 minutes, and the patient goes home that day.

McMenomy has done it on a 94-year-old and on a 7-month-old, and says working with young children is ideal because they still have central nervous system plasticity.

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