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The Cochlear Implant Centre, a joint project with the Department of Surgery, the University of Hong Kong, which started in 1989, is dedicated to the assessment, auditory habilitation, and post-operative management of hearing impaired persons with profound deafness.  　     

Adopting a team approach in cochlear implant project, the steering committee consists of ENT doctors, audiologists, linguists, speech therapists and social workers.  Apart from following a set of stringent selection criteria for implantees, the Society also attaches great importance to the provision of a comprehensive aural rehabilitation programme for the recipients -- including tuning of speech processor, training on discrimination of Cantonese vowels, consonants and tones, communication strategy, speech tracking as well as topic discussion.  Counselling and guidance in helping the recipients to adapt to the use of the implanted device are also provided. 　
more about cochlear implant 　

Enquiries

The Hong Kong Society for the Deaf -- Cochlear Implant Centre
Address : 6/F., Sheung Mei House, Sheung Tak Estate, Tseung Kwan O
Tel No.  : 2711 1974
Fax No. : 2761 4390
E-mail   : counsellor@deaf.org.hk

Department of Surgery, the University of Hong Kong ENT Unit, Queen Mary Hospital
Address : S3 Queen Mary Hospital, 102 Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong
Tel No.  : 2855 3388
Fax No. : 2855 3464

Information extracted from the "Cochlear Implants (Issues & Answers)" of Cochlear Pty. Limited (Australia) 　

What is a Cochlear Implant?

A cochlear implant is an electronic device which provides useful hearing and improved communication ability for persons who have a profound hearing loss, including those with nerve deafness. 　    

Cochlear implantation is an accepted medical procedure for the treatment of profound sensorineural hearing loss in adults and children.  The cochlear implant bypasses the damaged hearing organ in the deaf person and directly stimulates the hearing nerves and pathways.

A person should consider an implant when the hearing loss has become so great that no significant benefit from a hearing aid or a vibrotactile aid is obtained.

If a child doesn't receive significant benefit from hearing or vibrotactile aids, a cochlear implant should be considered as soon as practical.  In general, the shorter the period of auditory deprivation the better.  Delays in providing sound sensations, especially to any profoundly hearing-impaired child, can compromise training with the implant and reduce its ultimate benefit.

Recipients of the Cochlear Implant, called the Mini System 22, receive a wide range of sound information.  Although the implant will not produce or restore normal hearing, it does enable the individual to hear most environmental sounds and speech at comfortable loudness levels.  It enhances lipreading, aids voice monitoring and helps speech production.  Many implant users can understand speech using hearing alone without the necessity of lipreading.

Only the professionals in a Cochlear Implant Clinic can advise whether an implant will suit a particular individual or not.

The following is a list of general criteria that should be considered as a guide in deciding on a cochlear implant:

• profound sensorineural hearing loss in both ears
• age 2 years or older
• little or no benefit in understanding speech through hearing aids or a vibrotactile device
• no contraindications to implant surgery or post implant training
• a feeling that being able to understand sounds would enhance their life
• a high degree of motivation and appropriate expectations
• for children, an educational setting that emphasises development of auditory skills

The implant does not restore hearing to normal and therefore the sound the implant gives will be different to normal hearing.  Also the implant operation alone does not ensure satisfactory use and benefit.  Children and adults will need training to help them learn to effectively interpret the sounds from the implant. 　     

Although many implant users are able to use the telephone, others will not be able to use the telephone and will still need to lipread as well as listening with the implant to understand conversation. 　     

Motivation, support of family and friends play an important role in how successful an implant user will be and if these are missing, success may be compromised.