Sensorineural Hearing Loss and Candidacy
Cochlear implants are specifically designed for sensorineural hearing loss, which usually involves damage to the "hair cells" in the cochlea. When these cells are absent or non-functional, sound vibrations cannot be converted into electrical impulses.
Adult Candidacy: Adults with moderate-to-profound hearing loss in both ears who receive little to no benefit from hearing aids (typically defined as scoring 50% or less on sentence recognition tests).
Pediatric Candidacy: Children as young as 9 to 12 months with profound hearing loss. Early implantation is critical for the development of speech and language centers in the brain.
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