Swedish

Nothing can spark tears in my eyes faster than a YouTube video of an activation of a cochlear implant. It is such a powerful and miraculous thing to see how technology can change someone’s life. When the patient hears their own breathing or the voice of a loved one for the first time it is truly something magical.

As someone who is very interested in the auditory system, I was very excited to find follow what Swedish Medical Center did this past October. They live-tweeted and live Instagrammed a cochlear implant procedure in a 79 year old woman named Mrs. Day. A cochlear implant is a tiny electronic devices embedded into the spiral of the cochlea (inner ear) in surgery that has been simplified in recent years. They replace the function of the inner ear by sending sounds in the form of electrical signals from an external microphone, directly to the hearing nerve and to the brain through a very thin wire called an electrode.

It was exciting and so interesting to see what the inside of the cochlea looks like and how the procedure is done in a first person perspective.  It was also fascinating to see the procedure from start to finish as well as the activation of the implant. One patient at all points of the procedure.  Watching Mrs. Day hearing music for the first time is very humbling, she doesn't know what song it is but she enjoys the music just the same. 

When Swedish was asked why they were doing this, they explained “We're learning from our patients how hard it is to access information if you are deaf or have hearing loss, and, per a study in The Lancet, how this impacts the quality of healthcare. And so we decided to create additional resources to help raise awareness about the option of cochlear implants”

(graphic: above is the cochlear implant electrode going into the cochlea #SwedishHear) 

This is such a unique opportunity for anyone to see inner workings of your ear. Make sure to check out Swedish.org and follow them on Twitter at @SwedishHear

To see the procedure, hop over to: Swedish Live Blog CI procedure

Mashable also has a great article about the procedure as well