SMC gives back voice to 31 people, clears Cochlear implant waiting list

TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Salmaniya Medical Complex has announced providing Cochlear implants to all 31 people on their waiting list.

Dr Louay Abdul-Rasoul Al-Ekry, Head of the Ear, Nose and Throat Department at SMC, said Cochlear implants are one of the most sensitive operations to perform and are for those who are no longer helped by using hearing aids.

“This exceeds the annual rate of 15 to 25 patients who undergoes the implant,” said Dr Al Ekry. These operations come within the diagnostic and therapeutic services launched by SMC in 2001.

To date, SMC said it had installed more than 300 Cochlear implants benefitting 280 people. “The Cochlear implant programme is one of the oldest and most successful health programmes at SMC for early detection of hearing impairment, and subjecting them to the implantation process as soon as possible, and rehabilitating them and reintegrating them into society.”

Cochlear implants bypasses acoustic hearing by direct electrical stimulation of the auditory nerve. Through everyday listening and auditory training, cochlear implants allow both children and adults to learn to interpret those signals as speech and sound.