While all cochlear implant users benefit from an increased access to environmental sounds, many enjoy the ability to hear and understand words and sentences without lip-reading particularly in quiet listening environments. Very recent advances in implant technology are allowing more implant users to cope effectively with the challenges that they face in their every day life: noisy backgrounds, soft speech, appreciation of music, use of telephone, business or school environments. Today’s evaluation methods are beginning to show differences among implant designs in their ability to address real-life listening challenges.

No one can predict exactly how much benefit a particular individual will get from a cochlear implant because many individual factors contribute to the outcomes. These include duration of deafness, amount of previous hearing, age at implantation, status of the hearing nerve, post-operative rehabilitation, and educational support as well as personal and family commitment. Importantly, it takes technology to bring sound to the impaired auditory system, and therefore implant design and sound processing strategy are also influencing factors.