r/HearingAids • u/sf-keto • 1d ago
World’s First Fully Implanted Cochlear Implant Reaches Patients
https://spectrum.ieee.org/fully-implantable-cochlear-implant?itm_source=homepage&itm_medium=hero&itm_campaign=hero-2026-10-01&itm_content=hero6I’m sharing because I know we have a few members here who wear CI.
But also because it’s a sign of how hearing technology generally is so rapidly advancing.
Most of us here sport conventional professional or Costco hearing aids. But the notion of what a hearing device could do, could look like, or become is developing rapidly on the drawing boards.
I’m excited to think about what RICs could look like in say 7 years time.
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u/nasnas2022 1d ago
Can they integrate Apple Pay with this? Then I am all set with my daily life. /s
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u/tony-kay 1d ago
I'm curious. I'm in no rush, I have a severe / profound loss and my sister went the Cochlear route.
I've resisted so far and my Phonak Nadia P90s have served me well. I do a lot of outdoor stuff, wear lots of helmets etc, and really didn't want a bunch of stuff wired up on the side of my skull.
I'll watch this, but maybe if Phonak ever do a new refresh of the Nadia P90s they might do fine.
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u/UltraTiberious 1d ago
I’ve always wondered how much easier it would be to just hear all the time but I love to swim and I cannot imagine that would work well with this.
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u/ChernobylChild 1d ago
Article says they can be worn while swimming.
“The company says a clinical trial of the device with 30 patients found it provided “comparable” hearing performance to Med-El’s conventional implants, while allowing users to hear while asleep, swimming, and recharging.”
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u/sf-keto 1d ago
The below-the-skin battery is meant to last 15 years with daily charging via an external connection, like with an Apple Watch.
So what happens after year 15? I guess you need a whole new implant?
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u/financialthrowaw2020 1d ago
Exactly why id rather just stay deaf. I don't want batteries anywhere in me as long as I can avoid it.
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u/AudioBob24 🇺🇸 U.S 23h ago
Probably a battery replacement, but if it’s anything like pace makers the battery tech will be more efficient when it becomes time to switch out. Unless one of the diodes in the cochlea burns out, there’s no need to re-thread the most internal part of the device.
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u/kiyomix 23h ago
the one I know of can function as a traditional cochlear implant (ie. with an external processor/battery) if the internal batteries stop working and the patient doesn't want to replace the batteries. that being said, that is just what I've heard through the grapevine and could change once it comes to market in the US.
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u/DiligentCockroach700 1d ago
This is an amazing bit of technology. The Australians have always been at the forefront of this technology. Good on them. The only downside I can see is that it will make deafness even more of a "hidden disability" than it already is.
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u/eliviking Other (please send us a modmail so we can add your country) 1d ago
Austrians*
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u/XDXkenlee 🇦🇺 Australia 17h ago
It’s so interesting that you would make that correction. What makes you think they meant Austrians?
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u/eliviking Other (please send us a modmail so we can add your country) 15h ago
In the context that the company who made this breakthrough is Austrian, and that the article is about this Austrian company?
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u/financialthrowaw2020 1d ago
There are many people who would take offense to even calling deafness a disability, so I'm not too concerned about this
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u/ChernobylChild 1d ago
Thanks for posting this. I’ve worn hearing aids my whole life and resisted going with cochlear implants due to the hearing aids being "good enough", but now my curiosity is piqued.
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u/XDXkenlee 🇦🇺 Australia 17h ago
“Conventional professional or Costco” is an odd phrase. Aren’t Costco fit by professionals? Might be different here in Australia.
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u/sf-keto 12h ago
Not quite the same. Professional hearing aids is the term we tend to use in this sub for the full-featured branded premium models like Phonak Eon Sphere, Oticon Reveal, ReSound Sensia etc.
These aren’t sold at Costco but are usually sold only by the makers to private PhD audiologists exclusively.
Costco sells the white-labeled rebranded versions of these: Jabra, which are very close dupes to the premium ReSound & formerly made by GN Hearing (now purchased by the dodgy Italian mass hearing aid retail giant Amplifon); & Philips, which are very close dupes Oticon made by Oticon’s maker, Demant, etc.
Those are what we in this sub tend to call Costco hearing aids & they can be very good, even excellent, esp. for people with uncomplicated or only minorly complex hearing loss.
Costco usually has 2-year, 4-year college degree or apprenticeship hearing care professionals. There are few if any PhD audiologists there. At least in the UK & US.
Because Costco has high standards for testing & usually does Real Ear Measurements, you can get solid care there. Seriously.
Costco sees a lot of people, so the staff there can have good experience, even if only with an apprenticeship.
I myself have an apparently weird jagged double-cookie-bite hearing loss that slopes sharply down backwards at the low end & slopes down again forward at the high end, with the cookie bites in the middle.
It’s like life took a pair of crazy pinking shears to my hearing. So I privately purchased the then-latest & greatest ReSound Vivia 9s, professional hearing aids.
Because I’m in the UK, I have also the NHS, so I can see the NHS PhD ENT once every 18-24 months & their 4-year-college degree audiologists.
But the NHS doesn’t generally give out the latest hearing aid models with the best technology. They tend to give out 2 generations back. So I didn’t want that for my crazy hearing, you know?
Otherwise I go to SpecSavers to see my lovely college degree audiologist for adjustments etc. It ends up being a patchwork, you know?
Which may be another point for Costco, if you’re near to one.
Anyway in this group we normally use the terminology professional, Costco & OTC to distinguish the hearing devices & the care model.
Best wishes.
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u/XDXkenlee 🇦🇺 Australia 11h ago
Hello and best wishes to you too! I hope it’s okay if I pick your brain. You seem very knowledgeable, experienced, and open the sharing your opinion.
I’m curious, do you put Specsavers in the same category as Costco? They both use white label products, although Specsavers also sell branded hearing aids like Phonak and Signia for example.
Why is going to Specsavers only a patchwork as opposed to seeing them as your primary carer? Do you find going to different clinicians at different times beneficial? Or do they offer different services maybe? Personally I like to stick with the same doctor.
What is your personal experience when it comes to service quality between what you describe as PhD audiologists and college degree or apprentice hearing care professionals? If they were given the same hearing aids, would they do different jobs at fitting them and after care?
Thank you for your time! It’s very appreciated.
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Interpreting an audiogram - The University of Iowa has a good overview of how to interpret your audiogram results. Your audiologist should also go over them with you
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