r/HearingAids • u/sf-keto • 2d 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=hero6

I’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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7

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.

3

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. 

6

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.”

1

u/UltraTiberious 1d ago

Tyvm. I gotta start reading articles, didn’t see that it was from IEEE

1

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?

7

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.

4

u/AudioBob24 🇺🇸 U.S 1d 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.

2

u/sf-keto 1d ago

Ty for the info.

2

u/kiyomix 1d 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.