Sunway Medical Centre’s (SunMed) cochlear implant programme is a technologically advanced and life-changing treatment that helps you attain the world you deserve to hear.
Introduction to Cochlear Implant
Hearing loss can happen to anyone. Without proper management, it can have a great impact on a person’s communication, social, and vocational aspects of life. If you have severe to profound hearing loss, then you may find that a hearing aid is not enough to remedy your situation. That’s where our cochlear implant programme can help.
An alternative to a conventional hearing aid, a cochlear implant improves hearing abilities by electrically stimulating the nerves inside the inner ear. With a cochlear implant, the damaged hair cells are bypassed and the auditory nerve is stimulated directly. The cochlear implant does not result in “restored” or “cured” hearing. It does, however, allow for the perception of the sensation of sound.
Benefits of Cochlear Implant
Improve sound detection and discrimination
Improve speech and language skills
Encourage better learning capabilities
Aid social skills
Benefits of Cochlear Implant
Individuals interested in getting a cochlear implant would need to undergo a clinical evaluation to determine if he/she is a suitable candidate. Our skilled cochlear implant team will conduct a thorough examination, including hearing and medical tests to see if you are likely to benefit from a cochlear implant.
After implantation, the mapping process and (re)habilitation will take place after the cochlear implant is switched on (usually 2-3 weeks after the surgical procedure). The mapping process is carried out in regular intervals to help the cochlear implant user adjust to sound stimuli. Regular (re)habilitation helps you to maximise listening skills and improve speech and language skills.
Why Choose Us?
Sunway Medical Centre has the longest running cochlear implant programme in a private setting in Malaysia, since 2004. Its Speech & Hearing Centre is designed as an integrated department to better cater to the needs of the hearing impaired and aid treatment as efficiently as possible, from start to end. To date, the centre has successfully performed cochlear implantations on more than 50 ears.
It is also the first implant centre to hold a Switch-On Party for every cochlear implant patient. The switch-on celebration is a unique thing held for all cochlear implant patients and their respective families to celebrate the first day of hearing with the implant. SunMed is the only implant centre in Malaysia that actively implants all three major cochlear implant brands – Advanced Bionics, Cochlear Americas, and MED-EL – providing patients with more choices.
We understand that having a cochlear implant will be a lifelong commitment, hence we continuously support our recipients and their caregivers by organising talks on changing technology, evolving needs, and connecting parents with recipients to build support between them. We offer competitive packages for implants comparable to semi-government centres.
FAQ
A cochlear implant is an electronic medical device that replaces the function of the damaged inner ear. Unlike hearing aids, which make sounds louder, cochlear implants do the work of damaged parts of the inner ear (cochlea) to send sound signals to the brain.
Cochlear implants have been verified as safe.
A cochlear implant is a combination of an external sound processor and an array of devices that are embedded to your cochlea internally.
Cochlear implants allow deaf people to hear again if their hearing nerves are still functioning well albeit the hearing mechanism in their ears are damaged.
Prepare any documents or reports related to the patient’s health; these documents are crucial for the doctors to properly diagnose the severity of the hearing loss.
It is best to perform the surgery between the ages of 1-3, if diagnosed with a hearing problem congenitally (at birth). They can also be implanted at any other age, if hearing loss develops and hearing aids are no longer helpful.
Hearing is one of the 5 senses that play a large role in the development and future of the child, and will impact their life tremendously.
Screening for a newborn’s hearing should be done immediately after birth. The American Academy of Paediatrics recommends screening by 1 month of age, diagnosis by 3 months, and intervention by 6 months. Any delay in speech and language development milestones requires the child to be assessed by a speech language therapist.
Any parental suspicion that a child is not responding well to sounds at home warrants a hearing test. The child’s speech and language development milestones should also be monitored; any delays will need to be discussed with your paediatrician and a hearing test will be suggested if required. However, a newborn hearing screening and a pre-school hearing screening are still the best methods of detecting hearing loss early in children.
Typically, the conventional hearing aid is the first option to help with hearing loss issues. However, some cases of hearing damage require a cochlear implant, especially for children who are born severe to profound sensorineural hearing loss on both ears since birth.
At SunMed, the speech and hearing departments are a combined force, as compared to many other centres where these two are separated. We also have two experienced cochlear implant surgeons who work closely with the speech & hearing team.
The non-hearing ear should be tested for any eardrum, cochlea, or nerve damage at speech & hearing centres before concluding that a cochlear implant is required.
Our hearing system is designed to work best with both ears hearing. This is called binaural hearing. For patients with different hearing loss in each ear and are using different technology, it is known as bimodal hearing. A lot of studies show patients with bimodal hearing perform better compared to patients who only use monaural or single-sided hearing, be it with hearing aids or cochlear implants. The audiologist will be able to program both devices to ensure balanced hearing for you.
The price range of a cochlear implant device for one ear is from RM 98,000 – RM 110,000 which includes intensive auditory rehabilitation and speech therapy. Special price will be offered for the second implant.
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