When she鈥檚 not working as a regulatory coordinator to help launch clinical trials in the Department of Pediatrics, Oncology and Hematology Research Group at 人妻中出视频 of Utah 人妻中出视频, Mindy Torman loves to be outdoors. She firmly subscribes to the saying that 鈥渙utside is the best side.鈥 That extends to her travels, where she and her partner often plan vacations that take them out into nature. Their most recent expedition took them to Alaska, where they got to experience some of the most incredible hiking, viewing bears in Denali and Lake Clark National Parks, and experiencing the splendor of America鈥檚 northernmost wilderness.
But last year Mindy鈥檚 adventures had to take a back seat after she suffered from a bad episode of vertigo, something she had never experienced before. She scheduled an appointment to see an ear, nose, and throat doctor (ENT). It was the first time she saw an ENT in her adult life, which may not seem too surprising unless you know that Mindy has experienced progressive hearing loss starting when she was about 15 years old.
鈥淯ntil last year, I had only seen an audiologist and used hearing aids to manage the hearing loss,鈥 said Mindy. The hearing aids worked fine to partially supplement Mindy鈥檚 skills as a lip reader. But in recent years, Mindy noticed that the hearing aids were not as beneficial as they once had been.
鈥淭he hearing aids just amplified sound, I was still struggling to understand speech,鈥 she said. 鈥淭hat was when the ENT told me that I might be a good candidate for cochlear implants.鈥
Mindy鈥檚 hearing loss was a mystery to her and her doctors. Hearing loss does run in her family, so it may have a genetic component, and she suffered from several ear infections when she was younger. She started to notice the decline in her mid-teens and got her first set of hearing aids in her early 20s. She became a skilled lip reader, and didn鈥檛 realize just how much she depended on that until COVID-19 hit and everyone was wearing masks, effectively eliminating her ability to read lips in conversations.
As the hearing loss progressed, she became increasingly anxious in situations where she might have to interact with people 鈥 from meetings with coworkers to Zoom calls and social settings like a party or dinner at a restaurant. That anxiety eventually led to a high level of disconnection and isolation. So when the ENT told her cochlear implants could help.
Mindy was immediately interested in learning more.
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鈥淲e focus on two populations for cochlear implants 鈥 人妻中出视频ren who are born deaf, and adolescents or adults with progressive hearing loss,鈥 said Dr. Neil Patel, Assistant Professor of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery at U of U 人妻中出视频. Dr. Patel is a neurotologist and skull base surgeon, which is a type of ENT who specializes exclusively in disorders of the ear and the interface between the ear and the brain. 鈥淢any of these adults use hearing aids for a period of time, until some point where their hearing loss is too severe for a hearing aid to meaningfully help.鈥
A cochlear implant is a neural prosthesis that replaces the function of the cochlea in the hearing pathway, explained Dr. Patel. The device uses an external microphone to pick up sounds in the environment 鈥 speech or music, for example 鈥 and sends that to a surgically implanted device that stimulates the hearing nerve rather than relying on the tiny hair cells in the cochlea to do so.
Dr. Patel performs about half of the roughly 175 cochlear implant surgeries every year at U of U 人妻中出视频. Because of that high surgical volume, the procedure is relatively quick, and U of U audiologists have a lot of experience programming and optimizing cochlear implants once the procedure is complete.
鈥淲hat鈥檚 unique about the cochlea is that it鈥檚 tonotopically organized, meaning that the nerves that receive certain pitches or tones are organized in a specific way along the length of the cochlea,鈥 said Dr. Patel. 鈥淭he implanted device can take advantage of this organization, activating nerves along the cochlea the same way fingers push certain keys on a piano to create a specific sound.鈥 The brain is able to integrate those signals and perceive sound as nearly normal. Dr. Patel noted that among all the senses, hearing is the only one that we can restore with such high fidelity.
Mindy was referred to Dr. Patel to discuss the benefits of a cochlear implant. The procedure is pretty straightforward 鈥 it鈥檚 a minimally invasive, 90-minute outpatient surgery under local or general anesthesia. The surgeon threads a small electrode into the cochlea (a bone inside your ear that is shaped like a snail), winding it through the entire length of the cochlea. Today, Dr. Patel and his partners at U of U 人妻中出视频 sometimes use robotic assistance to insert the electrode, which is steadier than a human hand and helps preserve as much natural hearing as possible while avoiding any unnecessary damage. That electrode and internal device connect to a speech processor and external microphone, usually located behind the person鈥檚 ear.
When Mindy first learned she was a candidate for the surgery, she did some research to better understand what to expect. She also joined a few Facebook groups of people who had undergone the same surgery to learn from their experiences.
鈥淭he biggest things I learned are that everyone is different, so the way you experience cochlear implants can vary, and to not go in with really high expectations that the implant will instantly fix your hearing loss,鈥 said Mindy. She talked to Dr. Patel about side effects and risks 鈥 there are very few beyond just the risks that come with any outpatient surgery 鈥 and felt confident that it was the right choice.