Is Your Patient a Candidate for A Cochlear Implant?
The only way to know for certain if someone is a cochlear implant candidate is to be evaluated at a professional cochlear implant center. The information provided here will help you determine if you should refer a candidate to a Cochlear Implant Clinic.

ADULTS

• 18 years of age or older
• Severe to profound, bilateral, sensorineural hearing loss (>70 dBHL).
• Postlingual onset of severe to profound hearing loss.
• Limited benefit from appropriately fitted hearing aids, defined as scoring 50% or less on a test of open-set sentence recognition (HINT Sentences).
• Desire to improve hearing and realistic expectations
• No medical contraindications

Real life experiences that may suggest the need for a cochlear implant:

• Cannot understand most phone conversations
• Difficulty understanding conversations in groups or noisy places
• Rely heavily on lipreading
• Limited social, educational, or professional life options

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CHILDREN

• 12 months through 17 years of age.
• Profound, bilateral, sensorineural hearing loss (>90 dBHL)
• Use of appropriately fitted hearing aids for at least 6 months in children 2 through 17 years of age, or at least 3 months in children 12 through 23 months of age. The minimum duration of hearing aid use is waived if x-rays indicate ossification of the cochlea.
• Little or no benefit from appropriately fitted hearing aids.
• In younger children (<4 years of age), lack of benefit is defined as a failure to reach developmentally appropriate auditory milestones (such as spontaneous response to name in quiet or to environmental sounds) measured using the Infant-Toddler Meaningful Auditory Integration Scale or Meaningful Auditory Integration Scale or <20% correct on a simple open-set word recognition test (Multisyllabic Lexical Neighborhood Test) administered using monitored live voice (70 dB SPL).
• In older children (>4 years of age), lack of hearing-aid benefit is defined as scoring <12% on a difficult open-set word recognition test (Phonetically Balanced – Kindergarten Test) or <30% on an open-set sentence test (Hearing in Noise Test for Children) administered using recorded materials in the soundfield (70 dB SPL).
• Motivation to improve hearing and realistic expectations by the family
• No medical contraindications

Real life experiences that may suggest the need for a cochlear implant:

• Delayed or lack of speech and language development
• Rarely responds to name
• Lack of social interaction with children and adults
• Speech and hearing emphasis in child’s education or therapy environment