A cochlear implant program has been in place at NYU Medical Center since 1984 when we were the first in the area to implant patients with multichannel cochlear implants. At that time, great strides had been made in the rehabilitation of persons with hearing impairment using new and advanced hearing aids. The major problem which remained was the lack of availability of treatment for those children and adults with severe to profound sensorineural hearing loss who received little or no functional benefit from amplification. The purpose of the cochlear implant is to provide these individuals with direct electrical stimulation of the auditory nerve by placing one or more electrodes adjacent to the ganglion cells of that nerve.

The NYU program has also accumulated a number of significant events or 'firsts'

In 1984, we were the first to implant a multichannel cochlear prosthesis in an adult in the eastern United States. In 1987, NYU performed the first pediatric multichannel cochlear prosthesis in the US. In 1994, we performed the first Clarion (Advanced Bionics) multichannel implant on an adult patient on the east coast. In 1996, NYU was the first center in the US to implant adults with two newly developed multichannel cochlear prostheses: the Nucleus 24 device and the Med-El device. In early 1997, NYU performed the first pediatric Nucleus 24 implantations in the US and in 1999, NYU was the only center in the US chosen to conduct an adult FDA feasibility study by implanting 5 adults with a newly designed perimodiolar electrode array. Based on the recommendations made as a result of these surgeries, nationwide clinical trials began in the year 2000 and the device was subsequently approved by the FDA. Following the implementation of less restrictive FDA guidelines, we were the first in the world to use this new device on a 12 month old child and have since implanted many infants below 12 months of age. We are participants in the clinical trials of all new devices and software upgrades from Advanced Bionics (Clarion device), Cochlear Corporation (Nucleus device) and Med-El.

Children are provided with preoperative and postoperative communication evaluations, educational guidance, intervention, psychological assessment and social service assistance, when necessary. Post-implantation, adults are provided with appropriate rehabilitation, support and guidance. For the convenience of our pediatric patients and their parents, we perform postoperative device programming off-site in schools. We visit local schools several times a year so that the need to come into New York is minimized. These school visits also allow the implant audiologists to develop and maintain a more involved and interactive with school personnel. Of course, this is in addition to the constant contact our educational coordinator maintains with the schools.

In 1994, in addition to performing cochlear implants, the NYU Cochlear Implant Center became one of six centers in the US selected to provide auditory brainstem implants (ABI) under the auspices of an FDA clinical trial.

To date, NYU is the second largest ABI center in the country. The procedures are performed by our cochlear implant surgeons and the members of the Department of Neurosurgery at NYU Medical Center. The device is currently available to individuals who have Neurofibromatosis Type II affecting the auditory nerves, in whom a cochlear implant is not feasible. Complications have been few and results have yielded improvement in communication abilities for the large majority of patients.

The Program has hosted a number of small cochlear implant meetings, as well as three major international conferences , the most recent of which, the Vth International Cochlear Implant Conference, attracted over 700 participants in 1997. In addition, we have been on the international advisory or planning committee of virtually all major cochlear implant meetings during the past decade. We have held a number of cochlear implant surgical courses and have been invited to participate in many such courses in other states and countries.

In April 2001, we moved into a new state-of-the-art clinical and research facility .

The well equipped clinical areas provide patients and staff with ample and comfortable space for evaluations, programming, discussions and conferences. The research facilities furnish the faculty and staff affiliated with the program with designated research space for data collection and analysis. The Center enables the NYU Cochlear Implant Program to continue to grow and provide the highest level of care to our patients and families and to broaden its ongoing research contribution to the development and efficacy of cochlear implants.