Mediterr J Otol 2005:1(3):136-143.

The auditory brain stem implant

Richard T Ramsden

Department of Otolaryngology, Manchester Royal Infirmary Oxford Road, Manchester, UK

The auditory brainstem implant was developed from cochlear implant technology to address the problem of those profoundly deaf individuals who do not have cochlear nerves and so, are not suitable for cochlear implants.The implant stimulates the auditory pathway through the cochlear nucleus

The original candidate group was patients with neurofibromatosis type 2 (NF2) who had lost their hearing as a result of bilateral vestibular schwannomas or the surgery to remove them. The results in this patient group are roughly comparable with those that were achieved with the old single-channel cochlear implants; a valuable aid to lip reading in most instances, with the occasional “outstanding performer”. Recently, newer candidate groups have been suggested. Early results on adults postlingually deafened by other tumors and who are not suitable for cochlear implants are very encouraging. More controversially, the auditory brainstem implant may provide a method of treating congenitally deaf children born without cochlear nerves.