Used in deaf children before they have acquired to ability to use language, it converts speech into electrical pulses that the auditory nerve can process. It consists of a microphone that is fitted outside the ear, which receives speech sounds. The microphone amplifies the sounds into a speech processor linked by a cable, and then converts the sound into electrical signals sent to a transmitter that is fastened to the head. The transmitter then sends the coded electrical pulses to a multichannel electrode (i.e., a receiver-stimulator) connected to the cochlea through a bundle of wires that activate the cochlea to send signals to the auditory nerve and the brain. There is some concern expressed in the deaf community that cochlear implants will lead to the ultimate destruction of the deaf culture.
See Auditory (or acoustic) nerve, Cochlea, Cranial nerves, FM system