MCG HEALTH SYSTEM TO PERFORM 50TH COCHLEAR IMPLANT

Augusta, Ga. -- MCG Health System will reach a milestone when it performs its 50th cochlear implant this month.

The procedure, which involves the implantation of a tiny device in the nerves of the ear, provides new hope of hearing for those who are hearing-impaired. The program began in the Department of Otolaryngology in July 1998.

The implant surgery involves inserting electrodes into the cochlea, or inner ear. An internal coil is implanted in the skull and is supplemented by an external coil, a speech processor and a microphone located outside of the body. The microphone picks up sound waves and the processor changes them into electrical impulses, which are transmitted by the outside coil through the skin to the internal coil and then to the electrodes. The electrodes then stimulate the auditory nerve, the nerve that travels from the cochlea to the brain and allows people to hear.

After the surgery, an audiologist works closely with patients to program the cochlear implant, translating incoming acoustic stimuli into electrical pulses that activate the auditory nerve. Patients who experience success with the implant can expect to have a degree of hearing restored within a month after the surgery.

"Cochlear implants are very successful in treating patients with hearing loss in both ears who find that hearing aids and other treatment options are no longer effective," said Dr. Alan Johnson, an otologist who specializes in the procedure at MCG Health System. "For these patients, the results can be truly miraculous."

MCG Health System is composed of MCG Health, Inc. and the clinical services offered by the faculty of the Medical College of Georgia and the members of the Physicians Practice Group. MCG Health, Inc. is a not-for-profit corporation operating the MCG Hospitals and Clinics, Children's Medical Center, the Georgia Radiation Therapy Center and related clinical facilities and services. MCG Health, Inc. was formed to support the research and education mission of the Medical College of Georgia and to build the economic growth of the CSRA, the state of Georgia and the Southeast by offering the highest level of primary and specialty health care.