Prototype to product – the development of the bionic ear

The Cochlear implant or ‘bionic ear’ is a device that enables people who do not get sufficient benefit from a hearing aid to communicate with the hearing world. The Cochlear implant is not an amplifier, but a device that electrically stimulates the auditory nerve in a way that crudely mimics normal hearing, thus providing a hearing percept.

Cochlear implants have reached a stage of maturity where there are now 170 000 recipients implanted worldwide. The

commercial development of these devices has occurred over the last 30 years. This development has been multidisciplinary, including audiologists, engineers, both mechanical and electrical, histologists, materials scientists, physiologists, surgeons and speech pathologists.
This talk will trace the development of the device we have today, from the engineering perspective. The special challenges of designing an active device that will work in the human body for a lifetime will be outlined.