{"id":23,"date":"2019-10-09T15:30:47","date_gmt":"2019-10-09T15:30:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/research.unl.edu\/annualreport\/2019\/?p=23"},"modified":"2019-10-20T14:21:23","modified_gmt":"2019-10-20T14:21:23","slug":"improving-outcomes-for-people-with-cochlear-implants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/research.unl.edu\/annualreport\/2019\/improving-outcomes-for-people-with-cochlear-implants\/","title":{"rendered":"Improving Outcomes for People with Cochlear Implants"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For many people who have severe hearing loss, cochlear implants can be life changing. Nebraska\u2019s Michelle Hughes is improving lives by making this device even better. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Hughes, director of the university\u2019s Cochlear Implant Research Lab, is exploring ways to enhance outcomes for people with cochlear implants. Her research aims to both obtain better results, especially for the implants\u2019 youngest recipients, and simplify follow-up care through remote testing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Federally approved in 1984, cochlear implants are an electronic device that bypasses damaged portions of the inner ear to directly stimulate the auditory nerve. The surgically implanted devices are programmed to achieve optimal sound quality. Today, recipients can \nbe as young as age 1. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cAn adult can tell you what they hear, but young children can\u2019t,\u201d said Hughes, associate professor of special education and communication disorders. \u201cSo we have to come up with other ways to make decisions about how to program the device for them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">To reduce reliance on verbal feedback and improve accuracy, Hughes\u2019 team is identifying objective, \nphysiological responses of the auditory nerve to sound. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For young children, accurate programming is critical to developing language skills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-youtube wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Studying Cochlear Implants\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/co8BFzJ9ApQ?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cLanguage has a huge impact on education,\u201d Hughes said. \u201cThe earlier we can provide a better fidelity signal to them, the earlier they can use that information to develop speech and language.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The research will also help others unable to communicate, such as people with cognitive disabilities, and fine-tune and support feedback for all users. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Cochlear implants require frequent, lifelong follow-up in clinics with specialized equipment and sound booths, which can be a burdensome commitment. Hughes is researching solutions to conduct speech perception testing and programming using distance technology or videoconferencing. Such virtual care may one day be conducted through a cloud-based service via a computer or even a smartphone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The National Institutes of Health\u2019s National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders funds this research.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>For many people who have severe hearing loss, cochlear implants can be life changing. Nebraska\u2019s Michelle Hughes is improving lives by making this device even better. Hughes, director of the university\u2019s Cochlear Implant Research Lab, is exploring ways to enhance outcomes for people with cochlear implants. Her research aims to both obtain better results, especially [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":82,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[118,117,114,34,71,115,106,116,119],"class_list":["post-23","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-children-and-families","tag-cochlear-implant-research-lab","tag-cochlear-implants","tag-education-and-outreach","tag-health","tag-michelle-hughes","tag-national-institutes-of-health","tag-special-education-and-communication-disorders","tag-telehealth","entry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/research.unl.edu\/annualreport\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/research.unl.edu\/annualreport\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/research.unl.edu\/annualreport\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/research.unl.edu\/annualreport\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/research.unl.edu\/annualreport\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/research.unl.edu\/annualreport\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":209,"href":"https:\/\/research.unl.edu\/annualreport\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23\/revisions\/209"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/research.unl.edu\/annualreport\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/82"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/research.unl.edu\/annualreport\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/research.unl.edu\/annualreport\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/research.unl.edu\/annualreport\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}