Expressive Spoken Language Development in Children with Cochlear Implants

Researchers assessed expressive spoken grammar skills of young children with cochlear implants and compared them with normally hearing children. Of the children studied who were between the ages of four and six years, 58 percent were "at or above the expressive spoken language grammatical level of normally hearing three year olds after three years of consistent cochlear implant use".

International Cochlear Implant Reliability Group Achieves Agreement on Standards

The International Consensus Group for Cochlear Implant Reliability Reporting has been working to develop a "consistent and comprehensive classification system for the implanted components of CI systems". The Journal of Otology and Neurotology reports that the Group has reached agreement on the following:

Standard definitions for device failure, survival time, clinical benefit, reduced clinical benefit, and specification were generated. Time intervals for reporting back to implant centers for devices tested to be "out of specification," categorization of explanted devices, the method of cumulative survival reporting, and content of reliability reports to be issued by manufacturers was agreed upon by all members.