Two Ears are Better Than One!

Reported February 2007

PALO ALTO, Calif. (Ivanhoe Broadcast News) -- There was a time when being born deaf meant never being able to speak ... or hear. Cochlear implants have given people the gift of speech and sound, and now, deaf children are able to hear almost perfectly. That's because doctors are beginning to realize two implants are better than one.

Toryn Triplitt sees the world through the eyes of any 4-year-old, but hears it through ears much differently. Toryn was born deaf. Her parents suspected it when she was 5 months old.

"We were playing one night as a family, and she was lying on the floor. There was a loud noise, and she didn't startle," Toryn's mom, Tracey, tells Ivanhoe.

Otologist Joseph Roberson, M.D., operated on Toryn, allowing her to hear through what's called a cochlear implant. It's fairly standard, but Dr. Roberson, of the California Ear Institute in Palo Alto, Calif., suggested a second implant for her other ear.

"We have two ears for a reason, and there's a function with each of them," Dr. Roberson says. "It's not just a back-up system."

Unlike a hearing aid that just makes sounds louder, a cochlear implant mimics what happens inside the ear, changing sound waves into electrical signals sent to the brain. Dr. Roberson says two implants are better than one -- patients hear faster and clearer.

"To be able to speak and to communicate with their parents and to have an option, that if done correctly, allows that child to do anything that they want to do in a hearing or in a deaf world is a marvelous thing," he says.

Toryn's mom is thankful Toryn got both. "It's pretty incredible how well she hears. We can whisper to each other, so, we can tell secrets," Tracey says. "That's pretty cool. And Toryn can live like other little girls.

Dr. Roberson is working to have more insurance companies cover both surgeries. It costs $50,000. The youngest patient he's operated on was 5 months old.

The Acoustical Society of America contributed to the information contained in the TV portion of this report.

Click here to Go Inside This Science or contact:

Joseph Robertson, M.D.
Otology, Neurology, Skull Base Surgery
California Ear Institute
Palo Alto, CA
(650) 462-3149

Acoustical Society of America
2 Huntington Quadrangle
Melville, NY 11747-4502
(516) 576-2360
asa@aip.org

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