Question: How do hearing aids work? Do they magnify the sound in your ear, or change the sound waves so they are easier to hear? Does a hearing aid work for everyone?

“hearing aids” works by amplifying the sound. A microphone picks up sound from the environment and converts it into an electrical signal, which it sends to the amplifier. An amplifier then increases the volume of the sound and sends it to the receiver. A receiver/speaker changes the electrical signal back into sound and sends it into the ear. Then those impulses are sent to the brain.

A cochlea implant (invented in australia) works on those who are so deaf they can’t hear even an amplified sound directly in the ear. This means they are more complicated than basic hearing aids. They bypass the damaged parts of the ear and send the sound information as electrical signals directly to the auditory nerve. This means they are more complicated than basic hearing aids.

The cochlear implant is made up of two main systems: an external system and an internal system. The external system is composed of three parts: a sound processor, a microphone and a transmitter. The internal system features a receiver and an electrode array.

The microphone, which is attached to the sound processor, captures sound and sends it to the sound processor, a small device that can be inconspicuously clipped over the outer ear. The transmitter sits behind the sound processor and connects to the scalp directly outside where the internal receiver is implanted under the skin. The transmitter is fitted with a magnet that holds it onto the internal receiver. (Instead of being fastened to the scalp and ear, the external system can also be carried in a shirt pocket or hip pouch.) The receiver, which is about the size of a quarter, is implanted under the skin in the bone behind the ear. And the electrode array is a wire that runs from the implant into the cochlea.

The microphone picks up sound and sends it to the sound processor, which translates sound into digital information. It sends this digital information to the implanted receiver, which changes the digital information into electrical signals and sends these signals to the electrode array. The electrode array sends these signals to the auditory nerve, which then passes along the signals to the brain.