What are the tests needed to determine if one needs a cochlear implant?

The decision to consider someone for a cochlear implant is a comprehensive process that includes several hearing tests to assess the individual's hearing thresholds, the ability of their inner ear nerve to conduct sounds and the function of their ear hair cells. Battery of tests should be performed like, which should include BERA, ASSR, OAE, audiometry—which can be pure-tone audiometry or free-field audiometry—and tympanometry. These tests include BERA, (also called ABR), OAE, Pure Tone Audiometry, Speech-in-Noise Testing and Tympanometry.

Specific tests vary according to the patient's age. In babies and young children who cannot reliably respond to a sound, the use of objective tests such as BERA/ABR and OAE is the primary way doctors assess hearing. Hearing pure tone audiometry aided and unaided is performed in adults and older children, and in young children, free-field audiometry is done—or in other words, behavioral audiometry is done in younger children to assess the hearing thresholds.

These hearing tests help the doctor determine if a patient is audiologically qualified to undergo Cochlear Implant Surgery. Once a patient has been determined as a candidate, the next step is imaging, in this case a high resolution computed tomography (CT) scan and a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan with 3D reconstruction of the inner ear. These scans enable the surgeon to have a very detailed look at the cochlea, the vestibular nerve and the overall inner ear anatomy before preparing for surgery.

If you are looking for more detail about each test and what to expect you can check our page on the Audiological Assessment of a Cochlear Implant to find out more.