Electronic hearing devices typically used for patients with normal outer and middle ear function, but defective inner ear function. In the COCHLEA, the hair cells (HAIR CELLS, VESTIBULAR) may be absent or damaged but there are residual nerve fibers. The device electrically stimulates the COCHLEAR NERVE to create sound sensation.

Surgical insertion of an electronic hearing device (COCHLEAR IMPLANTS) with electrodes to the COCHLEAR NERVE in the inner ear to create sound sensation in patients with residual nerve fibers.

A general term for the complete loss of the ability to hear from both ears.

The process whereby an utterance is decoded into a representation in terms of linguistic units (sequences of phonetic segments which combine to form lexical and grammatical morphemes).

Procedures for correcting HEARING DISORDERS.

Partial hearing loss in both ears.

Persons with any degree of loss of hearing that has an impact on their activities of daily living or that requires special assistance or intervention.

Biocompatible materials placed into (endosseous) or onto (subperiosteal) the jawbone to support a crown, bridge, or artificial tooth, or to stabilize a diseased tooth.

Ability to make speech sounds that are recognizable.

Tests of the ability to hear and understand speech as determined by scoring the number of words in a word list repeated correctly.

The audibility limit of discriminating sound intensity and pitch.

The perceived attribute of a sound which corresponds to the physical attribute of intensity.

The science pertaining to the interrelationship of psychologic phenomena and the individual's response to the physical properties of sound.

A general term for the complete or partial loss of the ability to hear from one or both ears.

Wearable sound-amplifying devices that are intended to compensate for impaired hearing. These generic devices include air-conduction hearing aids and bone-conduction hearing aids. (UMDNS, 1999)

Use of sound to elicit a response in the nervous system.

Measurement of the ability to hear speech under various conditions of intensity and noise interference using sound-field as well as earphones and bone oscillators.

A test to determine the lowest sound intensity level at which fifty percent or more of the spondaic test words (words of two syllables having equal stress) are repeated correctly.

A dimension of auditory sensation varying with cycles per second of the sound stimulus.

Artificial substitutes for body parts, and materials inserted into tissue for functional, cosmetic, or therapeutic purposes. Prostheses can be functional, as in the case of artificial arms and legs, or cosmetic, as in the case of an artificial eye. Implants, all surgically inserted or grafted into the body, tend to be used therapeutically. IMPLANTS, EXPERIMENTAL is available for those used experimentally.

The ability or act of sensing and transducing ACOUSTIC STIMULATION to the CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM. It is also called audition.

The cochlear part of the 8th cranial nerve (VESTIBULOCOCHLEAR NERVE). The cochlear nerve fibers originate from neurons of the SPIRAL GANGLION and project peripherally to cochlear hair cells and centrally to the cochlear nuclei (COCHLEAR NUCLEUS) of the BRAIN STEM. They mediate the sense of hearing.

Hearing loss resulting from damage to the COCHLEA and the sensorineural elements which lie internally beyond the oval and round windows. These elements include the AUDITORY NERVE and its connections in the BRAINSTEM.

Any sound which is unwanted or interferes with HEARING other sounds.

Small containers or pellets of a solid drug implanted in the body to achieve sustained release of the drug.

The acoustic aspects of speech in terms of frequency, intensity, and time.

The gradual expansion in complexity and meaning of symbols and sounds as perceived and interpreted by the individual through a maturational and learning process. Stages in development include babbling, cooing, word imitation with cognition, and use of short sentences.

Communication through a system of conventional vocal symbols.

Sound that expresses emotion through rhythm, melody, and harmony.

Measurement of parameters of the speech product such as vocal tone, loudness, pitch, voice quality, articulation, resonance, phonation, phonetic structure and prosody.

The science or study of speech sounds and their production, transmission, and reception, and their analysis, classification, and transcription. (Random House Unabridged Dictionary, 2d ed)

The interference of one perceptual stimulus with another causing a decrease or lessening in perceptual effectiveness.

The graphic registration of the frequency and intensity of sounds, such as speech, infant crying, and animal vocalizations.

The lower chamber of the COCHLEA, extending from the round window to the helicotrema (the opening at the apex that connects the PERILYMPH-filled spaces of scala tympani and SCALA VESTIBULI).

The process whereby auditory stimuli are selected, organized, and interpreted by the organism.

The testing of the acuity of the sense of hearing to determine the thresholds of the lowest intensity levels at which an individual can hear a set of tones. The frequencies between 125 and 8000 Hz are used to test air conduction thresholds and the frequencies between 250 and 4000 Hz are used to test bone conduction thresholds.

The sensory ganglion of the COCHLEAR NERVE. The cells of the spiral ganglion send fibers peripherally to the cochlear hair cells and centrally to the COCHLEAR NUCLEI of the BRAIN STEM.

Ability to determine the specific location of a sound source.

The plan and delineation of prostheses in general or a specific prosthesis.

Measurement of hearing based on the use of pure tones of various frequencies and intensities as auditory stimuli.

The ability to differentiate tones.

The part of the inner ear (LABYRINTH) that is concerned with hearing. It forms the anterior part of the labyrinth, as a snail-like structure that is situated almost horizontally anterior to the VESTIBULAR LABYRINTH.

Implants used to reconstruct and/or cosmetically enhance the female breast. They have an outer shell or envelope of silicone elastomer and are filled with either saline or silicone gel. The outer shell may be either smooth or textured.

Artificial substitutes for body parts and materials inserted into organisms during experimental studies.

Either of a pair of compound bones forming the lateral (left and right) surfaces and base of the skull which contains the organs of hearing. It is a large bone formed by the fusion of parts: the squamous (the flattened anterior-superior part), the tympanic (the curved anterior-inferior part), the mastoid (the irregular posterior portion), and the petrous (the part at the base of the skull).

The study of hearing and hearing impairment.

The language and sounds expressed by a child at a particular maturational stage in development.

Part of an ear examination that measures the ability of sound to reach the brain.

Surgically placed electric conductors through which ELECTRIC STIMULATION is delivered to or electrical activity is recorded from a specific point inside the body.

Tests designed to assess language behavior and abilities. They include tests of vocabulary, comprehension, grammar and functional use of language, e.g., Development Sentence Scoring, Receptive-Expressive Emergent Language Scale, Parsons Language Sample, Utah Test of Language Development, Michigan Language Inventory and Verbal Language Development Scale, Illinois Test of Psycholinguistic Abilities, Northwestern Syntax Screening Test, Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test, Ammons Full-Range Picture Vocabulary Test, and Assessment of Children's Language Comprehension.

Electrical waves in the CEREBRAL CORTEX generated by BRAIN STEM structures in response to auditory click stimuli. These are found to be abnormal in many patients with CEREBELLOPONTINE ANGLE lesions, MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS, or other DEMYELINATING DISEASES.

The analysis of a critical number of sensory stimuli or facts (the pattern) by physiological processes such as vision (PATTERN RECOGNITION, VISUAL), touch, or hearing.

Computer-assisted processing of electric, ultrasonic, or electronic signals to interpret function and activity.

The sum or the stock of words used by a language, a group, or an individual. (From Webster, 3d ed)

Insertion of an implant into the bone of the mandible or maxilla. The implant has an exposed head which protrudes through the mucosa and is a prosthodontic abutment.

Hearing loss due to disease of the AUDITORY PATHWAYS (in the CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM) which originate in the COCHLEAR NUCLEI of the PONS and then ascend bilaterally to the MIDBRAIN, the THALAMUS, and then the AUDITORY CORTEX in the TEMPORAL LOBE. Bilateral lesions of the auditory pathways are usually required to cause central hearing loss. Cortical deafness refers to loss of hearing due to bilateral auditory cortex lesions. Unilateral BRAIN STEM lesions involving the cochlear nuclei may result in unilateral hearing loss.

The process by which an observer comprehends speech by watching the movements of the speaker's lips without hearing the speaker's voice.

The region of the cerebral cortex that receives the auditory radiation from the MEDIAL GENICULATE BODY.

The electric response evoked in the CEREBRAL CORTEX by ACOUSTIC STIMULATION or stimulation of the AUDITORY PATHWAYS.

Skills in the use of language which lead to proficiency in written or spoken communication.

The study of systems, particularly electronic systems, which function after the manner of, in a manner characteristic of, or resembling living systems. Also, the science of applying biological techniques and principles to the design of electronic systems.

Use of electric potential or currents to elicit biological responses.

Rounded objects made of coral, teflon, or alloplastic polymer and covered with sclera, and which are implanted in the orbit following enucleation. An artificial eye (EYE, ARTIFICIAL) is usually attached to the anterior of the orbital implant for cosmetic purposes.

Utilization of all available receptive and expressive modes for the purpose of achieving communication with the hearing impaired, such as gestures, postures, facial expression, types of voice, formal speech and non-speech systems, and simultaneous communication.

Fenestra of the cochlea, an opening in the basal wall between the MIDDLE EAR and the INNER EAR, leading to the cochlea. It is closed by a secondary tympanic membrane.

The sounds produced by humans by the passage of air through the LARYNX and over the VOCAL CORDS, and then modified by the resonance organs, the NASOPHARYNX, and the MOUTH.

Devices, usually alloplastic, surgically inserted into or onto the jawbone, which support a single prosthetic tooth and serve either as abutments or as cosmetic replacements for missing teeth.

The absence of both hearing and vision.

NEURAL PATHWAYS and connections within the CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM, beginning at the hair cells of the ORGAN OF CORTI, continuing along the eighth cranial nerve, and terminating at the AUDITORY CORTEX.

The branch of physics that deals with sound and sound waves. In medicine it is often applied in procedures in speech and hearing studies. With regard to the environment, it refers to the characteristics of a room, auditorium, theatre, building, etc. that determines the audibility or fidelity of sounds in it. (From Random House Unabridged Dictionary, 2d ed)

Multi-channel hearing devices typically used for patients who have tumors on the COCHLEAR NERVE and are unable to benefit from COCHLEAR IMPLANTS after tumor surgery that severs the cochlear nerve. The device electrically stimulates the nerves of cochlea nucleus in the BRAIN STEM rather than the inner ear as in cochlear implants.

Surgery performed on the external, middle, or internal ear.

Signals for an action; that specific portion of a perceptual field or pattern of stimuli to which a subject has learned to respond.

The knowledge or perception that someone or something present has been previously encountered.

Electric conductors through which electric currents enter or leave a medium, whether it be an electrolytic solution, solid, molten mass, gas, or vacuum.

The ability to estimate periods of time lapsed or duration of time.

The teaching or training of those individuals with hearing disability or impairment.

The application of technology to the solution of medical problems.

A dark-gray, metallic element of widespread distribution but occurring in small amounts; atomic number, 22; atomic weight, 47.90; symbol, Ti; specific gravity, 4.5; used for fixation of fractures. (Dorland, 28th ed)

A prosthesis that gains its support, stability, and retention from a substructure that is implanted under the soft tissues of the basal seat of the device and is in contact with bone. (From Boucher's Clinical Dental Terminology, 4th ed)

Implants constructed of materials designed to be absorbed by the body without producing an immune response. They are usually composed of plastics and are frequently used in orthopedics and orthodontics.

Partial or complete hearing loss in one ear.

Objects that produce a magnetic field.

A verbal or nonverbal means of communicating ideas or feelings.

The science of language, including phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, pragmatics, and historical linguistics. (Random House Unabridged Dictionary, 2d ed)

Conditions that impair the transmission of auditory impulses and information from the level of the ear to the temporal cortices, including the sensorineural pathways.

Methods and procedures for the diagnosis of diseases of the ear or of hearing disorders or demonstration of hearing acuity or loss.

Transmission of the readings of instruments to a remote location by means of wires, radio waves, or other means. (McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms, 4th ed)

A system of hand gestures used for communication by the deaf or by people speaking different languages.

The plan and delineation of dental prostheses in general or a specific dental prosthesis. It does not include DENTURE DESIGN. The framework usually consists of metal.

Pathological processes of the VESTIBULOCOCHLEAR NERVE, including the branches of COCHLEAR NERVE and VESTIBULAR NERVE. Common examples are VESTIBULAR NEURITIS, cochlear neuritis, and ACOUSTIC NEUROMA. Clinical signs are varying degree of HEARING LOSS; VERTIGO; and TINNITUS.

Elements of limited time intervals, contributing to particular results or situations.

Includes both producing and responding to words, either written or spoken.

Tests of accuracy in pronouncing speech sounds, e.g., Iowa Pressure Articulation Test, Deep Test of Articulation, Templin-Darley Tests of Articulation, Goldman-Fristoe Test of Articulation, Screening Speech Articulation Test, Arizona Articulation Proficiency Scale.

Pathological processes of the snail-like structure (COCHLEA) of the inner ear (LABYRINTH) which can involve its nervous tissue, blood vessels, or fluid (ENDOLYMPH).

The posterior pair of the quadrigeminal bodies which contain centers for auditory function.

The act or fact of grasping the meaning, nature, or importance of; understanding. (American Heritage Dictionary, 4th ed) Includes understanding by a patient or research subject of information disclosed orally or in writing.

Therapy whose primary emphasis is on the physical and social structuring of the environment to promote interpersonal relationships which will be influential in reducing behavioral disturbances of patients.

'Reading' in a medical context often refers to the act or process of a person interpreting and comprehending written or printed symbols, such as letters or words, for the purpose of deriving information or meaning from them.

The fitting and adjusting of artificial parts of the body. (From Stedman's, 26th ed)

Methods of creating machines and devices.

The research and development of ELECTRICAL EQUIPMENT AND SUPPLIES for such medical applications as diagnosis, therapy, research, anesthesia control, cardiac control, and surgery. (From McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms, 6th ed)

Psychophysical technique that permits the estimation of the bias of the observer as well as detectability of the signal (i.e., stimulus) in any sensory modality. (From APA, Thesaurus of Psychological Index Terms, 8th ed.)

Conditions characterized by language abilities (comprehension and expression of speech and writing) that are below the expected level for a given age, generally in the absence of an intellectual impairment. These conditions may be associated with DEAFNESS; BRAIN DISEASES; MENTAL DISORDERS; or environmental factors.

A statistical technique that isolates and assesses the contributions of categorical independent variables to variation in the mean of a continuous dependent variable.

The comparison of the quantity of meaningful data to the irrelevant or incorrect data.

Differential response to different stimuli.

Evaluation undertaken to assess the results or consequences of management and procedures used in combating disease in order to determine the efficacy, effectiveness, safety, and practicability of these interventions in individual cases or series.

Intra-aural contraction of tensor tympani and stapedius in response to sound.

A form of electrophysiologic audiometry in which an analog computer is included in the circuit to average out ongoing or spontaneous brain wave activity. A characteristic pattern of response to a sound stimulus may then become evident. Evoked response audiometry is known also as electric response audiometry.

That component of SPEECH which gives the primary distinction to a given speaker's VOICE when pitch and loudness are excluded. It involves both phonatory and resonatory characteristics. Some of the descriptions of voice quality are harshness, breathiness and nasality.

Endosseous dental implantation where implants are fitted with an abutment or where an implant with a transmucosal coronal portion is used immediately (within 1 week) after the initial extraction. Conventionally, the implantation is performed in two stages with more than two months in between the stages.

The process of producing vocal sounds by means of VOCAL CORDS vibrating in an expiratory blast of air.

Most frequently refers to the integration of a physically or mentally disabled child into the regular class of normal peers and provision of the appropriately determined educational program.

A small bony canal linking the vestibule of the inner ear to the posterior part of the internal surface of the petrous TEMPORAL BONE. It transmits the endolymphatic duct and two small blood vessels.

Apparatus and instruments that generate and operate with ELECTRICITY, and their electrical components.

Natural teeth or teeth roots used as anchorage for a fixed or removable denture or other prosthesis (such as an implant) serving the same purpose.

Disorders of hearing or auditory perception due to pathological processes of the AUDITORY PATHWAYS in the CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM. These include CENTRAL HEARING LOSS and AUDITORY PERCEPTUAL DISORDERS.