From ear trumpets to cochlear implants

The oldest hearing aids were mechanical ear trumpets or other devices which collect sound waves. The first electronic hearing aids, known as carbon microphones, came onto the markets at the turn of the century. They were used until the 1930s. Their sound quality was poor, and they were also rather cumbersome. Vacuum-tube hearing aids provided a better sound quality, and were used until the 1950s. Then transistors, which were somewhat smaller, came onto the markets. Digital hearing aids, on the other hand, came onto the markets in the 1990s. The oldest kind consisted of a device kept in a pocket or in the clothes, and a separate earpiece. Behind-the-ear hearing aids and in-the-canal hearing aids are smaller and more pleasant to use.

Although hearing aids had long been available, obtaining one was not a given, even in the 1950s. Obtaining a state-funded aid required the deaf person to work outside the home.

In the 1990s, a new hearing-technical solution was taken into wider use: the cochlear implant. The cochlear implant made it possible for people to hear even if normal hearing aids didn’t work. Nowadays, around one thousand Finns use cochlear implants. They are also usually implanted in all babies who are born deaf during the first year of their lives.

The internal parts of the implant are attached under the skin to the skull bone and the cochlea in the inner ear during an operation. The non-functioning inner ear is bypassed, and the electronic signal is conducted directly to the auditory nerve and then to the brain.

At first, deaf interest groups were critical of implant operations on small children. They suggested that the children themselves should have some input in the decision to undergo surgery. Discussions weighed up the significance of sign language in the children’s lives and whether deafness is ultimately a disability to be cured using medical procedures. On the other hand, hearing was deemed to make school attendance and family interaction easier.

The kind of cultural identity that forms among implant users is an interesting issue for the entire deaf community to ponder. Some of them use spoken language, some use sign language, and others employ different means of communication. Language is a part of our identity, and it also determines the communities to which we relate and belong.