Cochlear™ implant candidacy

Who might be suitable for a Cochlear implant?

Cochlear® implants are suitable for people of all ages with severe to profound hearing loss.

NICE Guidance for Cochlear Implants

The 2019 NICE guidance (TA566) defines who is eligible for a cochlear implant as follows: 

• For people hearing only sounds that are equal to or louder than 80 dBHL at two or more frequencies (500 Hz, 1,000 Hz, 2,000 Hz, 3,000 Hz and 4,000 Hz) bilaterally without acoustic hearing aids.
• For adults, a phoneme score of 50% or less on the Arthur Boothroyd word test presented at 70 dBA (in the best aided condition).
• For children, speech, language and listening skills not appropriate to age, developmental stage and cognitive ability.

Adults and children

You may generally consider cochlear implants for people who:

• Have severe-to-profound sensorineural hearing loss in both ears.

• Get limited benefit from hearing aids..

• Are motivated to attend programming sessions, aural rehabilitation sessions and practice listening in daily communication.

• Have no medical contraindications.

Children of most ages may benefit from cochlear implants, and there is no upper age limit for cochlear implantation.