Cochlear Implants and MRI: Growth Trend Leads to Design Revolution

By Darla Franz, MA, & Rebecca Novak Tibbitt, MPH MED-EL   Cochlear implants (CIs) are an increasingly common option for people with severe to profound hearing loss. Approximately 324,200 people worldwide had received implants as of December 2012, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). In the United States, an estimated 58,000 adults and 38,000 children have received cochlear implants (National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders; bit.ly/NIDCD-CI). Recent research has shown that the number of older adults in the United States who are potential candidates for cochlear implantation is approximately 150,000 and will continue to increase with the aging of the population (Medicine 2012;91[5]:229-241).   The development and improvement of advanced diagnostic imaging technologies is widely credited with leading to earlier and more accurate diagnoses of disease using noninvasive techniques. The use of diagnostic imaging, including MRI, has grown significantly in the Medicare population over the last two decades (JAMA 2012;307[22]:2400-2409).   One study of large health systems found that MRI use increased from 17 to 65 per 1,000 enrollees between 1996 and 2010, amounting to a 10-percent annual growth (JAMA 2012;307[22]:2400-2409). According to IMV’s 2014 MR Market Outlook Report, an estimated 34.9 million magnetic resonance (MR) procedures were performed in the United States in 2014 (bit.ly/IMV-MRI). Today, the United States performs th...
Source: R&D Blog - Category: ENT & OMF Tags: Blog Posts Source Type: blogs