Implant Anniversary

This month is the 30th Anniversary of the first pediatric cochlear implant. The FDA approved the House Ear Institute in Los Angeles to conduct a clinical trial in July 1980 for 3 patients under the age of 18. William House developed the single-channel device in the 1960s and it had been successfully implanted in adults. The same device was then used in preschool-aged child the following year leading to national trials. In the late 1980’s, The Institute became the first US center to give a multi-channel device to a young child.