Cochlear Implant Strategies and Biomaterials from Past to Future

The cochlear implant (C.I.) is a neurobionic prosthesis, being one of the greatest achievements of auditory neuroscience. Although C.I. represents the gold standard in the treatment of deafness in both the child and the adult, some problems like perception of speech in noise (atmosphere, environment), perception of music, binaural hearing remain, aspect to which improvements are expected. The article (this review) revises the road from the first attempts to cochlear implantation to today s modern and reliable cochlear implant. Continuous improvement of existing technology both in terms of biomaterials used and in terms of speech processing and simultaneous stimulation strategies, promise with certainty the introduction of C.I. with superior performance. A look in the future is through new ideas and techniques, which await the transition from the experimental to the clinical stage in the emergence of a new generation of implants.