LASIK Your Ears!

I'm surprised that the following news haven't surfaced throughout DeafBlogLand. Might as well as comment on it, but first, here's the news:

Minimally Invasive Cochlear Implant Surgery

The implications of the article are profound. If the researchers are successful, it could very well mean that all future CI surgeries would be conducted on an outpatient basis, and activations occurring on the same day. It will definitely do three things; it will lower costs associated with the procedure, lower surgical risks tremendously, and promote quick healing.

IMO, this move is needed, especially when deaf infants and toddlers are involved. I have seen too many cases of language-delayed deaf children to think otherwise. Parents, who may balk at the current CI surgery, may be more receptive and amenable to the minimally invasive alternative, spurring more widespread acceptance and usage.

Deaf adults may be more willing to undergo the CI regimen, especially if he/she knows it'll be an outpatient procedure, and hopefully, not under general anesthesia. If millions of people can easily undergo LASIK surgery, perhaps a similar percentage of deaf adults would be willing to do the same for a similar kind of surgery. There's still the matter of intensive speech/listening therapies for the CI recipients, no matter what surgical method is employed, though.

As with any novel surgical procedure, I hope the researchers will also frame the ethical issues surrounding it, and navigate the resulting ethical minefield. I'd hate to see the procedure to be quickly decided upon by the relevant medical authorities (i.e., FDA) without input from the Deaf community.

In closing, I'd like to offer the parting words of one George S. Porter, upon closing out the final issue of The Silent Worker; "But time brings many changes.... New ideas.... New methods.... New theories.... New conditions.. Such is life." Truer words were never spoken, and they were spoken 78 years ago!