Meet Ruby, the youngest baby to have the Nucleus 5 cochlear implant
Posted Feb 12 2010 9:37am
Like any other babyRuby Hallows loves to hear her favourite songs 'The Wheels on the Bus' and 'Baa Baa Black Sheep.'
Howeverit was only a couple of months ago that the one year-old heard these tunes for the first timethanks to her bilateral Nucleus 5 cochlear implant.
Rubyfrom HednesfordStaffordshirewas born profoundly deaf in both ears and could not hear anything until she became the youngest baby in the world to have the Nucleus 5 cochlear implantwhich was switched on just before Christmas.
Nowlike most babiesshe reacts to noise and loves musical toys. She will almost definitely develop spoken language in line with her peers and go on to attend a mainstream school.
Ruby's mother Lisa says: 'She is reacting to sounds such as clappingand is making distinctive soundsalmost saying "Mama".'
LisaRuby's father Lee and her sister Charlotte are also learning sign language so that they are able to communicate with Ruby when she's not wearing her sound processor.
Rubywhose hair-cell damage is a result of Waardenburg syndromea hereditary conditionwas diagnosed profoundly deaf when she was just two weeks old.
Lisa says: 'We didn't have any reservations about giving her implants. This wayshe will never remember having the operation.
'Christmas was extra special for us because Ruby was given the ability to hearsomething we never thought would happen.'
Ruby's cochlear implant surgery was carried out by ENT Surgeon Mr Andrew Marshall at the Queen's Medical Centre in Nottingham.
Last Januarythe National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) recommended that all children born profoundly deaf be offered bilateral cochlear implants on the NHS. Cochlear implant surgeon Professor Gerard O'Donoghuethe director of the National Biomedical Research Unit in Hearing at the University of Nottinghamsays the decision marks the end of deafness as it was once known. 'Children born without hearing won't have to grow up deaf,' he says. 'We can now restore useful hearing to someone who is totally deaf. It's a world of difference.'
About 8,000 people in the UK have cochlear implantsincluding most profoundly deaf children. About 350 children per year are born deaf enough to be considered for an implant.
Cochlear implants do not restore normal hearingbut do give the sensation of hearing by stimulating the auditory nervegreatly improving a person's ability to communicate.
Howeverit was only a couple of months ago that the one year-old heard these tunes for the first timethanks to her bilateral Nucleus 5 cochlear implant.
Rubyfrom HednesfordStaffordshirewas born profoundly deaf in both ears and could not hear anything until she became the youngest baby in the world to have the Nucleus 5 cochlear implantwhich was switched on just before Christmas.
Nowlike most babiesshe reacts to noise and loves musical toys. She will almost definitely develop spoken language in line with her peers and go on to attend a mainstream school.
Ruby's mother Lisa says: 'She is reacting to sounds such as clappingand is making distinctive soundsalmost saying "Mama".'
LisaRuby's father Lee and her sister Charlotte are also learning sign language so that they are able to communicate with Ruby when she's not wearing her sound processor.
Rubywhose hair-cell damage is a result of Waardenburg syndromea hereditary conditionwas diagnosed profoundly deaf when she was just two weeks old.
Lisa says: 'We didn't have any reservations about giving her implants. This wayshe will never remember having the operation.
'Christmas was extra special for us because Ruby was given the ability to hearsomething we never thought would happen.'
Ruby's cochlear implant surgery was carried out by ENT Surgeon Mr Andrew Marshall at the Queen's Medical Centre in Nottingham.
Last Januarythe National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) recommended that all children born profoundly deaf be offered bilateral cochlear implants on the NHS. Cochlear implant surgeon Professor Gerard O'Donoghuethe director of the National Biomedical Research Unit in Hearing at the University of Nottinghamsays the decision marks the end of deafness as it was once known. 'Children born without hearing won't have to grow up deaf,' he says. 'We can now restore useful hearing to someone who is totally deaf. It's a world of difference.'
About 8,000 people in the UK have cochlear implantsincluding most profoundly deaf children. About 350 children per year are born deaf enough to be considered for an implant.
Cochlear implants do not restore normal hearingbut do give the sensation of hearing by stimulating the auditory nervegreatly improving a person's ability to communicate.
Find out more about the Nucleus 5 here.