Brother develops a new device for her sister's cochlear implants

Raquel was born without the ability to hear and received cochlear implants where a surgically implanted device and a speech processor worn behind the ear to hold the batteries and microphone. Cochlear implant systems enable children to hear more sounds including soft, high-pitched sounds important to understanding spoken language.

One day in 2017, Raquel’s older brother Avery, noticed that his sister’s small ears were struggling under the weight of her cochlear implant speech processor, especially when it was connected to the system she uses at school to hear her teacher when background noise is present. This made him think about a better solution for kids his sister's age to carry the batteries of their implants around!

With that in mind and as part of his school science fair project, Avery took it upon himself to invent a lightweight battery necklace to improve the comfort and style of the device. This will allow for her to carry the large amount of battery power needed for school in a more stylish way!

In addition to improving the quality of Raquel’s life, the design won MED-EL’s Ideas4Ears contest in the fall of 2017.

Adapted from https://www.luriechildrens.org/en/blog/boy-invents-new-device-for-his-si...
Learn more about this invention and competition here https://blog.medel.com/ready-steady-invent-the-med-els-childrens-inventi...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9COJsGzWZQ0&list=PLT_--N4wea5CyMpNeJmfjh...

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