A cochlear implant is a small, complex electronic device that can help to provide a sense of sound to a person who is profoundly deaf or severely hard of hearing. Cochlear implants provide a sense of sound to a person by doing the work of damaged parts of the inner ear to send sound signals to the brain.
An implant does not restore normal hearing. Instead, it can give a deaf person a useful representation of sounds in the environment and help him or her to understand speech.