 | About Cochlear Implants | Children who benefit most from cochlear implants:
 have been deaf for a short period of time
have been in a good auditory-oral training program
have families who are strongly committed to the training process
* The goal for children with a cochlear implant system is to help them learn to listen and speak. Adults who benefit most from cochlear implants:
have already developed spoken language
are motivated to listen again and to receive the most benefits from the cochlear implant
* Post-lingually deafened adults usually understand an average of 85 percent of simple sentences without lip reading with the cochlear implant system. |
Since the arrival of Paul Lambert, MD, in 1999, the Cochlear Implant Program has grown significantly. From 2000-2002, MUSC implanted an average of 17 patients per year. From 2003-2008, the number of patients implanted has more than doubled to 35 per year. July 2004 brought major changes to the implant program with the addition of Ted Meyer, MD, PhD, as Director of the Cochlear Implant Program and Jack King, PhD, as Director of the Vestibular & Balance Program. Dr. Meyer is a 2004 graduate of the University of Iowa Neurotology Fellowship. He has an extensive research background in the fields of cochlear implants, speech perception, and psychophysics. Dr. Meyer has numerous publications pertaining to cochlear implants and received several small grants to conduct research as a resident. He has a 50 percent research appointment. Dr. King is a 2004 graduate of the University of Miami. He has an extensive research background in the fields of neurophysiology and evoked potentials in cochlear implant users. He recently has received funding through the NIH-NIDCD Loan Repayment Program to study neural responses in implant users. He has a 50 percent research appointment. A clinical and research database has been created, and IRB approval has been obtained for five research projects. Funding is being pursued to increase research efforts. Dr. Meyer collects data from implant users, as well as listeners with normal hearing on auditory psychophysics and word recognition tasks. Dr. King collects evoked potential responses from patients who use Cochlear Nucleus and Freedom implants. The most recent addition to the program is David White, MD, who joined the implant program in August 2005, following his fellowship in Pediatric Otolaryngology at the University of Cincinnati Children's Hospital. Dr. White focuses on treatment of congenital deafness and pediatric hearing loss. He also provides non-otologic ENT care for pediatric CI candidates who have other ENT issues. Dr. White lectures about pediatric deafness, hearing loss and treatment options in South Carolina. His involvement with the educational, outreach and awareness aspects of the MUSC Cochlear Implant Program help provide even more services to the South Carolina pediatric community. Abby Connell, MEd, assumed the role of Clinical Coordinator of the Cochlear Implant Program in 2002 after completing a Clinical Fellowship in Audiology at MUSC. Abby received a master's degree from the University of Georgia. She has been responsible for all pre- and post-operative assessments since 2002. With the growth of the program, her practice has increased substantially. Meredith H. Edgerton, AuD, is a Pediatric Audiologist and Cochlear Implant Programming Audiologist. She received a Doctor of Audiology degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She completed a graduate externship year at MUSC in 2006 before joining as a faculty member. Meredith determines candidacy for pediatric and adult cochlear implant patients. She also programs and maps implants following surgery. Kimberly Orr, MA, is a Pediatric Audiologist and Director of the Division of Audiology. Kim has extensive experience in diagnostic audiology and hearing aids. She received a master's degree from Ohio State University and has been at MUSC since 1992. Her role with the implant team is crucial in determining candidacy of pediatric implant patients. Nevitte Swink, MSP, is an Auditory-Verbal Therapist and Speech-Language Pathologist. She received a master's degree from the University of South Carolina. Nevitte is one of only four certified Auditory-Verbal Therapists in the state and the only one in the low country. Pamela Teachey, BS, joined the team in 2004 as the Administrative Assistant for Dr. Meyer and the Cochlear Implant Program. Pam is responsible for scheduling cochlear implant evaluations, all clinical and research appointments, and for coordinating all conferences and meetings. She also works closely with Dr. Meyer in managing databases. All patients — especially children — referred for a cochlear implant are seen in a multidisciplinary setting. After a complete audiological evaluation, each patient has a complete medical evaluation and CAT scan to determine whether he or she is an appropriate candidate. Key Faculty  Ted A. Meyer, MD, PhD – Assistant Professor and Director
Paul R. Lambert, MD – Professor and Department Chairman
David R. White, MD – Assistant Professor
Jack E. King, PhD – Assistant Professor
Abby C. Connell, MEd – Clinical Coordinator
Meredith H. Edgerton, AuD – Programming and Pediatric Audiologist
Kimberly A. Orr, MA – Pediatric Audiologist
Nevitte Swink, MSP – Auditory, Verbal Therapist
Key Equipment/Resources
Implant Programming Interface – one dedicated to the cochlear implant program
Audiometer – one dedicated to the cochlear implant program
Cochlear - Implant Programming Interface
Advanced Bionics – Implant Programming Interface
Med El – Implant Programming Interface
Sound Booth – one dedicated to the cochlear implant program
Implant Programming Room Surgeons in the Cochlear Implant Program use the latest equipment for clinical care. The 11-station Temporal Bone Laboratory is used to train residents and practicing otolaryngologists in the latest techniques of surgical otology including cochlear implantation. Research
Funded Research
NIH – Loan Repayment Program Grant. Using Neural Response Telemetry (NRT) to Predict Programming Levels in Nucleus Cochlear Implants. Jack E. King, PI. 2005–2007. Wiley Harrison Memorial Research Grant - CORE - American Hearing Research
Foundation - American Adademy of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery. Signal detection with cochlear implants. Ted A. Meyer, PI. 2007. Submitted
NIH R21. Analysis of interaction between mental alerting task and hearing loss in vestibular testing. Jack E. King, PI. | 
