Health Sciences · Hospital for Sick Children
A small electronic device, black coloured with silver trim, consisting of a behind-the-ear component and a circular transmitting coil that is attached to the earpiece by a short cord.
The lower segment of the earpiece is a rechargeable battery. The battery can be detached by twisting it laterally.
Accession Number: 2025.sk.54
Alternative Name:
Primary Materials: Metal, Plastic
A piece of green tape on one side of the earpiece reads: “N7-2”
Information printed inside the curve of the ear hook includes: “#101014 // 4912002”
Printed on the inside face of the removable battery: “C270257” and “M9 4A”
Dimensions (cm): Height = 5, Width = 5, Length = 12
Cochlear implants are used for severely to profoundly deaf patients for whom acoustic amplification offers no benefit. A cochlear implant stimulates the auditory nerve tissue directly using electrical signals in order to create a sensation of hearing.
A cochlear implant consists of two separate components, an internal element with an electrode array implanted within the cochlea, and an externally worn component. The external element contains such things as a microphone, a battery, a sound processing system, and a transmitter that sends the sound signal and power to the implant.
This is an example of the external elements of a cochlear implant system. It represents a recent generation of entirely behind-the-ear (BTE) speech processors. The Nucleus 6 speech processor was released in 2013.
This example is intact and is in excellent cosmetic condition.
Associated Instruments:
Manufacturer: Cochlear Pty, ltd., Sydney, Australia
Date of Manufacture: c. 2017
This is part of a small collection of artifacts, gathered by Archie’s Cochlear Implant Lab at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids), that was photographed on 8 October 2025. The items represent various stages of the technology used since the lab’s founding in 1998.
These items remain on site and in possession of the Lab. They are used for teaching and demonstration purposes.
James F. Patrick, Peter A Busby, and Peter J Gibson (2006). “The Development of the Nucleus® FreedomTM Cochlear Implant System.” Trends in Amplification 10, no. 4: 175–200.
Cochlear, ltd. was founded in 1981 based on developmental research into cochlear implants by a group led by Dr. Graeme Clark at the University of Melbourne, Australia. This followed a decade of research in areas such as biocompatible materials and safe thresholds of electrical stimulation with the cochlea. The company’s first-generation cochlear implant system, based on the Cl22 implant, was commercially released for adults in 1985. (See Patrick, Busby, and Gibson 2006, 177.)