Auditory brainstem implant

An Auditory Brain Stem Implant (ABI) is a surgically implanted electronic device that provides a sense of sound to a person who is profoundly deaf, due to sensorineural hearing impairment (due to illness or injury damaging the cochlea or auditory nerve, and so precluding the use of a cochlear implant).

The auditory brain stem implant uses similar technology as the cochlear implant, but instead of electrical stimulation being used to stimulate the cochlea, it is instead used to stimulate the brain stem of the recipient.

Only small numbers of recipients are implanted with an auditory brain stem implant, due to the nature of the surgery required to implant the device (as it requires brain surgery to implant the device) and the reduced effectiveness of the implant (when compared to a cochlear implant - most cochlear implant recipients have hearing comparable to normal hearing, but most auditory brain stem implant recipients only have an awareness of sound).