Cochlear implants have been available commercially since the mid-1980s , and research on them began in the 1950s.

Quick Scoop

  • The first commercial cochlear implant devices were approved in the mid-1980s.
  • Earlier prototype and clinical work started decades before that, in the 1950s and 1960s.
  • In other words, they’ve been around for roughly 40 years as approved medical devices, depending on how you count the starting point.

A little history

Early implant experiments were done in the 1960s, with major clinical progress following in the 1970s and 1980s.

By the mid-1980s, cochlear implantation had become an approved treatment for profound hearing loss in adults.

Simple takeaway

If you mean “how long have people been able to get them as an established treatment,” the answer is since the mid-1980s.

If you mean “how long has the idea existed,” it’s been in development since the 1950s.