Come join the fun, ride your bike for a great cause.

Jun 2 2009

Cyclists Wanted!

The Rotary Club of Vancouver is organizing a Bike-A-Thon again this summer, July 12th, 2009, for the benefit of the Hearing-Impaired in British Columbia.

This year’s 120-km ride begins at the Brentwood Mall in Burnaby and ends at the Harrison Hot Springs Resort. You can do this as an individual participant, or as part of a relay team, with each member cycling a certain stage of the total distance.

The event ends with a relaxing afternoon the Harrison Hot Springs spas and a celebration banquet.

The Bike-A-Thon hopes to attract 200 cyclists. Do your part for charity this summer – send me an email or call if you have questions or would like to sign up.

The Rotary Bike-A-Thon Committee visited the Cochlear Implant Services at B.C. Children’s Hospital on April 22, 2009. During this visit the committee was given a tour of the Cochlear Implant Clinic. We learned that there is now a Provincial Early Hearing Program that screens all newborn babies. This initiative helps identify and diagnose hearing loss by the time babies are 3 months old, allowing for early intervention which is essential for their communication success. We were shown the soundproof booth and clinic offices with all the equipment needed to test infants/children. There was a demonstration of how to program a cochlear implant. In addition, we got to see a demo kit of what an internal cochlear implant and external speech processor looked like and how it worked.

The Cochlear Implant team consists of a pediatric otolaryngologist, clinical coordinator, three audiologists, a social worker, a psychologist and an administrative assistant. Any infant or child identified as having a severe to profound hearing in both ears can be referred to Cochlear Implant Services for a multidisciplinary team candidacy evaluation. This investigation is a very thorough procedure. The team looks at many aspects of the child’s audiological (hearing), medical, and educational history, as well as current family situation. Furthermore, at any time the family may withdraw from the program if they feel a cochlear implant is no longer an option they wish to pursue.

What is a cochlear implant?

A cochlear implant is a device which directly stimulates the hearing nerve.It can provide sound for children who have a severe to profound hearing loss and/or receive little or no benefit from conventional hearing aids. Cochlear implant surgery is usually done after a child is at least one year of age.

What is the difference between a hearing aid and a cochlear implant?

Hearing aids make sounds louder. However, for children who have a severe to profound hearing loss, hearing aids may not be adequate in providing consistent access to sound for understanding of speech. Cochlear implants may be a good option for these children.

What are the parts of a cochlear implant?

A cochlear implant is a device that is implanted into the inner ear. A tiny electrode is surgically inserted into the cochlea, and a receiver is implanted behind the ear.

A child with a cochlear implant wears the sound processor on the body, or behind the ear. The sound processor is attached to the transmitter coil, which is held on behind the ear by a magnet.

How does a cochlear implant work?

1. Sound is picked up by the microphone in the sound processor.

2. The sound is converted into a digital signal, and processed.

3. The processed digital information is sent to the transmitter coil.

4. The transmitter sends the information by radio waves to the receiver below the skin.

5. The receiver sends the information to the electrode array in the inner ear.

6. The electrodes send signals to the hearing nerve, which is processed by the brain.

Come join this ride as your donations will go to support the BC Children’s Hospital Otology/Cochlear Implant Program. The Funds will be used to purchase urgently needed equipment including:

1) A Video Visual Response Audiometer which will allow an improved assessment of children when they are being tested for hearing loss.

2) A Verifit Hearing Analyzer which will allow testing of hearing aids of children to ensure all is working well as well as verifying levels.

3) Operating Room Cochlear Implant Templates, Micro Surgical Otologic Ear Set Instruments and Fine and Course Burrs.

4) An outpatient ENT clinic Otologic Telescope and Pneumatic Otoscopy device.

5) A Camera for Outpatient Microscope so patients and parents can see what the doctors re seeing in the ear.

For more information click here.

To Register for the Ride click here or join my team Go Dog Go

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