People with CI or parents of children with CI - Impt info

im already aware of this.. this is why steel slides are still primary for me :D

its not that dangerous.. i don't know why u say dangerous.. accually all they need to do is reprogram it.. thats simple and easy.
audiologist have the program saved in the computer and all they need to do is put the program in.. then u're done few min!.
 
Old news...

Yes, Deafscuba is correct. Not dangerous at all...just a minor nuisance when the processor gets zapped.

I still go down those things with my kids once in a while... :D
 
i didnt know that.. i guess they will improve the technology sometimes soon so it wont happen at all so that way kids still can hear??
 
DeafSCUBA98 said:
im already aware of this.. this is why steel slides are still primary for me :D

its not that dangerous.. i don't know why u say dangerous.. accually all they need to do is reprogram it.. thats simple and easy.
audiologist have the program saved in the computer and all they need to do is put the program in.. then u're done few min!.
Click to expand...


Since my job has me pulling metal carts and working with nylon bags static tends to build up in me. :) I was concerned about this and asked my CI audi about static, since for me sparks literally fly. :) She said that basically the shocks aren't the problem because they disipate the electrical buildup, the processor would probably only be affected if I touched it while having the static buildup in my body....so getting zapped before scratching your head near the processer is a good idea. :ugh3: I hate getting zapped.
 
jag said:
Since my job has me pulling metal carts and working with nylon bags static tends to build up in me. :) I was concerned about this and asked my CI audi about static, since for me sparks literally fly. :) She said that basically the shocks aren't the problem because they disipate the electrical buildup, the processor would probably only be affected if I touched it while having the static buildup in my body....so getting zapped before scratching your head near the processer is a good idea. :ugh3: I hate getting zapped.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I learned about the plastic slides last week LOL.

It's neat learning from posts like yours, jag!
 
Guess part of the problem depends on the climate.
Here, it's humid all year around.

But still. the risk is there.

On the other hand.... how are you going to keep a child away from a slide....
... so we don't!

Cloggy
 
DeafSCUBA98 said:
im already aware of this.. this is why steel slides are still primary for me :D

its not that dangerous.. i don't know why u say dangerous.. accually all they need to do is reprogram it.. thats simple and easy.
audiologist have the program saved in the computer and all they need to do is put the program in.. then u're done few min!.
Click to expand...
It says in the article that a reprogramming can cost up to $1,000. That is a lot of money and I am wondering if it can be covered by insurance or not?

For most kids, the static electricity that builds up as they go down playground slides does little more than make their hair stand on end. But for thousands of hearing-impaired children, static can shut down their cochlear implants in an instant.

To try to help kids with implants enjoy slides, a group of Missouri researchers is studying just how much static electricity can build up on plastic playground slides as part of an attempt to find a solution to the cochlear conundrum.

It won't come too soon for Mary McGinnis, director of teacher education at the John Tracy Clinic, which serves hearing-impaired children in Los Angeles. "This has been the bane of my existence," said McGinnis, who's seen several cases of implants fried by static electricity.

An estimated 15,000 American children have cochlear implants, which convert sound into electrical impulses that the brain can detect.

Static electricity has been a problem for the implants since they first became available in the mid-1980s, McGinnis said. One of the first children to have an implant, she said, erased its memory by simply pulling a sweater over her head, and had to have the device replaced.

New generations of implants are less susceptible to static and typically don't need to be re-implanted after getting zapped. But playground slides and other sources of heavy static (like balloons) can still zap an implant and require it to be reprogrammed, which costs up to $1,000. The child, meanwhile, must go hours or days without being able to hear.

Armed with a $25,000 federal grant, researchers launched a study of exactly how much static electricity is created when a child goes down a slide. They filed their report with the United States Access Board in March.

By hooking sensors to children as they slid down slides in St. Louis and Tucson, Arizona, the scientists found that children easily built up 25,000 volts of electricity, the limit of the measuring devices.

"That's a pretty good lightning bolt," said study lead author Bob Morley, an associate professor of electrical and systems engineering at Washington University.

Plastic slides are such a strong generator of static because large parts of the body come in contact with the surface area, causing electrons to be rubbed free and cling to the kids, Morley said.

What to do? One idea is to coat the slides with an antistatic material. A St. Louis company called Crosslink is developing an antistatic coating for the canopies of Navy planes and has offered to look into whether its product might work for slides, too.

The coating contains polymers that conduct electricity and dissipate any charge, "never really generating the potential for a spark," said Patrick Kinlen, Crosslink's chief technology officer, who thinks the product could be used on slides at an affordable cost.

For the time being, however, children with cochlear implants should stay away from plastic playground slides. (Metal slides don't pose a great risk -- at least one playground designed for the disabled has installed them to protect implant-wearing kids -- but they get hotter in the summer.)

Staying away from slides is "very hard for a child," said McGinnis, the trainer of teachers for hard-of-hearing kids. "But it's probably even harder for a parent. All the parents I know want their children to look and be like all the other children."
Click to expand...
 
ButterflyGirl said:
It says in the article that a reprogramming can cost up to $1,000. That is a lot of money and I am wondering if it can be covered by insurance or not?
Click to expand...

I guess it depends on the individual in question... my programs are stored on my audie's laptop - if I ever needed them re-installed all it would take would be a couple minutes to re-download them for me. A full re-map wouldn't be necessary.
 
We have close ties to my son's school and they have an audiologist on their staff so I doubt they'd charge us anything at all if it happened to our son. In the past, they've done a lot to help us out when our children's hearing aids got lost and etc.

I'll still ask them more questions, anyway. I wonder if I could download the program on my own computer in case I needed to re-download it on my processor :cool:
 
Fragmenter said:
We have close ties to my son's school and they have an audiologist on their staff so I doubt they'd charge us anything at all if it happened to our son. In the past, they've done a lot to help us out when our children's hearing aids got lost and etc.

I'll still ask them more questions, anyway. I wonder if I could download the program on my own computer in case I needed to re-download it on my processor :cool:
Click to expand...
i would wish to have that here at home. would save my trip and time

for me.. the whole mapping season and hearing test cost $263 but the insurance pays for it.

but to reprogram it back to processor cuz its zapped should be much cheaper.
 
Fragmenter said:
We have close ties to my son's school and they have an audiologist on their staff so I doubt they'd charge us anything at all if it happened to our son. In the past, they've done a lot to help us out when our children's hearing aids got lost and etc.

I'll still ask them more questions, anyway. I wonder if I could download the program on my own computer in case I needed to re-download it on my processor :cool:
Click to expand...
Oh I wish... and hope that there will be a remote diagnostic somehow... where you connect to your audie via broadband internet connection and they map your ci remotely.
 
DeafSCUBA98 said:
i would wish to have that here at home. would save my trip and time

for me.. the whole mapping season and hearing test cost $263 but the insurance pays for it.

but to reprogram it back to processor cuz its zapped should be much cheaper.
Click to expand...
That's why it won't happen--there's no profit in that.
 
Boult said:
Oh I wish... and hope that there will be a remote diagnostic somehow... where you connect to your audie via broadband internet connection and they map your ci remotely.
Click to expand...

You hurry up and go get a patent on your idea! Good idea!
 
greema said:
You hurry up and go get a patent on your idea! Good idea!
Click to expand...
It has been discussed in CI circles but no idea of when that will happens. So We will have to see which company will start the trend.
 
ButterflyGirl said:
It says in the article that a reprogramming can cost up to $1,000. That is a lot of money and I am wondering if it can be covered by insurance or not?
Click to expand...

Some people carry their programs around on those USB drive stick things that you can attach to your keys or wear around your neck. So in an emergency you can just go to the nearest audie who can copy your program from your USB and cut and paste to the CI.
 
R2D2 said:
Some people carry their programs around on those USB drive stick things that you can attach to your keys or wear around your neck. So in an emergency you can just go to the nearest audie who can copy your program from your USB and cut and paste to the CI.
Click to expand...

Now that's a cool idea!!!
 
R2D2 said:
Some people carry their programs around on those USB drive stick things that you can attach to your keys or wear around your neck. So in an emergency you can just go to the nearest audie who can copy your program from your USB and cut and paste to the CI.
Click to expand...


Say, that is SO cool! Wonder if I could find out what kind of hardware/software is involved? (You know it is really handy knowing this stuff so I won't have to worry about going without my computer! And I can add any hardware needed along with drivers, etc.)
 
greema said:
Say, that is SO cool! Wonder if I could find out what kind of hardware/software is involved? (You know it is really handy knowing this stuff so I won't have to worry about going without my computer! And I can add any hardware needed along with drivers, etc.)
Click to expand...

I believe you only need the USB flash drive and a USB port on your computer, which many of them have these days. The USB flash thingy looks like this:

749390_xl.jpg


And you just plug it into the USB port on your computer. My husband uses it all the time as he is always working between computers in different locations and doesn't want to lose his work.

Correct me anyone if I have this wrong but it's really easy to use!
 
Back
Top