MED-EL announces TICI UNICO, the first totally implantable cochlear implant.

@Deaf_piper said:

How would an internal battery go if you had to have an MRI?

The MED-EL documents say it is MRI conditional, like all CIs, up to 3T.

(Edit: Removed the word "safe".)

MR conditional is not always trivial: https://www.usa.philips.com/healthcare/clinical-article/scanning-mr-conditional-implants It sounds like patients may want to review the parameters before implantation and keep copies of those details for as long as the implant is present.

@user490 said:

It sounds like patients may want to review the parameters

Except it's not that simple unless you're a physicist. Too many factors go into the settings when taking an MRI for a patient, and even most radiologists, to know if a particular scan is compatible or not. I haven't found any documentation, for example, on what specific absorption rate this implant can handle. In fact, I don't even remember what my own implant can handle… and I don't need to know because ultimately, the radiology practice has to do its own checking regardless of what the patient tells them. Just remember, up to 3T (but not always 3T).