30 years ago: Implant history

image from Cochlear.com 

On June 4, 1987 Holly McDonell (now Holly Taylor) of Sydney became the first child to receive a commerical multi-channel cochlear implant system (Nucleus made by Cochlear, LTD). The four year old had became profoundly deaf from bacterial meningitis. Holly still has her original implant and had several sounds processor upgrades. The Daily Telegraph takes a look at what's happened in the 30 years since in an article here.