An ongoing study of 45 deaf children who had two cochlear implants finds that their language skills are within the normal range. Cochlear implants replace the eardrum by delivering an electric signal from a microphone to the auditory nerves located in the cochlea in the inner ear. The study, the first good evidence that a second implant helps with understanding speech, was presented at a Midwestern meeting of experts on cochlear implants held at the Waisman Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Thousands of children get cochlear implants each year, and the surgery is done at an ever-younger age, says Ruth Litovsky, a professor of communicative disorders and surgery/otolaryngology.