Cochlear implant with no exterior hardware can be wirelessly recharged

Cochlear implants -- medical devices that electrically stimulate the auditory nerve -- have granted at least limited hearing to hundreds of thousands of people worldwide who otherwise would be totally deaf. Existing versions of the device, however, require that a disk-shaped transmitter about an inch in diameter be affixed to the skull, with a wire snaking down to a joint microphone and power source that looks like an oversized hearing aid around the patient's ear. Researchers have now developed...