MODEL RELEASED. Cochlear implant surgery. Scalp and skull of a 5-year-old girl dissected during surgery for a cochlear implant. The internal part of the device will be placed in the area seen here, behind the ear, and anchored to the skull. It consists of a receiver, to collect sounds from the external microphone, and a stimulator. The stimulator turns sound into electrical impulses and sends them to electrodes implanted in the cochlea in the inner ear. The cochlea is the organ of hearing, and the impulses are sent along the auditory nerve to the brain, allowing those with hearing losses to regain a sense of hearing. Photographed in the Robert Debre Hospital, Paris, France.