Advanced Robotic Surgery Gives Cooper His Hearing Back
These days, 6-year-old Cooper Falcone is busy listening and learning alongside his kindergarten classmates and talking with new friends. For Cooper and his family, those everyday moments are especially meaningful because there was a time when they weren't sure what his future would look like.
Born with hearing, Cooper developed progressive hearing loss as a young child. At 3 years old, he received his first cochlear implant at another children's hospital. While the implant helped, Cooper wasn't making the progress his family had hoped for. His speech and language continued to lag behind, leaving them wondering whether something more could be done.
A search for answers led his family to Cincinnati Children's and, ultimately, to Cooper becoming the first child at the hospital to undergo robotic-assisted cochlear implant surgery.
Considering All the Options, Finding Cincinnati Children’s
When the Cincinnati Children’s Audiology team first met with Cooper’s family, rather than immediately recommending another surgery, they wanted to understand why Cooper wasn't making the progress everyone expected.
The care team took a fresh look at Cooper's existing cochlear implant to better understand how he was accessing sound and identify ways to improve his hearing.
“We adjusted the programming for Cooper's cochlear implant, and those changes gave him better access to sound,” said Maggie Kettler, AuD, senior clinical director for Audiology.
While those changes helped for a while, Cooper's hearing loss continued to progress. So, his care team and parents agreed that a second cochlear implant was needed. And at Cincinnati Children's, Cooper would have access to one of the newest advances in pediatric hearing care.
Robotic-Assisted Cochlear Implants: A First for Pediatric Hearing Care
As a longtime leader in caring for children with hearing loss, Cincinnati Children's was the first pediatric hospital to offer robotic-assisted cochlear implant insertion after the FDA approved the procedure for children ages 4 and older.
Advanced technology gives surgeons greater control during cochlear implant surgery, helping protect the delicate structures of the patient’s inner ear while supporting the possibility of preserving their residual hearing
In February 2026, Cooper became the first child at Cincinnati Children's to undergo robotic-assisted cochlear implant surgery.A few weeks later, at Cooper’s appointment to have his new implant activated, Kettler saw something she had been hoping for. Once she turned on Cooper’s device and started testing it, she noticed that he was turning his head as soon as she played a sound that he previously didn’t react to.
“I got really excited. I've known Cooper for a year, and now I was seeing these wonderful responses to sounds that we didn’t see even a year ago,” she said.
Improving Outcomes Through Innovation
According to Cincinnati Children’s pediatric otolaryngologist Daniel Choo, MD, innovations like robotic-assisted cochlear implant surgery are part of the hospital’s much larger commitment to continuing to find better ways to care for children with hearing loss.
“We are always trying to figure out not only what's the best standard of care, but what's going to be the next best standard of care that we should be delivering for kids,” said Dr. Choo.
“When we provide children with access to sound and speech through a cochlear implant, they perform like rock stars.”
Cooper's mom, Angela, agrees, and she hopes sharing her son's experience will encourage other families to keep asking questions and explore their options to find the care that’s right for their child.
"Cooper's future is very bright,” said Kettler. “He has a wonderful support system, a wonderful education system, and now with really good access to sound, the potential is endless."
If your child has hearing loss and may benefit from a cochlear implant, call 513-636-4236 or email AuditoryImplantProgram@cchmc.org.
