Person
Saunders, Rod
Summary
Rod Saunders was the first person to have their hearing restored and understand speech with the aid of a cochlear implant (bionic ear). Saunders received the implant in a surgical procedure conducted by Graeme Clark at the Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital in Melbourne on 1 August 1978.
Related entries
Archival resources
National Library of Australia Manuscript Collection
- Papers of Graeme M. Clark, 1944-2012 [manuscript], 1944 - 2012, MS 8696; National Library of Australia Manuscript Collection. Details
The University of Melbourne Archives
- Department of Otolaryngology - Bionic Ear Records, 1949 - 2000, 2004.0043 at U77/46-55; The University of Melbourne Archives. Details
Published resources
Books
- Worthing, Mark, Graeme Clark: The Man Who Invented the Bionic Ear (Crows Nest: Allen & Unwin, 2015), 221 pp. Details
Resources
- 'Saunders, Rod', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-1772567. Details
Digital resources
- Title
- Photograph showing Rod Saunders speaking with his wife using the first speech processor developed by the University of Melbourne's Department of Otolaryngology
- Type
- Image
- Source
- Graeme Clark Foundation website http://graemeclarkfoundation.org/how-the-cochlear-implant-bionic-ear-functions/
- Title
- Rod Saunders speaks with his wife Margaret with his new wearable speech processor
- Type
- Image
- Date
- 1979
- Source
- Graeme Clark
Jack Roberts
Created: 26 June 2016, Last modified: 10 October 2016