Cochlear Launches World’s First Smart Hearing Implant System
- Kyle Chua
- Jul 21, 2025
- 2 min read
Cochlear is reimagining the way hearing solutions work.
The global leader in hearing implants has launched the Nucleus Nexa System, the world’s first and only hearing implant featuring internal memory and upgradeable firmware.
These groundbreaking upgrades enable users of the implant to access new features and advancements in the future, via both updates to the firmware in their smart implant and upgrades to their sound processor over time.
Previously, implants could only access future innovation by upgrading their sound processor. But with the Nucleus Nexa System, that limitation is now removed.
“Just like a smartphone receives a firmware update, now people with a cochlear implant can stay connected to the latest technology updates seamlessly today and well into the future,” explained Jan Janssen, Chief Technology Officer at Cochlear.
The Nucleus Nexa System’s built-in memory also allows users of the implant to personalise hearing settings (MAPs), which is stored directly in the implant itself. This innovation ensures users can seamlessly transfer their settings to a new Nucleus Nexa Sound Processor if their current one is lost or damaged.
Janssen explained that previously, if a user lost or damaged their implant, they would have to visit a clinic to obtain a replacement, which would then need to be programmed with the user’s personalised hearing settings again. This takes a lot of valuable time from both the user and the professional handling the implant.
“With the brand-new ‘Smart Sync’ feature, the user simply needs to pick-up or receive a ‘blank’ Nexa sound processor and the personalised settings are automatically copied to the replacement sound processor allowing a person to hear with their cochlear implant again in a matter of seconds,” said Janssen.
In addition, the Nucleus Nexa System can respond to the user’s changing needs throughout each day. It can automatically adjust listening settings to help users hear more clearly. It also features a new gold coil and new RF Link technology with dynamic power management to facilitate more efficient power and data transfer, maximising battery life.
The launch of the Nucleus Nexa System coincides with 30-year anniversary of the first adult cochlear implant surgery in mainland China in 1995.
So far, Cochlear has provided more than 750,000 hearing implants to people around the world and the company’s implants reportedly have a proven track record of reliability over 40 years.
The new Cochlear Nucleus Nexa System was first made available in the Boao Lecheng International Medical Tourism Pilot Zone in June 2025. It was also made available in Hong Kong in the same month. In Singapore, the hearing implant will be made available at private clinics starting August, with the first surgeries taking place this July. Meanwhile, roll-out in public hospitals is expected within six months.
Cochlear has launched the Nucleus Nexa System, the world’s first and only hearing implant featuring internal memory and upgradeable firmware.
Like smartphones, the new implant can receive firmware updates to access innovations that will be rolled out in the future.
The hearing implant will be made available at private clinics in Singapore starting August, with the first surgeries taking place this July.
