French origins of the cochlear implant.

André Djourno and Charles Eyriès are widely recognized as the first to implant an electrical auditory prosthesis, stimulating the development of the modern cochlear implant. Djourno had developed a device for remote stimulation of motor nerves in the early 1950s. In 1957, Eyriès implanted this device in a deaf human subject and successfully stimulated the auditory nerve. Roger Maspétiol implanted a second patient in 1958. Based on these experiments, Djourno anticipated many features that have since been incorporated into modern cochlear implant design. Despite a promising start, the work was complicated by interpersonal and ethical conflicts and abandoned in 1959.