THOUSANDS of profoundly deaf people could benefit from the cochlear implant technology used on Andover toddler Eleanor Fitter after a study by Southampton scientists is completed.

The study will explore the benefits of having two cochlear implants to help profoundly deaf people recover some hearing. A team from the Cochlear Implant Centre at the University of Southampton's Institute of Sound and Vibration Research are taking part in the national project to explore the range and types of benefits offered by bilateral cochlear implants.

Work at Southampton is focusing on improvements in the ability to localise where sounds are coming from with two implants instead of one.

Set up in 1989, the centre has provided implants for more than 200 deaf people, including Eleanor, who had the operation after an anonymous donor came forward with the necessary £30,000.

Three patients have already been fitted with second cochlear implants and the centre has received positive feedback.

Prof Mark Lutman, who is leading the research, said: "Those who have received a second implant report that they feel they can hear in 3D and find it much easier to localise sound."

The initial findings of the study will be available during 2003.