Deaf people could get 'almost perfect' quality hearing from a cochlear implant which deconstructs sounds as it hears them.

Researchers are developing a device which they say could significantly improve the quality of what people hear through the hearing aids.

In the UK around 1,200 people have cochlear implants – which essentially connect a microphone directly to the brain to recreate hearing – fitted each year.

But the current technology 'sounds metallic' and needs a 'significant' amount of brain training to use, according to scientists who claim their device will be better.

Researchers at the University of Greenwich say they're developing a device which, instead of directly magnifying outside noises, rebuilds it to pick out key parts.

It records multiple layers of sound in order to create something which sounds 90 to 100 per cent like what a normal ear would hear, they said.