Hearing Implants - BAHA Device
Director at CHC
New York Super Doctor
The BAHA (Bone Anchored Hearing Aid) implant is a system that treats hearing loss through direct bone conduction, allowing sound to be carried through the bone of the skull rather than the defective middle ear. It is approved for treating conductive, mixed, and unilateral sensorineural single sided deafness hearing loss.
The BAHA is surgically implanted to aid patients suffering chronic ear infections, single sided deafness and congenital external auditory canal atresia (see aural atresia), who cannot receive benefit they need from conventional hearing aids.
The system includes a titanium implant, and external microphone and sound processor behind the ear unit. Together they work by facilitating sound transmission through the skull bone, bypassing the external auditory canal and middle ear to get sound to the inner ear.
Click for Video of BAHA in action
The titanium implant is surgically implanted and naturally integrates with the skull bone over time. Two months later after outpatient same day surgery for placement of the internal titanium component, the, external sound processor is attached to the titanium implant to transmit vibrational sound energy to the inner ear. The nerve endings in the inner ear are then stimulated to transmit auditory information to the brain for sound perception (hearing).
In single-sided deafness, the BAHA transmit vibrational sound energy to the opposite normal hearing ear to improve hearing in suboptimal listening conditions such as in the midst of background noise. It also enhances sound localization, which requires binaural hearing.