Audiological Services

Bone Anchored Hearing Aids

We hear sound transmitted through air conduction via the ear canal, eardrum and middle ear bones (ossicles) to the inner ear. Sound is also transmitted through bone conduction via the bones in the head which bypasses the outer and middle ear going straight to the inner ear.

Conventional hearing aids sit in the ear canal and transmit sound via air conduction. Some people cannot use conventional hearing aids due to chronic ear infection problems in the outer or middle ear or lack of a functioning ear canal (a congenital condition known as atresia) and others may have a single sided deafness with no hearing on one side perhaps caused by disease, trauma or surgery. Traditional bone conduction hearing aids work transcutaneously vibrating the sound across the skin to the skull and they are uncomfortable and provide poor sound quality.

The bone anchored hearing aid works percutaneously by vibrating the skull directly through a small titanium fixture that is implanted in the skull behind the ear. Titanium integrates with bone and so a small abutment can be attached to the fixture and a sound processor or bone anchored hearing aid can be clipped on. The BAHA processor provides better sound quality and is discreet and comfortable.