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Bone-Anchored Implant Offers Solution for Some with Hearing Loss

Adults and children suffering from certain types of conductive hearing loss, mixed hearing loss, or single-sided deafness have a new treatment option available at the University of Rochester Medical Center. The bone-anchored hearing aid, or Baha®, conducts sound through bone, bypassing the middle ear that must function properly to work with traditional air-conduction hearing aids.

Benjamin T. Crane, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor of Otolaryngology and Neurobiology and Anatomy, recently started offering these implants in Rochester after coming from Johns Hopkins University, where he successfully implanted more than 50 Baha® devices. FDA-approved for use in the U.S. in 2002, Baha® has a proven track record of success in Europe, where it has been helping the hearing-impaired since the 1970s.

Baha® is a potential solution for patients whose middle ear function is blocked, damaged or occluded, according to Crane. Rather than relying on the outer and middle ear to transmit sound, Baha® bypasses problem areas and stimulates the cochlea through bone conduction. As the cochlea receives sound vibrations, the sound is converted into neural signals and transferred to the brain, allowing the patient to perceive sound.

The device is implanted in a two-step process. First, in a minor surgical procedure, Crane places a small, titanium abutment in the bone behind the non-functioning ear where it fuses with the living bone. Approximately three months after the implant, a sound processor is attached to the abutment.

The sound processor picks up sound vibrations and transmits them to the implant. The implant transfers the vibrations to the functioning cochlea so the patient hears the sound.

Randell Forbes of Rochester knows first-hand how Baha® can improve hearing and quality of life. Forbes, age 46, suffered hearing loss in his left ear, which progressed over 10 years and made his work as a restaurant cook more challenging. Initially, he tried a traditional hearing aid though it proved ineffective in the long term.

Forbes’ physician referred him to Crane, who determined he was a good candidate for Baha® and installed his implant in April 2010. Forbes received his sound processor the following July.

“We tried it out as soon as I got it and – like magic – I could hear,” Forbes said.             The implant procedure was a same-day surgery and Forbes missed only about one week of work while he recovered. Though initially he felt some minor pain after the surgery, today Forbes reports that – except for the fact that he can hear – the device is virtually unnoticeable to him.

“The Baha® is an ideal option for people like Randell who previously had no good treatment options,” Crane said.

In addition to single-sided hearing loss, Baha® may be helpful for patients with congenital or acquired conductive or mixed hearing losses, including those caused by:

• malformation of the external ear, ear canal or middle ear;
• infection of the ear canal resulting in chronic draining ears;
• fixation of the middle ear bones.