What is a bone conduction implant?

Most children with hearing loss use standard hearing aids which make sounds louder and send them through the ear canal and middle ear to the inner ear (cochlea) where the hearing nerves are.

But some children may not be able to hear well via this process. There may be problems with the outer or middle ear, or one ear may not function at all. In these instances, sound needs to take a different path to the inner ear in order to bypass these hearing roadblocks.

And that’s where bone conduction plays such a vital role.

Did you know that the body can naturally hear sounds via two ways? These are called air conduction and bone conduction. The process of air conduction involves sound moving through your ear canal and middle ear to your inner ear (cochlea). The process of bone conduction involves sound moving through bone. And because the hearing pathway is surrounded by bone, sound can bypass the outer and middle ear and be sent directly to the inner ear. To experience bone conduction, simply tap your head gently (can you hear a ‘thud’ sound?). You may also remember having a bone conduction hearing test, which is where a tuning fork is held against the bone behind your ear or between your teeth.

For people with outer or middle ear trouble, or who are deaf in one ear, a bone conduction implant such as Baha, is the most effective way to provide hearing.

Instead of trying to send sound through the damaged part of the ear, a bone conduction implant uses the body’s natural ability to send sound through bone, bypassing the outer and middle ear completely. The result is a clean, clear sound without the distortion or feedback often associated with standard hearing aids.

Who can Baha help?

Bone conduction implants can help children with:

• Conductive hearing loss (problems with the outer or middle ear)
• Mixed hearing loss (problems with the outer/middle and inner ear)
• Single sided nerve deafness (total deafness in one ear)

Here's how it works:

1. A sound processor captures sounds and converts them into vibrations.
2. A connecting abutment transfers the sound vibrations from the sound processor to the titanium implant
3. The small titanium implant is placed in the bone behind the ear where it fuses with the bone to form a very strong bond. The implant transfers the sound vibrations through the bone directly to the cochlea, bypassing the outer or middle ear completely.
4. These sound vibrations cause the fluid in the inner ear to move hair cells and send sound signals to the brain. We then hear sound.

Your child can trial Baha without having surgery

Unlike other hearing implants, a Baha can be trialled before making the decision to proceed with surgery. The sound processor is connected to a test band, test rod or Baha Softband, allowing your child to instantly experience hearing via the Baha system. As a parent, you too can trial Baha to experience the quality of sound your child will be hearing.

So find a clinic where your child can trial a Baha today >

What are the benefits of a bone conduction implant?

• 90% of users would recommend Baha to someone with similar hearing loss¹
• 89% of users prefers Baha to standard hearing aids²
• Have greater confidence in social situations
  Speak more clearly and understand speech more easily without relying on lip-reading
• Can focus hearing in noisy environments
  In classrooms, playgrounds and other loud, busy places
• Enjoy sound on the deaf side
  The sensation of hearing sounds coming from both sides
• Feel safer in the world
  Hear alarms, people calling out and approaching vehicles and know where they are.
 

Read or watch stories from parents of children with bone conduction implants
Find out more about Cochlear Bone conduction products
Steps to getting a Bone conduction implant

¹ Kunst SJW, Hol MwKS, Snik AFM, Bosman AJ, Mylanus EAM, Cremers CWRJ. Baha in patients with acquired and congenital unilateral inner ear deafness. Otol Neurotol. 2007

² Hol MK, Snik AF, Mylanus EA, Cremers CW. Long-term results of bone-anchored hearing aid recipients who had previously used airconduction hearing aids. Archives of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery 2005;131 (4): 321-5