Craniofacial Center

Advances in Hearing

Baha® - Bone Anchored Hearing System

Many people are surprised to learn that we can hear in two ways. We all know that we hear with our ears. Sound travels through the air into the ear canal, vibrates the middle ear, and then stimulates the inner ear/hearing nerve...this is called air conduction hearing. Well, we can also hear through bone conduction. This means that sound vibrates bone to stimulate the inner ear.

In patients whose outer and/or middle ear has not developed properly or has been damaged, a bone conduction device like the Baha® could be a viable option towards hearing rehabilitation. What is a Baha®? The Baha® is a surgically implantable bone anchored hearing system. Rather than sending the sound through the damaged/malformed portion of the ear (air conduction), the Baha® system completely bypasses the outer and middle ear stimulating hearing through direct bone conduction.

The Baha® has three main components for the Connect: the titanium implant that is surgically placed behind the ear, the abutment and the external sound processor and four main components for the Attract: the titanium implant which is surgically implanted as well as an internal magnet, the external magnet that connects to the sound processor and attracts to the magnet just under the skin. The sound is then transformed into vibrations that are sent through the abutment and the implant. The titanium implant transfers these vibrations to the inner ear by vibrating the bones of the skull allowing hearing.

In addition to the sound processor, accessories can be used via Bluetooth® to help improve speech in noisy environments, hearing conversations more clearly over the telephone, and hearing the television and stereo/MP3 systems...hearing straight from the source.  Through this wireless technology, voices are clearer, it's easier to hear from the phone and patients can comfortably listen to television with their family at a reasonable volume and this is all with no cords.  Your Baha® sound processor can even be controlled through the iPhone or Android smartphone.

The Baha® can even be worn on a soft band for children under age 5 and not ready for the surgical procedure.