Older couple out for a walk

What are osseointegrated devices?

Osseointegrated devices, also known as bone-anchored hearing aids, consist of a titanium implant, an external abutment and a sound processor.

They are designed for patients with conductive hearing loss and those with single-sided deafness.

Like cochlear implants, osseointegrated devices bypass damaged hair cells in the auditory canal and middle ear. They transmit sound vibrations through the external abutment to the titanium implant, which naturally integrates (ossifies) with the skull bone over time. The bones of the skull act as conductors, transmitting these sound vibrations to the inner ear, where the nerve fibers responsible for hearing are stimulated.

References

Pubmed: National Library of Medicine. Osseointegrated Auditory Devices: Bone-Anchored Hearing Aid and PONTO (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30617010/)

National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI): National Library of Medicine. Osseointegrated Bone-conducting Hearing Protheses (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK564385/)