Bone Anchored Hearing Aids
Are suitable for people with a conductive or mixed (sensorineural and conductive) hearing loss and for selected people who have a hearing loss in only one ear (single-sided deafness, SSD). A Bone Anchored Hearing Aid (Baha) can be provided for people who have recurrent ear infections or allergies that make it difficult to use conventional hearing aids.
The Cochlear Baha System has two components: the internal metal implant that is screwed into the skull bone and the external sound processor that captures sound and transmits the coded signal (vibration) to the internal implant. The hearing organ (cochlea) sits in the inner ear surrounded by the bone of the skull, with the sound vibration from the external sound processor being carried to the cochlea directly, bypassing the outer and middle ear. Once the metal implant is screwed into the skull bone it tightly integrates with the surrounding bone (through a natural process known as osseo-integration) to provide a stable connection for the sound vibration to pass to the cochlea.
Surgery can be performed under local (adults) or general anaesthesia (children) and takes less than one hour. It is usually a day case procedure, meaning you go home the same day.
The external sound processor is activated by our specialist audiologists approximately 4 weeks after surgery. We offer a structured programme of fine-tuning and rehabilitation to ensure that you obtain the best possible outcome from your Baha system.
The award-winning Cochlear Baha 6 Sound Processor is the smallest sound processor in the industry and provides a discreet solution for people with conductive and mixed hearing loss, or single sided deafness. It is the first Sound Processor that can directly stream from a Smart Phone or iPad.
Detailed information will be provided at the assessment with the Hearing Implant Team. Click on the link for further information.
