Question
What are the advantages of a bone-anchored hearing system compared to a conventional bone conduction hearing aid?
Answer
There are several advantages. First, there is no pressure against the skin and the skull with a bone-anchored hearing aid. There is better sound quality with a bone-anchored hearing system as compared to a traditional bone conduction hearing aid, as there is no damping of the signal via the skin. With the traditional device, you will get some damping when sound is being transmitted through the skin. The bone-anchored system is much more discreet. It is more comfortable, and today’s bone-anchored systems utilize the same advanced technology that you will find in a premium hearing instrument. Compared to a middle-ear implant, a bone-anchored device also has some advantages. Preoperative testing is possible, and that is not possible with a middle-ear implant. We can predict how well patients will do preoperatively with a bone-anchored system. The surgery is very simple and straightforward. It can be performed under local anesthesia, unlike the surgery for a middle ear implant.
For more information on bone-anchored hearing systems, please refer to our course, Audiological Considerations of the Ponto Bone-anchored Hearing System Before and After Surgery, which is available as both a recorded course and a text course on AudiologyOnline, or visit oticonmedical.com
