Hearing Aid Implant Developed

A company named Otologics has recently developed a fully implantable hearing aid which is currently under clinical trials. According to the company, some people who wear hearing aids are prevented from doing physical activities like swimming, playing tennis, or aerobics since the conventional hearing aid restricts a person's movement. Otologics hopes to bring a promising solution through the implantable hearing aid that they have developed.

Over at the company's website, Ostologics stated that the device works by picking up sounds through a microphone implanted beneath the skin behind the ear. The sound is then processed by the microphone and then sent to another device inside the middle ear called a transducer. The transducer causes the middle ear bones to vibrate, like the eardrums. The inner ear encodes the vibrations as nerve impulses and sends the information to the brain.

The device also needs to be recharged and Ostologics stated that users can charge the implant battery by placing a charging device over the skin, at the point of implant. According to technologyreview.com, the charging device is a small radio transmitter which is held over the head for 60 to 90 minutes and held to the skin by a magnet in the implant. A coil in the implant then converts the radio energy to electricity and recharges the battery. Ostologics revealed to Technologyreview.com that the battery can last inside the body for five years and that the implanted components are sealed together to protect against leaks.

Technologyreview.com interviewed Otologics's CEO José Bedoya who said that users can have a normal life. "You can be exposed to environments in which hearing aids have difficulty operating properly," Bedoya said and further suggested that implantation creates a psychological bond with the device that is life enhancing. "Individuals implanted with the system have said that it becomes a part of you--there's a greater sense of security."

Phase I of the clinical trial has already been finished and the results were published in the August 2007 issue of Otolaryngology--Head and Neck Surgery. The clinical trial were composed of twenty subjects and Technologyreview.com reports that some subjects did worse than with their previous hearing aids and that their ability to hear single-frequency tones dropped between 5 and 12 decibels. On the other hand, a survey conducted among the subjects revealed that the subjects felt that the device improved their hearing and that it sounded more natural than their previous hearing aids.

According to Bedoya, the recently concluded Phase I of the study reveals that his company's device "serves as a viable treatment alternative for moderate to severe sensorineural hearing loss." Bedoya is also addressing the problems found by the study and preparing for phase II trials. 90 subjects will be participating in the second phase who will all test a revised device.

SOURCE:

Michael Chorost, The Invisible Hearing Aid. Technologyreview.com. URL: (http://www.technologyreview.com/Biotech/19307/)

http://www.otologics.com/