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Hearing Implants

When conventional hearing aids are not suitable then implants can be considered so far it fits medical and audiological criteria.

This is a joint service provision by audiology and ENT (otology), we provide bone and middle ear implants and processors.

Getting a hearing implant

  1. Referral from Ear Nose and Throat team (ENT / Otology)
    Does hearing loss and Air-Bone Gap fit the criteria

  2. Assessment and Trial of Processor
    Tests, Counselling, Demo and fitting of soft/hard band or SoundArc to processor for at least 2 weeks trial in various situations and environments. Please note that there is no trial for BoneBridge, VSB and OSIA due to the passive nature of the implant.

  3. Decision
    Post-trial follow up. If effective then shared decision between the patient, the audiologist and otologist.

  4. Surgery
    Surgery is carried out by otologist via local general anaesthesia.
  5. Processor fitting and aftercare
    First fitting, programming, fine-tuning and continuous aftercare by the audiology team.

Bone implants and processors

Bone Conduction is a term used to describe how waves travel through the skull to reach the inner ear.

Bone implants can be passive (transcutaneous) or active (percutaneous).

We provide the Bone Anchored Hearing Aid (BAHA), BoneBridge and the OSIA.

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Image demonstrating how the Bone Anchored Hearing Aid (BAHA) fits to the patient
Bone Anchored Hearing Aid (BAHA), percutaneous and processor
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Photo of an OSIA (transcutaneous) implant and processor
OSIA (transcutaneous) implant and processor
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Illustration showing how the BoneBridge hearimg implant fits the patient
BoneBridge (transcutaneous) implant and processor

Middle Ear Implants and Processor

We provide the Vibrant SoundBridge (VSB) middle ear system. It for people with mild to severe sensorineural hearing loss, as well as for those with conductive or mixed hearing loss.

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Illustration showing how the middle ear system fits the patient
Vibrant SoundBridge middle ear implant and processor

Aftercare

Lifelong care of cleaning of the implant site by the recipient and by ENT for the surgery site and Audiology for the processor is essential. Batteries, replacements parts and processors, upgrades, fine tune and programming of the processor will be provided by audiology.

Useful Websites:

Cochlear Inplantable Hearing Solutions

Opticon Medical Hearing Implants

MED-EL Cochlear Implants