New medical implant hearing aid replaces the middle ear for hearing

By implanting a bone conduction hearing aid into the middle ear, hearing-impaired patients can regain normal hearing.

    According to foreign media reports, Swedish scientists have recently invented a new type of medical implantable hearing aid that can replace the middle ear and restore normal hearing for deaf people. Patients who have lost their hearing can use this new type of implantable hearing aid to replace the middle ear and regain normal hearing. Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden developed this unique device and successfully applied it to implant surgery.

    The hearing aid was implanted in a patient's skull less than six centimeters behind the ear. The device uses the skull to transmit sound waves to the inner ear, a process known as bone conduction, which has helped the patient regain hearing. "50% of the sound people hear is from bone conduction, so it sounds very natural," the researchers said.

    This new type of implantable hearing aid is called a bone conduction hearing aid. Unlike other hearing aids, this bone conduction hearing aid does not require fixation, so there is no need to worry about losing some small parts, nor will it cause skin infection at the implant site.

    This technology is used to treat patients who have lost their hearing due to long-term inflammation of the outer or middle ear, bone disease, or congenital outer ear dysfunction. For these patients, bone conduction hearing aids work very well. In addition, this new implantable hearing aid can also help some patients with inner ear damage.

    The researchers hope to get the results of the first clinical trial early this year. Regarding the future of this technology, they said: "We plan to promote this technology to treat ordinary patients within one to two years. We are in the development stage of this technology, and it requires a lot of investment to quickly apply new technologies."