Hanyang Med Rev.  2015 May;35(2):103-107. 10.7599/hmr.2015.35.2.103.

Middle Ear Implant

• Hwang KR
• Choi JY

• KMID: 1793739
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.7599/hmr.2015.35.2.103

Abstract

Patients with hearing loss have been increasing according to the extension of lifespan. Recently, new technology which solves the limitation of conventional hearing aids has been developed. For example, the active middle ear implantation which can directly transfer the vibration energy to the ossicles and inner ear fluid can avoid the feedback and occlusion effect, because this device uses the electromagnetic transducer, not a microphone. Active middle ear implants give more clear sounds and more gain in high frequency area. This device can apply to the patients with ski-sloping hearing loss and severe mixed hearing loss. In the paper, we reviewed the benefits and ideal candidates of the middle ear implant.

Keyword

Hearing; Implant; Ear, Middle; Rehabilitation

MeSH Terms

Ear, Inner
Ear, Middle
Hearing
Hearing Aids
Hearing Loss
Hearing Loss, Mixed Conductive-Sensorineural
Humans
Magnets
Ossicular Prosthesis*
Rehabilitation
Transducers
Vibration

Figure

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  Fig. 1 Classification of implantable hearing aids.

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  Fig. 2 Vibrant sound bridge and Floating Mass Transducer (FMT). (Courtesy of Med-El Korea Corp.)

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  Fig. 3 The sound transfer mechanism of soundbridge.

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  Fig. 4 Indication of soundbridge in SNHL (Lt) and mixed hearing loss (Rt).

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  Fig. 5 Incus vibrobplasty and stapes vibroplasty.

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  Fig. 6 Surgical results of incus vibroplasty and round window vibroplasty.

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  Fig. 7 The mechanism of sound transfer with Carina.

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  Fig. 8 The mechanism of sound transfer with encoy and its indication.

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