Thanks to implantable hearing aids, pigeons can hear

Listening Thanks to Implant - Modern Hearing Aids Versatile
Which patients can benefit from an implantable hearing aid has changed significantly in recent years. At a symposium at the University Hospital Jena under the scientific direction of Professor Dr. med. Sven Koscielny, deputy director of the Department of Otolaryngology Jena, experts report on the new possibilities of implants.

Basically, today two different forms of implantable hearing aids are available, the so-called cochlear implants and the implantable middle ear or bone hearing aids. Professor Koscielny explains when and for whom the different implantable hearing aids make sense. It is clear that in recent years, there have been some new options.

Implantable hearing aids are today versatile and allow a significant improvement in hearing. (Image: Edler von Rabenstein / fotolia.com)

Implants can significantly improve hearing
According to Prof. Koscielny, the so-called cochlear implant (CI) is suitable for patients "who are deafened on one or both sides." The implant is an "inner ear hearing aid" in which one electrode replaces the disturbed inner ear and electrical currents aroused the auditory nerve. "After a rehabilitation phase, patients can use it to understand words and music," the expert reports on the treatment success. Implantable middle ear or bone hearing aids, on the other hand, are intended for patients with middle ear deafness (due to a disturbance of the auditory ossicular function) or a restriction of the inner ear function. Here, too, the hearing aids can be significantly improved by the implants.

Implants can also be used for one-sided deafness
While the CI was initially only intended for patients dormant on both sides, for some years now patients with one-sided deafness can benefit from it. According to the expert, this development is relatively new and "only five years ago, patients had to cope with the consequences of their one-sided deafness in everyday life - not only with the poorer hearing, but also with the lack of directional hearing", emphasizes Prof. Koscielny. Since then, however, I have developed the technology enormously. "With the new implants, we can now supply deaf patients as well as people with various forms of inner ear and middle ear deafness with a hearing implant and thus significantly improve the participation in daily life for these patients," explains Prof. Dr. med. Sven Koscielny. (Fp)