Bone Conduction Hearing Aids

These devices capture sound and transfer it through bone vibrations directly to the cochlea (the hearing organ in your inner ear). Unlike traditional hearing aids that simply amplify sound, bone conduction devices bypass your outer ear and middle ear entirely and create a new pathway for hearing. Bone conduction hearing aids can be used for one or both ears, and they can be used along with a traditional hearing aid on the opposite ear.

Typically, candidates have one of the following types of hearing loss:

• Conductive hearing loss (when sound is blocked from traveling from the outer or middle ear to the inner ear)
• One-sided, profound, sensorineural hearing loss (which results from damage to the inner ear or cochlea) 
• Mixed hearing loss, meaning it is both conductive and sensorineural

Bone Conduction Hearing Aid Evaluation
To determine whether you are a candidate for bone conduction, you’ll have a comprehensive evaluation to determine your type and degree of hearing loss. If you qualify, you’ll have another appointment with an audiologist to learn more about the devices and try them on. The audiologist will test your ability to hear sound and understand speech with and without different types of hearing aid devices to determine which fit your needs best.

Surgery
Implantation is performed at Duke University Hospital, Duke Ambulatory Surgery Center, or Duke Raleigh Hospital as outpatient surgery under general anesthesia. The procedure usually lasts about an hour. Only the internal component will be placed during surgery. You will likely go home the same day.

Device Activation
After surgery, there is a required healing period before your bone conduction hearing aid(s) can be turned on. Following a successful post-operative check-up, you’ll return to your audiologist to receive the external component and activate the device.

Follow-Up
You’ll see your audiologist one month after device activation, and then periodically for adjustments and upgrades to the external processor. 

More Options for You
Our team at Duke works with a variety of devices across the industry’s three bone conduction hearing aid manufacturers: Cochlear Americas, MED-EL, and Oticon Medical. In fact, Duke was one of the first in the nation to implant MED-EL’s BONEBRIDGE implant.

Comprehensive Testing
Your care team will perform a thorough series of evaluations to determine not only whether you are a candidate, but also which brand and type of bone conduction device is best-suited for your individual needs -- which is not standard practice everywhere.

Expert Team Approach
Our audiologists and otolaryngologists have years of experience in bone conduction technology. It’s our goal to improve your hearing so you can get back to doing what you enjoy most.