Hearing Loss Education Center

Connecting people to a world of sound
 
Hearing Loss Education Center
Hearing & Hearing Loss Screening & Testing Treatment with Hearing Aids Advanced Treatments for Hearing Loss What is a Cochlear Implant? What is Baha? How Does Baha Work? Candidates for Baha The Process of Acquiring a Baha Implant Insurances & Rehabilitation Daily Life with Baha Communication & Language Choosing the Right Treatment Resources
print email

What is Baha?

Baha System

The Baha System is an implantable medical device for the treatment of hearing loss that works through direct bone conduction. The Baha System consists of three parts:

  • A digital sound processor is worn behind the ear. It picks up and amplifies sound vibrations.
  • A connector or abutment transfers the amplified sound vibrations from the processor to the implant.
  • The small titanium implant is placed behind the ear and through a process called osseointegration, the implant becomes fused with bone. This process allows sound vibrations to transfer to the cochlea via direct bone conduction, bypassing the outer and middle ear.

People with certain types of hearing loss caused by blockages or damage to the outer or middle ear (conductive or mixed hearing loss) receive little or no benefit from conventional air conduction hearing aids which amplify sound traveling through air. If you would like to learn more about the Baha System, request a copy of the Baha education guide.

Traditional bone-conduction hearing aids transmit sound vibrations to a device pressed against the skin. Sound quality can be limited, because skin acts as a sound barrier. In addition, some users say the pressure against the skin causes discomfort and headaches.

Advances in medical technology led to the development of the Baha System. Researchers found that titanium fixtures can grow into and fuse with living bone. This process is called osseointegration. Today, titanium implants are commonly used in bone surgery, dental implants, reconstructive procedures, and in the Baha hearing treatment system. The Baha System provides an effective and comfortable treatment alternative for many patients with conductive or mixed hearing loss.

If you would like more information about Baha visit: www.cochlearamericas.com

In addition, Baha can be used  for Single Sided Deafness.  In this application, sound is picked up on the deaf ear side and sent through the the skull to the inner ear of the normal hearing side. This provides a cosmetically appealing alternative to CROS (Contralateral Routing of Signals) hearing aids.



 
   

Hearing Loss

For hearing loss, refers to less than average ability to hear and understand sounds due to one or more parts of the hearing system not working properly.

Hearing Loss

For hearing loss, refers to problems hearing in both ears, not just one.

Hearing Loss

For hearing loss, refers to problems hearing in one, but not both ears

Mild Hearing Loss

People with mild hearing loss have some difficulty following speech, mainly in noisy situations; quietest sounds they can hear in their better ear average between 25 and 39 decibels (a standard measure of sound)

Moderate Hearing Loss

People with moderate hearing loss have difficulty following speech without a hearing aid; quietest sounds they can hear in their better ear average between 40 and 69 decibels (a standard measure of sound).

Severe Hearing Loss

People with severe hearing loss get help from powerful hearing aids, but often rely on lip-reading even when using an aid; quietest sounds they can hear in their better ear average between 70 and 89 decibels (a standard measure of sound).

Profound Hearing Loss

People with profound hearing loss mostly rely on lip-reading and/or sign language; the quietest sounds heard in their better ear average from 90 decibels or louder (a standard measure of sound).

Otosclerosis

A disease in which bone grows abnormally in the middle ear preventing structures within the ear from working properly and causing hearing loss.

Cochlea

Part of the ear that contains both the organ of hearing (the cochlea) and the organ of balance (the labyrinth).

Feedback

A high-pitched, sometime painful, whistling sound that occurs when a microphone picks up sound from a nearby speaker and replays it again and again (commonly occurs when a poorly fitting hearing aid earmold allows sound to “leak” from the speaker back into the microphone).

Assisstive Listening Devices

Electronic devices or accessories for hearing aids that provide extra help in specific listening situations (telephone, noisy backgrounds, small or large group settings, etc.).

Sensorineural Hearing Loss

Hearing loss due to failure of the auditory nerve, also called nerve deafness.

Mastoid Bone

A portion of the lower skull bone that contains the inner ear.

Rehabilitation

For individuals who previously experienced hearing and get a cochlear implant, the comprehensive training program that “re-teaches” them how to hear and interpret sounds, to recover any lost speech skills, and to properly use the cochlear implant speech processor and controls.

Habilitation

For individuals who had not previously experience hearing and get a cochlear implant, the comprehensive training program that teaches them to hear and interpret sounds, to develop or improve speech skills, and to properly use the cochlear implant speech processor and controls.

Coverage

For health insurance, coverage involves making sure a health plan or policy pays for the cochlear implant device and related professional services (for example, physician and audiology services). Usually, you go through a preauthorization process. This means getting a guarantee from the health insurance plan that they will pay for the implant and services before getting treatment.

Billing

For health insurance, billing involves the process by which health care providers charge, code, and submit their bills (in the form of a claim) to the health insurance company or plan.

Payment

For health insurance, payment involves getting the full amount allowed for services given a health plan’s limitations, allowables, deductibles, and co-payments.

Menieres

A disorder of the fluid volume of the inner ear that can cause hearing loss, dizziness/vertigo, tinnitus (ringing in the ear), and/or pressure or pain in ear.

Meningitis

a viral or bacterial infection that causes inflammation and swelling of the membranes covering the brain and spinal cord; among possible serious complications are hearing loss or deafness.

Mumps

a viral infection that causes swelling of the salivary glands; sometimes spreads to central nervous system which can result in hearing loss.

Measles

a viral infection that causes rash, fever, and cold-like symptoms; sometimes causes complications like ear or brain infections which can result in hearing loss.

Unilateral

on one side, but not the other; used to describe a type of hearing loss in which there is normal or somewhat impaired hearing in one ear and little or no hearing in the other ear.

Unilateral Hearing Loss

condition in which one ear has little or no hearing ability and the other ear has normal or close to normal hearing. Also referred to as Single Sided Deafness (SSD).

Osseointegration

the natural process of bone growing into the titanium fixtures creating a direct connection between an artificial implant and living bone.