Hearing Aid Implant Embedded in the Skull
No matter how small hearing aids get, they are still visible and cumbersome… until now. This implant option allows the recipient to enjoy all the activities they may not be able to with normal hearing aids, such as swimming, showering, and aerobics. Yet are the risks of surgery worth it?
The company behind the implant, Otologics, details that “a capsule containing a microphone and other electronics is implanted beneath the skin behind the ear. Sound is picked up by the microphone, processed and sent to a transducer in the middle ear. The transducer then causes the middle ear bones to move, much like the eardrum causes the middle ear bones to vibrate in response to sound waves.”
Charging the device requires you to place a radio transmitter against your head for an hour. It stays in place by a magnet that is placed inside at the time of surgery. The battery lasts up to five years and then will need to be replaced.
The device is in Phase II FDA trials now and comes at a price of $12,500 plus the cost of surgery. The cost of a high end hearing aid today ranges from $4,000 – $6,000.
At this rate the bionic man should be up and running by 2010. I just hope that the realm of science fiction begins to take over so I can be as strong as Jax from Mortal Kombat sooner rather than later.
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Connie T. said
am August 31 2007 @ 12:36 pm
I’d say offhand that this is totally worth it. Even though it may cost twice as much, the truth of the matter is, loads of people who have hearing aids either lose them or break them and have to get new ones and therefore end up spending loads of moolah anyhow.
Jerad Kaliher said
am August 31 2007 @ 1:35 pm
@Connie, I completely agree. But then again that is coming from an alpha adopter.
I thought I lost you for a while there!