Baha® and Natural Hearing

 How does Natural Hearing Work?

We can receive sound in two ways, by air conduction and by bone conduction. The normal pathway to hearing is mostly through air conduction via the ear canal, eardrum, middle ear to the inner ear. If that pathway is blocked, we can also hear via bone conduction. Bone conduction transmits sound directly through the bones, bypassing the outer and middle ear. We all experience sound traveling through bone whenever we hear our own voices as some of that sound is traveling through the bones of the head.

In most cases, people with a hearing loss will be fitted with traditional air conduction devices. Typically, these hearing aids are placed inside the ear canal or behind the ear. However, some people are unable to benefit adequately from this type of device.

The Baha system, which is based on bone conduction, utilizes a titanium implant, which is placed in the skull bone behind the ear. An abutment connects the sound processor with the implant in the bone. This creates direct (percutaneous) bone conduction. In contrast, traditional bone conduction hearing aids connect indirectly to the bone through unbroken skin (transcutaneous) and work by exerting pressure against the skull.

Direct bone conduction, provided by the Baha implant, gives improved access especially to higher pitch sounds when compared to traditional bone conduction hearing aids because sound is not weakened or distorted by passing through the skin, muscle and fat covering the skull.