Bone Conduction Hearing Implant Service
Swansea Bay University Health Board has an established Bone Conduction Hearing Implant (BCHI) Service.
The BCHI service operates across our two main sites in Swansea Bay UHB (Singleton & Neath Port Talbot Hospitals). Our current staff on the BCHI team include, ENT Surgeons, Clinical Scientists and Specialist Audiologists.
What Is Bone Conduction?
People hear via two routes; air conduction and bone conduction, both work together to help with hearing. Problems in the outer and middle parts of the ear can interrupt the sound we hear by air conduction preventing the sound getting into the inner ear. Bone conduction can bypass the problems in the outer and middle ear and deliver the sound into vibrations across the skull to the inner ear enabling the ability to hear.
Bone conduction systems consist of an external processor that collects the sounds that we want to hear and changes these sounds into vibrations. The processor connects to either an abutment or an external magnet and the vibrations are transmitted across the skull to the inner ear enabling us to hear.
There are a number of BCHI manufacturers. They can use different methods to connect, these include via a medical screw called an abutment, an implanted magnet and a headband/ softband.
In all fitting methods the device sends vibrations across the skin to the bone where they are detected by the cochlear and perceived as sound.
If you have been referred for consideration for a BCHI device, the target wait time from referral to surgery, if required, is up to 26 weeks. This time will include assessments, decision making and surgery - leading to the fitting of the device.
The aim of the BCHI assessment is to provide you with more information about options and to assess if a BCHI will be more suitable for you than the conventional air conduction hearing aids.
Before being referred to the implant programme you will have been diagnosed with a hearing loss and experiencing difficulty wearing traditional air conduction hearing aids or gain very little benefit from them. Patients with single sided sensory neural hearing loss (SSD) will also be considered for BCHI.
Your Audiologist will look at your audiological records and you may then be fitted with more suitable hearing aids which you need to wear for a set period of time. Once your Audiologist is happy that you have been optimally aided with conventional hearing aids they will then proceed with the BCHI assessment.
During the assessment your Audiologist will retest your hearing and may perform a speech test. These tests will determine whether you would benefit from BCHI.
As part of the assessment we may try an alternative air conduction hearing aid and or a bone conduction hearing aid on a headband. This trial could take a number of weeks and include a home trial.
The outcome of the assessment will be communicated with your ENT surgeon and you will be offered an appointment to discuss the way forward.
If you are not suitable or if you find the bone conduction hearing device beneficial but don’t want to proceed with surgery, then the audiologist or consultant may discuss other options.
Our ENT Consultant Surgeons will consider your medical history and discuss all suitable options with you. They will explain what is involved in the operation and the risks involved. Radiological procedures such as X-rays/ CT scans may be requested and evaluated by the surgeon. We may also request information from other medical professionals. Once the surgeon is happy to proceed you will be listed for surgery. The wait time for surgery does vary so we are unable to inform you how long you will have to wait. There are different types of bone conduction implants and your Audiologist and surgeon will discuss the different options with you and a decision will be made as to which one would be most suitable for you.
The surgeon will discuss the detail of the surgery with you once a final decision has been agreed on what device will be suitable for you. Your surgeon will decide whether a general or local anaesthesia is necessary depending on your medical history and the type of implant you are having. BCHI is a simple procedure done in the operating theatre which takes approximately 1-2 hours. You are likely to be discharged the same day. Your ENT surgeon will talk through the surgery in more detail.
Two weeks following the surgery you will be reviewed by your surgeon in ENT. If the surgeon is happy they will contact your Audiologist so that a date can be arranged for you to have your hearing processor fitted. This is usually 6 weeks following surgery to ensure that the implant fixture is secure.
You will be seen by one of the Audiologists for the fitting of your hearing processor in an outpatient clinic. During this appointment the hearing processor will be connected to the implant and programmed using computer software. Hearing tests will be performed to ensure the processor is set to optimise your hearing.
You will be given an appointment to attend the Audiology clinic for a review 6–8 weeks after you have had the device fitted. If necessary the Audiologist can adjust your processor to improve the sound quality for you. If you and your Audiologist are both happy with your progress then.
If you should develop a problem with the processor or the implant site at any time you can access the service by telephone or email. The details can be found on the front of this information leaflet.
We will write to the professional who referred you to the bone conduction implant service so that they are aware of the outcome of their referral.
If you do proceed to receive a bone conduction hearing aid we will also share your information with the manufacturer of the device so that they can monitor the performance or any issues arising with the hearing aid or implant. We will talk to you about this at your assessment appointment but if you do not wish to give consent for sharing of information or you wish to withdraw your consent, please let us know.
General support for people with hearing loss:
Royal National Institute for Deaf People (RNID)
Follow this link to the Royal Institute for Deaf People (RNID) website.
Call: 0800 808 0123
SignLive
Follow this link to the SignLive website.
Cochlear and Oticon are manufactures that make bone conduction hearing aids. More information about hearing aids can be found on their websites using the links below.
Oticon
Follow this link to the Oticon Medical website.
Cochlear
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