19.09.2014 change 19.09.2014

Poland's first next generation hearing aid implanted in Kajetany

A new type of middle ear implant has been implanted for the first time in Poland in Kajetany near Warsaw by Prof. Henryk Skarżyński and his team. The device is designed primarily for people over 65 years of age.

The procedure, which was broadcasted in real time during a press conference in Warsaw, was carried out at the World Hearing Center in Kajetany near Warsaw at the Institute of Physiology and Pathology of Hearing (the procedure could also be watched on-line on the PAP website). The patient was 66 years old Antoni Bien from Ostrowiec, a turner.

Prof. Henryk Skarżyński said that for millions of people with hearing problems, various types of hearing aids help to return to the world of sound with good effects. There is, however, a large group of patients for whom they are insufficient. For them, a new chance are a new generation of middle ear implants MET. They are designed primarily for people over 65 years of age who have not qualified for other hearing implants.

"MET implants combine the advantages of the latest technology hearing aids with middle ear implants" - emphasized the expert. Their work consists in bypassing the outer ear and transmitting sound vibrations directly to the auditory ossicles. They boost acoustic signals while providing high quality sound.

Head of the clinic in Kajetany Dr. Maciej Mrówka explained that some people suffer from conductive hearing loss, when the inner ear is functioning properly, but the way of conduction of sound to the cochlea is damaged. This happens when it damage occurs in the middle ear, whose function is to mechanically boost and transmit sound waves to the inner ear.

"The common causes include ear infections, rupture of the tympanic membrane, accumulation of fluid in the middle ear immobilization of ossicles or impairment of hearing trumpets" - added the specialist.

An example is Antoni Bien, who from an early age often suffered from untreated inflammation. He came to Kajetany with 70 percent hearing loss. He had been operated on, but was still hard of hearing. "I can hear sounds, but often do not understand spoken words. The doctors told me that my hammer works very poorly, the implant is my only hope" - he said in a meeting with journalists.

According to Dr. Mrówka, the new implant contains a sound processor with a diameter of 3.5 cm, placed on the outside of the skull, under the hair on the scalp behind the ear. It is attached with a magnet to a coil implanted under the skin and powered with a battery, which lasts for 50 hours.

The processor receives the sound, filters and adjusts the signal, which is transmitted to the inner part of the implant via the magnetic coil. The inner part of the implant consists of two components. One of them, placed under the skin of the head, converts the signal from the coil into electrical signal. In this form, it is transferred to the so-called actuator placed in the mastoid part of the temporal bone and attached to the ossicles (usually the incus, although it can also be mounted to the stapes, oval or round window of the middle ear).

Actuator is a miniature motor that converts electrical signal into mechanical vibrations, which passes to one of the ossicles. From this point, the auditory process is the same as in the normal ear.

During the conference at the Polish Press Agency, the surgeons under the supervisions of Prof. Skarżyński showed online the procedure of implanting a MET implant. They cut the skin, moved the earlobe to the side, and then drilled a hole in the mastoid part of the temporal bone. They placed the implant under the skin, and then introduced the actuator into the middle ear, mounted it with a special system, and then joined its with an ossicle. The implant will be fully operational in 6-8 weeks.

Dr. Mrówka said that it can already be said that the operation was successful, because it was clear how precisely the parts of the implant had been connected. "It\'s a very complicated procedure" - he added.

Prof. Skarżyński said that this was the fourth pioneering surgery performed after the opening of the World Hearing Center in Kajetany in 2012. "In the Center, Polish patients are often the first to have access to the world’s latest technology" - he emphasised. He added that auditory implants are among the most technologically advanced devices used in medicine.

PAP - Science and Scholarship in Poland, Zbigniew Wojtasiński

zbw/ ula/ gma/

tr. RL

Przed dodaniem komentarza prosimy o zapoznanie z Regulaminem forum serwisu Nauka w Polsce.

Copyright © Foundation PAP 2024