Bone Anchored Hearing Aid (BAHA)

The BAHA is a sound amplification device that is surgically implanted into the skull behind the ear. This instrument is used most often on people with conductive hearing losses, which occurs when a defect or disease of the outer and/or middle ear prevents sound from being efficiently transferred to the inner ear. Typically, there is normal or near-normal hearing present in the cochlea (hearing organ) despite the conductive hearing loss.

The BAHA consists of two parts: an external sound processor and a titanium “anchor” placed in a specific spot in the skull. The titanium “anchor” transmits the sound produced by the processor to the hearing organ in the form of vibration. The BAHA receives sound through microphones on the external sound processor and converts that into pitch-specific vibrations which shake the skull, bypassing the outer and middle ear, and sending sound directly to the cochlea. BAHA devices have also been shown to help those with unilateral (one-sided) hearing losses with sound localization, or the ability to detect where in the environment a sound is coming from. In order to have this device implanted, a patient must have a hearing loss that has been medically cleared by a physician to ensure that the cause of the hearing loss has stabilized, and the patient must also be a surgical candidate as the implantation of this instrument requires invasive surgery. The device can be removed at any time for activities like showering and swimming, as the BAHA is not water proof.