Abstract
Background: Percutaneous bone conduction implants e.g. BAHA Connect, have been used to manage conductive and mixed hearing losses since early 1980s. They provide direct sound transmission to the cochlea by an extruding abutment. The BAHA Attract is a passive transcutaneous device delivering the sounds through the skin via a magnetic coupling. It has been suggested that transcutaneous transmission reduces output of the device by 5 to 20 dB. The impact of output reduction on patients’ subjective and objective outcomes has not been investigated. The aim of this study was to compare BAHA Attract and BAHA Connect to determine whether new recommendations are warranted.
Method: 11 BAHA Attract users with conductive or mixed hearing loss, mean age 35.8 (SD=17.2) years, 9 BAHA Connect users with similar types and degree of hearing loss (BC>45 dB 0.5-3kHz) implanted in the same time frame; mean age 63.7 (SD=14.3) years. Outcomes were measured using direct bone conduction (DBC) at two placements, on a test band and loaded on implant, BC thresholds measured via pure tone audiometry (PTA-BC), CNC words scores and APHAB were assessed at 3, 6 and 12 months post implantation.
Results: The effect of different placements ( softband va implant) and the two implant type (Attract vs Connect) was measured. There was a significantly greater difference between softband vs. implant placement for BAHA Attract when compared to the BAHA Connect at frequencies above 500 Hz (P<0.05). There was a significantly higher thresholds measured via DBC vs PTA-BC for BAHA Attract (P>0.05). These thresholds were however significantly lower for BAHA Connect across all measured frequencies. There was a significant improvement in post-operative CNC scores compared to pre-operative scores (P<0.01). However, no statistical significance was evident between the two implant.
Conclusion: BAHA Attract can be used as a treatment option for conductive and mixed hearing losses. However, patient and device selection has to be carefully considered based on the pre-operative measurements in addition to 5-15 dB reduction at frequencies above 500 Hz due to the possible dampening effect of the skin in signal transmission.
Original language | English |
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Publication status | Unpublished - 11 May 2016 |
Event | Audiology Australia National Conference - Melbourne, Australia Duration: 20 May 2017 → 23 May 2017 |
Conference
Conference | Audiology Australia National Conference |
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Country/Territory | Australia |
City | Melbourne |
Period | 20/05/17 → 23/05/17 |