Subject: Another Achievement by the Cochlear Implant Team of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences (SUMS): First Bonebridge Implant
From: "http://gsia.sums.ac.ir/"

Shiraz University of Medical Sciences - SUMS 
Code : 18322-65      Publish Date : Tuesday, October 22, 2019 Visit :
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NEWS | Another Achievement by the Cochlear Implant Team of Shiraz
University of Medical Sciences (SUMS): Fi... 

Another Achievement by the Cochlear Implant Team of Shiraz University
of Medical Sciences (SUMS): First Bonebridge Implant 
Another Achievement by the Cochlear Implant Team of Shiraz University
of Medical Sciences (SUMS): First Bonebridge Implant 

Another Achievement by the Cochlear Implant Team of Shiraz University
of Medical Sciences (SUMS): First Bonebridge Implant

First Bonebridge Implant at SUMS

The world’s pioneering approach to bone conduction implant known as
Bonebridge implant was successfully performed at SUMS Organ Transplant
Hospital, Abu Ali Sina Hospital, on Oct. 14, 2019, for the first time
in Iran.

The Head of SUMS Cochlear Implant Center, Dr. Seyed Basir Hashemi
explained that semi-hearing individuals, who couldn’t have their
hearing restored through surgery on the ossicular chain (the malleus,
incus, and stapes) and to whom hearing aids could not be of any help,
can benefit from Bonebridge implant. Moreover, as he added, congenital
absence of the ear canal or failure of the ear canal to be open at
birth, and congenital absence, permanent malformation, or dysfunction
of the middle ear structures causes conductive hearing loss. Thus,
patients with this type of congenital hearing loss resulted from the
foregoing factors are regarded as appropriate candidates for Bonebridge
implant.

As Dr. Hashemi elaborated, this partially implantable hearing system
consists of a receptor and a convertor which are placed under the skin
and in the skull just behind the ear. An externally worn audio
processor is also held in place above the implant by magnetic
attraction. The external processor receives sound and converts it into
a signal that is transmitted through the skin to the internal implant.
The internal implant converts the signal from the external processor
into vibrations that are transmitted to the inner ear to achieve an
optimal auditory perception.

First Bonebridge Implant at SUMS

As the most advanced active bone conduction implant, Bonebridge
implant, is also eminent for restoring hearing of the patients with
conductive and mixed hearing losses as well as single-sided deafness.
Conductive hearing loss can be caused by infection, tumors, middle ear
fluid from infection or Eustachian tube dysfunction, a foreign body,
trauma (as in a skull fracture), and otosclerosis. Mixed hearing loss
is a combination of a sensorineural and conductive hearing loss. It
results from problems in both the inner and outer or middle ear.
Single-sided deafness (SSD) is a condition of profound unilateral
sensorineural hearing loss, with normal hearing in the better hearing
ear. SSD is a severe impairment that makes it hard to understand speech
and sounds especially in noisy environments, as well as causes
difficulties in determining the direction of a sound's location.

SUMS first Bonebridge implant was conducted in the presence of Austrian
specialists, who were the representatives of the Bonebridge prosthesis
manufacturer. The candidate was a 40-year-old patient suffering from
hearing loss caused by infection and perforated eardrums. Hearing aids
and several operations on the patient’s ears disclosed unsatisfactory
results. Therefore, incisive analysis of the test results derived from
audiology and radiologic tests proved the patient to be an ideal
candidate for the entirely new approach to bone conduction hearing
technology.