FDA Approves Implantable Amplifier for the Deaf

Miss-Delectable

Miss-Delectable

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FDA Approves Implantable Amplifier for the Deaf (CalorieLab Lab Notes)

A bionic sound amplifier that can be implanted in the human ear to restore hearing has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration. The Esteem system can help people with sensorineural hearing loss, which is a kind of hearing loss caused by damage to the inner ear from noise, aging or viral infection, or also by genetic factors. The Esteem system implants an amplifier between the eardrum and the middle ear, which picks up vibrations from the eardrum, amplifies them, and passes them on as amplified vibrations to the middle ear. According to the FDA's Jeffrey Shuren, the device has "no readily visible external components." How do they get the thing in there between the eardrum and middle ear? We're not sure.
 
So, can you turn it off? I don't want anything that I can't turn off. I prefer that my HAs be visible anyway.
 
I don't think so. But I guess they look as you can't turn off your hearing either.
The only downsize is that the battery last about 9 years, and after that, you have to go to a surgery to have it replace.
 
You can't turn off real hearing. I want to turn off amplified hearing with recruitment, though. It's not the same thing. Amplified hearing is distorted compared to natural hearing. Can you tell that I'm not happy with my hearing aids?
 
I prefer that my HAs be visible anyway.
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Yes. I LIKE having my hearing aids be visable. It's a sign that I'm HOH and not mentally retarded or something like that.
 
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