In most cases a traditional hearing aid in Medina, OH works well for those people that suffer hearing loss, but not complete deafness. To give people who are completely deaf some degree of hearing, a cochlear implant is a superior solution because the implant bypasses the ear and they send electrical signals generated by sound directly to the auditory nerve. In some cases, cochlear implants are used in conjunction with a hearing aid. There are some hearing impaired people who can hear certain frequencies but not others, this dual attack gives the individual the possibility of hearing across the frequencies.
A cochlear implant has two main systems, one on the inside and one on the outside. The external complex consists of the microphone, a sound processor and the transmitter. The system inside consists of the receiver and an electrode array.
The microphone captures the sound, sending it to the sound processor which is small enough to sit behind the ear. The transmitter component is directly behind the sound processor and it is connected to the scalp directly above the area where the receiver has been implanted under the scalp. The transmitter arrangement is held to the receiver by magnetic force. The receiver which is under the skin is less than an inch in diameter; it is implanted where it can touch the bone that is behind the ear. The last component, the electrode array is a wire that runs from the implanted receiver to the cochlea.
The entire system is designed to direct signals to the brain via the auditory nerve. The microphone gathers the sound, the sound processor then converts the sound to a digital format: this digital data is then sent to the implanted receiver. The receiver then converts the digital date into electrical signals which are passed to the auditory nerve via the electrode array and then to the brain for processing.
The newest in hearing aids:
For people who have severe hearing loss and cannot be helped with a conventional hearing aid in Medina, OH, there is a new device which is bone anchored. Instead of amplifying sound like a normal hearing aid, these devices are implanted and attached to the middle ear bones. The auditory canal and middle ear are bypassed, the baha hearing aid creates vibrations in the wearer’s skull; the vibrations are then directly transmitted to the cochlea through bone conduction.
Audiologists can provide the hearing impaired with a hearing aid. The products carried are from the best manufacturers and come with a three year warranty for repair or loss as well as a three year supply of batteries and in-office service.
