SMILE AND HEAR!!!!

Posted on 23/01/2011 09:54:00

A new hearing aid that transmits sound through a person's teeth has been approved for use in Europe.

The device, called SoundBite, directs sound through the jawbone and into the inner ear.

It is placed onto the upper left or right molars and is custom-made for each patient.

The Royal National Institute for Deaf People (RNID) warned that it may not be suitable for everyone with hearing problems.

Bone conduction

While conventional hearing aids use air conduction to increase the volume of sound travelling through the air, SoundBite uses a different approach - bone conduction.

First, a network of mini microphones placed behind the impaired ear pick up the sound in the environment and cancel out the noise.

The sound is transmitted wirelessly to the prosthetic in the mouth.

"Just by looking at it, you can't imagine it being very comfortable”

Quoted Angela King RNID senior audiology adviser

The device sends the vibrations through the teeth and bones directly to the cochlea - the auditory part of the inner ear - bypassing the middle and outer ear.

This way it can help those who are deaf in one ear to hear in stereo.

The company that makes the system, Sonitus Medical, said that the mechanism is the first ever non-surgical device to use bone conduction.