title: Vibrant Soundbridge rehabilitation of sensorineural hearing loss.
abstract: The Vibrant Soundbridge is a means to rehabilitate patients with sensorineural hearing loss. It differs from hearing aids in that it uses mechanical energy rather than acoustic sound to deliver better sound quality to the inner ear. The implant's crucial component is a floating mass transducer that is directly fixed to the incus to drive it, which is introduced into the middle ear through a facial recess approach. Although this is a newer technology, studies thus far have demonstrated better hearing results compared with hearing aids in terms of functional gain and speech intelligibility, and better outcomes on subjective assessments.
authors.affiliation: Pittsburgh Ear Associates, Suite 402, 420 East North Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15212, USA.
authors.forename: Andleeb
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Khan
authors.affiliation: Pittsburgh Ear Associates, Suite 402, 420 East North Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15212, USA.
authors.forename: Todd
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hillman
authors.affiliation: Pittsburgh Ear Associates, Suite 402, 420 East North Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15212, USA. Electronic address: Douglasachen@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Douglas
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D006310:Hearing Aids; D006319:Hearing Loss, Sensorineural / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D009998:Ossicular Prosthesis; D011474:Prosthesis Design; D019919:Prosthesis Implantation / Q000379:methods*
keywords: Implantable middle ear devices; Sensorineural hearing loss; Vibrant Soundbridge