title: [Bone Conduction and Active Middle Ear Implants].
abstract: The majority of patients with moderate to severe hearing loss can be supplied with conventional hearing aids depending on severity and cause for hearing loss in a satisfying way. However, some patients either do not benefit enough from conventional hearing aids or cannot wear them due to inflammatory reactions and chronic infections of the external auditory canal or due to anatomical reasons. For these patients there are fully- and semi-implantable middle ear and bone conduction implants available. These devices either directly stimulate the skull (bone conduction devices), middle ear structures (active middle ear implants) or the cochlea itself (direct acoustic stimulation). Patients who failed surgical hearing rehabilitation or do not benefit from conventional hearing aids may achieve a significant better speech understanding and tremendous improvement in quality of life by implantable hearing devices with careful attention to the audiological and anatomical indication criteria.
authors.affiliation: Klinik für Hals-, Nasen-, Ohrenheilkunde, Kopf- und Halschirurgie der Ruhr-Universität Bochum am St. Elisabeth-Hospital Bochum (Direktor: Univ.-Prof. Dr. med. S. Dazert).
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Volkenstein
authors.affiliation: Klinik für Hals-, Nasen-, Ohrenheilkunde, Kopf- und Halschirurgie der Ruhr-Universität Bochum am St. Elisabeth-Hospital Bochum (Direktor: Univ.-Prof. Dr. med. S. Dazert).
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Thomas
authors.affiliation: Klinik für Hals-, Nasen-, Ohrenheilkunde, Kopf- und Halschirurgie der Ruhr-Universität Bochum am St. Elisabeth-Hospital Bochum (Direktor: Univ.-Prof. Dr. med. S. Dazert).
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dazert
mesh_terms: D001844:Bone Conduction / Q000502:physiology*; D034381:Hearing Loss / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D006801:Humans; D009998:Ossicular Prosthesis; D011474:Prosthesis Design