Bone Anchored Hearing Aid (BAHA) is a hearing aid that improves hearing through bone conduction and is the only implantable hearing aid that works directly through bone conduction. Due to its superior performance and simple implantation, the BAHA has provided hearing assistance to over 100,000 patients worldwide to date. The BAHA consists of three main components: a titanium implant screw – which is surgically implanted into the skull behind the ear and over time fuses with the bone tissue. An external connecting bridge – connects the titanium screw inside the skull through the skin to the external sound processor. A detachable sound processor – placed outside the body and connected to the bridge base – receives and amplifies sound.How BAHA works: The sound processor receives sound from the outside world through its microphone, and the sound energy is converted into mechanical vibrations by an electromagnetic conversion device that causes the titanium screw inside the skull to vibrate efficiently. This stimulates the sensory hair cells, which convert this stimulation into electrochemical signals through mechanical-electrical transduction, which are transmitted to the auditory cortex through the auditory pathway step by step to produce hearing. Yang Jun, Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Shanghai Xinhua Hospital What kind of patients are suitable for implantation? 1. Patients with bilateral conductive or mixed deafness BAHA is very effective in improving the hearing status of patients with bilateral conductive or sensorineural deafness (including congenital external atresia, bilateral otitis media, bilateral otosclerosis, etc.), and is suitable for those who are not suitable for hearing reconstruction surgery and those whose traditional bone conduction hearing aids are not effective. The effectiveness of BAHA implantation in patients with bilateral chronic suppurative otitis media is also evident, with significant improvement in hearing and quality of life after surgery. Bilateral BAHA implantation is recommended for patients with bilateral deafness to improve auditory sensitivity and speech acceptance, as well as speech recognition in noisy environments. 2.Patients with unilateral conductive deafness or mixed deafness Patients with unilateral conductive or mixed deafness usually face problems of poor sound localization and speech recognition in noisy environments BAHA can solve such problems and also enable them to obtain stereo hearing in both ears. Patients with unilateral sensorineural deafness include patients with auditory neuroma (untreated, surgically treated, or treated with radiation therapy), congenital deafness, sudden deafness, and Meniere’s disease. The BAHA is implanted on the affected side of the ear in these patients to provide signal-to-signal transmission via cranial conduction. 4. Patients with conductive or mixed deafness with moderate mental deficiency 5. Patients with tinnitus BAHA can produce masked sound through bone conduction without interfering with the acquisition of normal sound through the outer and middle ear, thus reducing the symptoms of tinnitus.