Image, poor sound quality, and expense are three main reasons. The totally implantable hearing aid could change everything.

Lynn Fairfield, like her father, is a teacher. Like her father Lynn began losing her hearing around age 40. For a while she thought she would be forced to retire.

"When I started facilitating discussion amongst my adults, when two or three began talking I really could not distinguish," said Fairfield.

Her father retired at age 55. But Lynn, now 60, found a way to continue. She's one of just 40 people in the world to receive a completely implantable hearing aid as part of a study.

"It's convenient, I don't have to worry about the rain, I've just really enjoyed having the implant," said Fairfield.

The implant uses the tiny ear bones called the hammer, anvil, and stirrup to give natural hearing.

The speech processor is imbedded behind the ear, and then little wires go through the mastoid bone directly to two other bones. The driver wire attaches to stapes. It vibrates the tiny bone and conducts sound into the inner ear. The other sensor wire is a Piezoelectric crystal attached to the bone connected to the eardrum

" And it picks up sound waves coming from the ear drum, so we use the eardrum as a natural microphone," said Dr. Douglas Chen.

The sound can be controlled. Lynn wears a digital aid in her right ear and the implant in her left.

"It works beautifully and I've been delighted," said Fairfield.

Designed for people with moderate to severe hearing loss, the totally implantable hearing aid may change the way folks feel about hearing aids. The expense might put some off, but it is still investigational. Eventually its price of $20,000 will decline.

For more information on the current study, call Allegheny General's physician access line at (877) 284-2000.

Source: http://www.thepittsburghchannel.com/health/9049173/detail.html