We live in a noisy world. So, imagine trying to hear a person's voice under all those layers of sound if you've got a hearing loss.

"The people ordering, the music going, the oven running, everybody talking. It gets really noisy," said Dan Lissman.

Lissman owns a Quiznos sandwich shop. At 61, it's a dream come true to own his own business. But Lissman has endured a significant hearing loss since he was in grade school.

He has tried hearing aids -- expensive ones -- but still has a hard time hearing voices.

"You get a feedback. It whistles on you," he said. "It's not very comfortable."

"So, I have to really look in his face and talk to him in his face so he can either read my lips or listen to me," said Charlotte Lissman, his wife.

Dan Lissman is not a candidate for a cochlear implant because his hearing loss isn't considered severe. But it's significant enough for him to want to take part in a trial for a new kind of hearing device that's essentially invisible.

"We can put everything under the skin," said Jose Bedoya, the president and CEO of Otologics.

"I've always been the kind of guy who likes to experiment," said Lissman.

The fully implantable device is called the MET.

"It's the middle ear transducer," said Bedova.

The MET is made by Otologics, out of Boulder.

Lissman is one of eight Coloradans getting the device, and one of only 20 nationwide.

"We are currently in phase 1 clinical trials for this device," said Dr. Herman Jenkins of the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center. "This is an implant that actually drives the middle ear bones."

Jenkins performed the three-hour operation. The device was implanted under the skin just behind Lissman's right ear. Now he can get rid of that hearing aid.

"I've never been satisfied with a hearing aid. I know it ain't normal -- it ain't natural," Lissman said.

"You can be exercising, you can be on the beach -- do all the things that previously you would have been limited by a hearing aid," said Bedoya.

Two months after his operation -- a period for healing -- the device is activated. When the moment arrives, sounds come to life for Lissman that most of us likely ignore.

"I'm hearing her camera," he said, pointing to a new photographer.

After a few adjustments, Lissman ventures outside to hear a whole new world.

"I'm hearing sounds that I haven't heard before," he said.

And all those sounds that used to drown out voices for Lissman are no problem with the MET. He even hears whispers --something he's never been able to hear.

"That's the part that I was missing out of a hearing aid," he said.

Sounds are now clearer and more natural to Lissman.

And life -- thanks to the MET implantable hearing device -- is getting better all the time.

"I've only had it on for a half an hour or so and I'm definitely pleased already," he said after it was turned on.

The device needs to be recharged for one hour each day and it's expected to last for 15 years.

The second phase of trials begins this fall, so another 20 to 30 Coloradans will be needed.

If all goes as planned, the ME" could be on the market by late 2007 or early 2008.

Source: http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/9241144/detail.html