Quote:
Originally Posted by PBO
Fascinating Jerry - my son does have a bionic ear, well two actually
You're very lucky that the structure within your ear is sound & able to support the prosthetic
Which bone does it attach to - malleus, incus or directly to the stapes?
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Not sure of the bone names, but from the technical description the Dr. provided the prostetic has a wire sleave much like a chinese finger that slips onto the bone keeping it in place, and that connects directly to the nerve leading to my brain. I had several surgeries as a young child because of an illness which casued sever damage to my eardrum, and apparently from this exploritory surgery the Dr. says there was alot of damage and some of the bones were replaced with bones from other areas of my body. I was only like 7 years old then and do not remember much at all about that ordeal. Unfortunately some of those bones are now broken. The pin actually bypasses the chain of bones or I guess replaces them altogether. On the opposite end of the pin there is a very thin titanium plate the sits just behind my eardrum and receives the vibrations from the eardrum and transmits them directly to the nerve. Pretty simple alternative actually, which is why I decided to go ahead with the surgery in the first place. The surgery took about 3.5 hours working with micro surgical tools using a microscope because everything is so tiny. From Dr. Gilbert's explanation it is kind of like working on R/C gear, only smaller. I have been amazed and also very happy that such a procedure exists. We are hopeful.