Piezoelectric Bone Conduction Hearing Implants

13 Apr 2024

Context

The Ear, Nose & Throat (ENT) department at Command Hospital in Pune conducted two piezoelectric Bone Conduction Hearing Implants (BCI).

  • It became the first government hospital across the country to procure and conduct successful piezoelectric bone conduction hearing implants.

Active Piezoelectric Bone Conduction Hearing Implant System

  • It is an implantable medical electronic device for hearing impaired patients [conductive loss (including aural atresia), mixed hearing loss and single-sided deafness]
  • Bone conduction implantation is the definitive hearing solution for certain groups of patients with conductive/ mixed hearing loss or patients with single sided deafness, who are not candidates for cochlear implantation and do not benefit with hearing aids or middle-ear surgery.

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Bone Conduction Implant: How it Works?

  • Discovery: Bone conduction implant was discovered by Ludwig van Beethoven, the famous 18th century composer who was almost completely deaf. Beethoven found a way to hear the sound of the piano through his jawbone by attaching a rod to his piano and clenching it in his teeth. 

Piezoelectric bone conduction hearing implant

  • Ways of Hearing: 

    • Eardrums (air-conducted or air-transmitted):

      • The vibrations from the environment travel through the air to our eardrums. 
      • The eardrums in turn vibrate, decoding these sound waves into a different type of vibrations that are received by the Cochlea, also known as the inner ear. 
      • The Cochlea is connected to our auditory nerve, which transmits the sounds to our brain.

Piezoelectric bone conduction hearing implant

    • Bones  (bone-conducted or bone-transmitted): 

      • Bone Conduction bypasses the eardrums whereby the bone conduction devices (such as headphones) perform the role of eardrums. 
      • These devices decode sound waves and convert them into vibrations that can be received directly by the Cochlea so the eardrum is never involved.
      •  The sound reach the ears as vibrations through the bones (or skull) and skin.

What is the Piezoelectricity?

  • Literally it  means electricity resulting from pressure and latent heat
  • It is the electric charge that accumulates in certain solid materials (crystals, certain ceramics, and biological matter such as bone, DNA, and various proteins) in response to applied mechanical stress.
  • Applications: 

    • The production and detection of sound, piezoelectric inkjet printing, generation of high voltage electricity, as a clock generator in electronic devices.
    •  It is used in the pickups of some electronically amplified guitars and as triggers in most modern electronic drums.
    • Everyday uses: Generating sparks to ignite gas cooking and heating devices, torches, and cigarette lighters.

 

Also Read: Casgevy And Lyfgenia: CRISPR-Based Gene Therapies

 

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UDAAN PRELIMS WALLAH
Comprehensive coverage with a concise format
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Designed as per recent trends of Prelims questions
हिंदी में भी उपलब्ध

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