Conventional hearing aids use air conduction to turn up the volume on the sound traveling to the ear. But a new device from Sonitus Medical, turns up the volume using bone conduction.
The SoundBite has two parts: a removable part that is custom fit to a patient's teeth and a small microphone that fits within the ear canal of the impaired ear.
Here's how it works: The microphone captures sound. A digital audio device processes the sound signal and transmits it wirelessly to the device inside the person's mouth. The sound is then carried along the teeth, through the jaw bones to the inner ear. It's particularly helpful to patients who have problems with their middle and outer ear, because sound bypasses these places entirely.
How cool is that? Gives a new meaning to "blue tooth."
The SoundBite has two parts: a removable part that is custom fit to a patient's teeth and a small microphone that fits within the ear canal of the impaired ear.
Here's how it works: The microphone captures sound. A digital audio device processes the sound signal and transmits it wirelessly to the device inside the person's mouth. The sound is then carried along the teeth, through the jaw bones to the inner ear. It's particularly helpful to patients who have problems with their middle and outer ear, because sound bypasses these places entirely.
How cool is that? Gives a new meaning to "blue tooth."
By Tracy Staedter /Discovery
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