Bone anchored hearing aids comparison of BAHA® 5 and BAHA® 6 processor systems

ABSTRACT Comparison of the BAHA® 5 and BAHA® 6 processor systems for bone anchored hearing aids AIM: Hearing is a sense that occurs when sound stimuli coming from outside are transmitted to the inner ear via the external auditory canal and ossicles, and from there they are transmitted to the central auditory center via the cochlear nerve and processed here. Obstacles in the conduction path up to the cochlea cause conductive hearing loss. Bone implantable hearing aids are an alternative hearing aid applied to patients with conductive and mixed hearing loss who cannot use or benefit from conventional air conduction hearing aids due to diseases that obstruct this conduction path. In this study, we aim to evaluate and compare the hearing results of two BAHA external processors by comparing the results in noisy environments by also applying the Turkish matrix test. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Patients using unilateral percutaneous BAHA 5 ® or BAHA 6 ® external sound processors followed in the Ear, Nose and Throat Clinic of Sakarya University Education and Research Hospital were included in the study. Clinical data were collected from 20 patients with bilateral conductive or bilateral mixed hearing loss who underwent bone anchored hearing aid surgery. Among these patients, 3 patients who could not complete the matrix test due to different brands of BAHA and low mental capacity were excluded from the study. 17 patients accepted to participate. The infection status of the patients included in the study was monitored and recorded around the implant abutment, and the patients came for control at different time intervals and had their audiometric examinations performed with different devices. RESULTS: In our study, the results of a total of 17 patients were analyzed. When both devices were compared, no statistically significant difference was observed between BAHA 5 and BAHA 6 at all frequencies performed with free field. (p>0.05) However, there was a significant improvement in preoperative free field values in both devices at all frequencies and free field thresholds performed with BAHA 6 were better than BAHA 5 at all frequencies except 1 kHz. When the matrix test results were compared according to the hearing results at the same signal-to-noise ratios, it was seen that the results of the two different processors were close to each other. CONCLUSION: As a result of the study data, both implant processors have similar values and show that their continued use is safe. However, the increasing audiological gains of BAHA 6 towards high frequencies and its superiority in sounds coming from behind in noisy environments should not be ignored. Keywords: Abutment, bone anchored hearing aid, matrix test,