Wave: March / April 2010 - Winnipeg in motion

How we hear
1 Sound travels down the ear canal and hits the
eardrum.
2 The eardrum is taut, like the skin of a real
drum, and it vibrates when sound hits it.
3 This vibration is passed down the chain of
bones to the cochlea (the inner ear).
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6
4 The vibrations make the fluid in the cochlea
move.
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2
3
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5 This movement, in turn, makes the hair cells
move. When this happens, the hair cells
produce tiny electrical signals that are
picked up by the auditory nerve. Hair cells at
one end of the cochlea send low-pitch sound
information in these signals, and those
at the other end send high pitch
sound information.
6 These electrical signals
pass up the auditory
nerve to the brain.
7 The brain interprets
the electrical
signals as sounds.
Audio Processor
Implanted Coil
How the
Vibrant
Sound-bridge
works
The Vibrant Soundbridge is not a
conventional hearing aid. A hearing
aid takes sound and makes it louder.
The Soundbridge takes sound and
converts it to mechanical vibrations.
By directly attaching to one of the
three small bones (the incus) in the
middle ear, the Soundbridge mechanically
causes the ossicles to vibrate in
much the same way that sound
(acoustic vibrations) travelling down
the ear and through the eardrum
causes these bones to vibrate.
These acoustic vibrations are amplified,
however, to compensate for the loss
in sensitivity of the inner ear.
With a Soundbridge, the ear canal is
open – nothing is placed in it – unlike
with acoustic hearing aids.
Floating Mass Transducer
Conductor Link
30 WAVE
Source: Vibrant Med-El;
Nucleus Medical Illustrations