klaus
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Nov 30, 2010, 3:10 PM
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A very emotional TV documentary recently detailed how a young woman who had been virtually deaf all her life had her hearing restored through surgery. Seeing the expression on the young woman’s face the first time she heard her mother’s voice was a very moving moment.
The procedure involved a device called ESTEEM®, which is not a cochlear implant. It consists of four pieces, three of which are implanted into the patient’s ear.
Invented and sold by Envoy Medical Corporation, the company spent nearly 15 years designing and testing the product prior to bringing it to market in the US. The technology is unique in that it is the first hearing device that uses the natural ear as a microphone and has been shown to improve hearing in adults with moderate to severe sensory neural hearing loss. And after the procedure is complete, no one will know that the device is there, as all that is left after the implant surgery is a small scar behind the ear.
Esteem® consists of a sensor, a driver, a sound processor and a personal programmer, all of which work together to improve a patient’s hearing.
The sensor is attached to the group of bones in the middle ear, known as the ossicular chain. It picks up the vibrations from the eardrum and converts them into electrical impulses. These are then transported to the sound processor, which in turns transports them to the driver, which is attached to the stapes (also called the stirrup). The driver reconverts these impulses back into mechanical vibrations that are then sent on to the cochlea, which is the auditory portion of the inner ear.
The final piece in this seemingly magic array is the personal programmer, which allows patients to turn their Esteem® on or off, increase or decrease volume and select one of three program settings.
The device typically costs in the neighborhood of $30,000 per ear and it is NOT guaranteed to work. In fact, the company warns of a number of risks and/or possible side effects that may give one pause to rethink having the procedure done. These include erosion of the sound processor through the skin by way of infection, possible worsening or loss of hearing due to accidental damage to the ossicular chain, postoperative infection as well as other, more serious side effects.
Dr. Joel M. Bernstein, Clinical Professor of Otolaryngology and Pediatrics at the State University of New York in Buffalo is skeptical. “In most surgical procedures, there is a minute element of risk,” says Dr. Bernstein. “And the percentage is generally miniscule, as in 1% or less chance of adverse effects. This procedure concerns me because I was told by representatives of the company that the risk of facial nerve damage resulting in conditions such as facial nerve paralysis was 1 in 5, or 20%! That’s a little too risky for me.”
Is this procedure worth the money and the risk? Looking at the face of the young woman who hears her mother’s voice for the very first time would indicate that whatever the risk the end result makes it all worthwhile. But then, there’s risk in any medical procedure, particularly a procedure that’s relatively new. Patients need to make their own informed decisions through consultation with their doctors to weigh the costs and risk against the possible benefits.
Klaus Rohrich is President and Creative Director of Taylor/Rohrich Associates Inc., a marketing and advertising firm that specializes in niche marketing retirement real estate developments
http://www.maturitymarketing.com.
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