First in Poland operation of a pioneering auditory implant called BONEBRIDGE has been conducted on December 19, 2012 by prof. Henryk Skarzynski in the World Hearing Center, Kajetany.

BONEBRIDGE device has been implanted for the first time in 2012, only in 9 centers in the world. The surgical procedure performed in the World Hearing Center’s clinic has begun a new era in treatment of congenital hearing impairments resulting mainly from total or partial external and internal ear deformities. Additional indications for the treatment using the device are traumatic or postinflammatory damages.

– This is the next milestone in polish otosurgery. I am glad that we could perform this breakthrough procedure in the World Hearing Center. Creating the Center I thought not only about the measurable benefit of polish patients who now as one of the first patients in the world have access to up-to-date, advanced medical technologies. It increases therapeutical possibilities as well as disseminates world medical care standards. The pioneering BONEBRIDGE implantation is the next new procedure introduced among numerous innovative clinical procedures, scientific and educational solutions in the World Hearing Center.

BONEBRIDGE implant is designed for patients with single sided deafness, conductive or mixed hearing loss, meaning the one resulting from congenital or acquired injury of external, middle and inner ear. Its gives chances of being a hearing participant of life, especially to these young patients who are too young for a reconstructive surgery of the auricle. It is possible to implant the device earlier without waiting for the reconstructive surgery – said prof. H. Skarzynski.

BONEBRIDGE system is an implantable hearing device, in which the implant with the transducer is safely embedded under the skin, while the audio processor can be discretely worn under the hair thanks to a magnet. The audio processor registers sounds and sends them transcutaneously to the implant. The implant, anchored in the temporal bone  processes the signals to vibrations. It vibrates the bone, the bone carries the vibration to the inner ear, where it is processed like normal sound.

World Hearing Center provided the online transmission from the operation in the Internet.