METHOD FOR IMPROVING AUDITION Russian patent published in 1997 - IPC

FIELD: medicine; improvement of audition in patients having intact middle ear and damaged sound-perceiving apparatus. SUBSTANCE: proposed method essentially resides in following: surgical access is formed towards stirrup region, followed by fixing on stirrup piezocrystalline implant wedges as strut between stirrup's base plate and stirrup's arc. Upon expiration of two weeks after operation, when reactive phenomena in ear have subsided, electronic amplifier automatically tunable to frequencies of patient's audiogram is inserted into external auditory meatus. As electronic amplifier is energized, piezocrystalline transplant fixed on stirrup is activated, thereby making it possible to amplify sound up to 100 dB and upwards to meet patient's specific requirements. Particular advantage of proposed method resides in active participation of middle ear's protective mechanism which, in case of acoustic overload, limits activation of sound- amplifying transplant down to acoustic discomfort level. This fact is especially important for improving speech discrimination for damaged sound- perceiving apparatus. EFFECT: effective method for improving hearing; method can be recommended for mass-scale use. 1 dwg