Hearing for the first time

For the first time at Hillel Yaffe Medical Center, Dr. Muhammad Taha, a senior physician in the Otolaryngology, Head & Neck Surgery Unit, implanted a bone-anchored hearing system in a 70-year-old woman from Or Akiva, who had been suffering from chronic deterioration of hearing for several years. The surgery, which was performed together with the head of the unit, Clinical Assistant Prof. Itzhak Braverman, is currently only performed at four medical centers in Israel, including Hillel Yaffe.

"Several years ago, the woman underwent surgeries to clean out the tympanic cavity following chronic ear infections. In the end, however, the surgeries led to a gradual loss of hearing," said Dr. Taha. "Due to deterioration of hearing, she went to get hearing aids, but they did not work for her, because she had space in her ear that interfered with her hearing. When she came to the clinic at Hillel Yaffe, we decided to see if a bone-anchored hearing aid, which is implanted subcutaneously in the bone behind the ear was right for her, because it was the optimal solution and virtually the only one given her condition. Before surgery, the patient spent several weeks with the device attached to her head externally to check if it was suitable for her."

The surgical technique, as well as the implanted device, are used relatively infrequently. Around the world, there have been only slightly over 5,000 implants. The reason for this is the high level of skill and extensive experience required of the surgeon, and also because the device is not a good fit for everyone and it is relatively expensive compared to other devices.