The bone-anchored hearing aid. Design principles, indications, and long-term clinical results.

This article presents a summary of design principles, indications, and clinical results obtained with the bone-anchored hearing aid (BAHA). Hearing through bone conduction and mechanical stimulation of the skull with percutaneous versus transcutaneous excitation and the functional capability of the ear level BAHA sound processor is presented. Moreover, the surgical procedure is described and the success rate to establish and maintain osseointegration is presented together with the frequency of skin reactions at the implant site. The audiologic and questionnaire results achieved with the BAHA is also presented and discussed.