Bilateral Bone Conduction Devices

In Brief Objectives: The aim of the study was to investigate whether children with bilateral conductive hearing loss benefit from their second device (i.e., the bilateral bone conduction device [BCD]). Design: Speech recognition in noise was assessed in 10 children fitted with bilateral BCDs during childhood. Speech recognition was measured in 2 conditions with both BCDs active. Spatial resolution was tested with the Minimum Audible Angle test in the bilateral and monaural listening conditions. Results: Children demonstrated an improvement in speech recognition when speech was presented from the front and noise was presented from the right-hand side as compared with both speech and noise being presented from the front. The minimum audible angle decreased from 57° in the best monaural condition to 13° in the bilateral condition. Conclusions: The audiological outcomes demonstrate the advantage of bilateral BCD fitting in children with bilateral conductive hearing loss. This study investigated whether children with bilateral conductive hearing loss benefit from bilateral bone conduction devices fitted on titanium implants. Two tests were performed in 10 children. Children demonstrated an improvement in speech recognition when speech was presented from the front and noise was presented from the right-hand side as compared with both speech and noise being presented from the front. On average, the minimal audible angle decreased from 68° in the unilateral condition to 13° in the bilateral condition. The audiological outcomes demonstrate the advantage of bilateral bone conduction device fitting in children with bilateral conductive hearing loss.