Bone Conduction Auditory Performance Via the Tooth for Single-Sided Deafness

• Incidence of device- and procedure-related adverse events at 30 days [ Time Frame: 30 days ] [ Designated as safety issue: Yes ]
• Change in Abbreviated Profile of Hearing Aid Benefit (APHAB, Form A - New Format, Hearing Aid Research Lab, University of Memphis, 1994) to assess the subject's experience with the device [ Time Frame: 30 days ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
• SSD Questionnaire score after 30 days to assess subject's experience with the device [ Time Frame: 30 Days ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
• The Remaining conditions of the HINT (Speech front in Quiet, Speech front with noise from the front and Speech front with noise from worse ear side) [ Time Frame: 30 days ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]

The purpose of this study is to determine the safety and efficacy of using bone conduction via the teeth to treat Single-Sided Deafness (SSD).

The Sonitus Bone Conduction Device (BCD) is a bone conduction device for single-sided deafness (SSD). The Sonitus BCD consists of an Oral Appliance (OA), an external microphone component, worn behind the ear (BTE), a calibration interface cable and a PC-controlled calibration software for subject calibration. The Sonitus BCD picks up sounds from a microphone located within the ear canal of the deaf ear, capitalizing on the acoustics of the natural pinna and ear canal. The signal picked up by the microphone is then transmitted wirelessly to a removeable bone conduction oral appliance located on the upper molars. The oral appliance receives the acoustic signal from the BTE and applies an equivalent vibratory signal to the teeth that reaches the skull via bone conduction and routed transcranially to the contralateral cochlea.

• Unilateral Hearing Loss
• Single Sided Deafness

• Ozer E, Adelman C, Freeman S, Sohmer H. Bone conduction hearing on the teeth of the lower jaw. J Basic Clin Physiol Pharmacol. 2002;13(2):89-96.
• Soli SD, Wong LL. Assessment of speech intelligibility in noise with the Hearing in Noise Test. Int J Audiol. 2008 Jun;47(6):356-61. No abstract available.
• Dahlin GC, Allen FG, Collard EW. Bone-conduction thresholds of human teeth. J Acoust Soc Am. 1973 May;53(5):1434-7. No abstract available.
• Wazen JJ, Spitzer J, Ghossaini SN, Kacker A, Zschommler A. Results of the bone-anchored hearing aid in unilateral hearing loss. Laryngoscope. 2001 Jun;111(6):955-8.
• Wazen JJ, Spitzer JB, Ghossaini SN, Fayad JN, Niparko JK, Cox K, Brackmann DE, Soli SD. Transcranial contralateral cochlear stimulation in unilateral deafness. Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2003 Sep;129(3):248-54.
• Stenfelt SP, Håkansson BE. Sensitivity to bone-conducted sound: excitation of the mastoid vs the teeth. Scand Audiol. 1999;28(3):190-8.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Must be >18, < 80 years old
• Must be fluent in English, as determined by the PI
• Must not be a member of a vulnerable group (IRB defined)
• Must remain in geographic area during duration of the study
• Diagnosis of acquired SSD (Section 3.1), time since onset (≥3 mos)
• Must have a minimum of 6 posterior teeth remaining in the upper arch (3 teeth per side),third molars are acceptable if healthy, fully erupted and substituting for second molars

Exclusion Criteria:

• Must not be current users of devices such as Baha, CROS or TransEar

• Must not have known active medical causes of SSD:

  • Active middle ear pathology
  • Conductive HL (Otosclerosis, otitis media, otitis externa and others)
  • Sudden hearing loss that is not stable
• Must not have known medical problems that might be life-threatening or is a contraindication for elective dental or medical procedures
• Must not have known problems that may interfere with the impression procedure, such as inability to breath through nose (e.g. severe flu, allergies or cold)
• Must not have allergies to polymers

• Must not have known dental abnormalities:

  • Temporary crowns or undergoing dental treatment
  • Poor oral hygiene and/or rampant decay
  • Current orthodontics
  • Active caries in one or more of the possible abutment teeth for the device
  • Active moderate to severe periodontal disease around abutment teeth for the device
  • Suspicious oral/facial lesions or swelling of any type
  • Severe pain on palpation on any area of mouth, face or neck
  • Moderate to severe heat sensitivity on any of the upper teeth
  • Subject currently being treated for temporomandibular joint disorder (TMJ), pain, full mouth reconstruction or posterior dental implants

• Must not have known Audiological conditions:

  • Conductive hearing loss (air-bone gap >10dB HL at more than 3 frequencies)
  • Word recognition scores inconsistent with pure tone averages
  • Fluctuating hearing loss
• Must not have known psychological factors that interfere with their ability to comply, comprehend, consent and cooperate