Middle Ear Implants for the Treatment of Hearing Loss
Health Technology & Policy Unit. (2011).
Edmonton, AB (Canada): University of Alberta, 1-159.
This systematic review compares middle ear implants to traditional hearing aids, osseointegrated devices, and cochlear implants in individuals with hearing loss.
Alberta Health and Wellness (Canada); Alberta Health Technologies Decision Process (Canada)
"Overall the quality of [middle ear implant] (MEI) studies conducted to date is low. Nevertheless, the findings indicate that improvement in functional gain with MEI appears to be comparable to that with hearing aids.... Studies also suggest that MEI may offer greater improvements with respect to perception of speech in noise and sound quality" (p. 50).
"There were no studies directly comparing the [bone-anchored hearing aid] BAHA device to [middle ear implants] MEIs. However, based on an indirect comparison, the BAHA device appears to provide similar benefit in functional gain, speech reception, and speech recognition to the [Vibrant Soundbridge] VSB and superior benefit over the Esteem and Carina devices" (p. 49).
"Based on a review of the patient populations for each technology and clinical advice from a member of the expert advisory panel, it was determined that cochlear implants were not an appropriate comparator to middle ear implants. Patients receiving cochlear implants have more severe hearing loss than those who would typically qualify for middle ear implants. Therefore, results from the cochlear implant studies were excluded" (p. 40).
