What is the Carina Fully Implantable Hearing Device?
The Carina Fully Implantable Hearing Device is an implantable middle ear prosthesis designed to bypass the outer ear, eardrum, and a portion of the ossicular chain. It is for adult patients, 18 years of age or older, with moderate to severe hearing loss. Unlike traditional hearing aids, which direct amplified sound to the eardrum, the Carina Fully Implantable Hearing Device bypasses the outer ear and instead makes direct contact with the middle ear anatomy, thereby allowing sound to be amplified more naturally by enhancing the vibration of the ossicular chain and sending the amplified sound by a more direct route to the cochlea. Because no part of the Carina Fully Implantable Hearing Device is located in the ear canal, many of the problems associated with hearing aids are eliminated, including distortion of amplified sound, occlusion, external ear canal infections, ear canal discomfort, and problems with wax build-up.
