Type of Fitting

Bone Conduction Hearing Devices (BCHD)

Depending on the nature and degree of your hearing loss you will be offered one or more of the following types of fitting for your bone conduction hearing device (BCHD):

Abutment – this is a direct connection to the internal fixture or implant through the skin and the processor is clipped on to the metal abutment of bone conduction devices and is available with all Cochlear Baha or Oticon Ponto BAHS processors.

Magnetic coupling– the implant is surgically implanted under the skin and the external processor is held on with a magnet over intact skin. There are two options, Cochlear Osia 2 or MED-EL BONEBRIDGE.

Softband – there is no internal fixture and the processor is attached to an elastic ‘softband’ to deliver sound by bone conduction. This type of fitting is available with all Cochlear Baha or Oticon Ponto BAHS processors.

Hat – The Ponto sound connector can be used with a hat instead of a softband (Oticon Ponto processors only).

 Headband – there is no internal implant and the processor is attached to a SoundArc (Cochlear Baha only) to deliver sound by bone conduction.

Adhesive – The MED-EL ADHEAR processor is a device that ‘sticks’ behind your ear using a small adhesive adapter (like a sticking plaster) and sends a vibration across the bone to the inner ear. This type of device is only suitable for people with normal bone conduction hearing. It is not suitable for very young children as it does not have a locking battery compartment.

Middle Ear Implants (MEI)

The implant is inserted under the skin and the external processor is held on with a magnet over intact skin for VIBRANT SOUNDBRIDGE and if needed for Carina middle ear implants.