Implantable Audiologic Devices and Facial Plastic Surgery in Elderly Patients

Advances in technology have led to the development of several implantable bone conduction devices (BCD) employing bone conduction stimulation for the treatment and rehabilitation of mixed and conductive hearing loss [1]. BCD are alternatives when the benefit of conventional prosthetic equipment is limited or contraindicated [1,2]. BCDs directly stimulate the inner ear by skull vibration [1]. Bone conduction devices can feature either transcutaneous transmission, the externally audio processor is magnetically coupled to an implanted transducer; or percutaneous transmission, the audio processor is snapped on to a skin-penetrating implant [1,3].