“I was born deaf and 8 weeks ago I
received a hearing implant.”
- The sound processor of the Esteem is planted behind the patient’s ear. When it is put in place, none of it is visible to the patient or anybody else.
- The device uses the person’s natural ear to pick up sound – there is no speaker or microphone.
- The outer-ear catches sounds as they approach and funnels them through the ear canal.
- With the Esteem there is no irritation or occlusion, because the device has no external components in the ear or ear canal.
- The eardrum vibrates when hit by sound, this vibration engages the middle ear.
- The vibrations that come off of the incus are picked up by the Esteem and converted into electrical signals.
- These electrical signals are sent to a sound processor which makes adjustments according to the human’s specific hearing needs.
- The adjusted signals are then sent to the Driver, which mechanically stimulates the stapes and in turn the cochlea, causing a wave to travel through the fluid-filled cochlea, stimulating thousands of little hair-like cells.
- These tiny hair-like cells send an electrical signal to the brain for it to process.