What exactly is TransEar?
TransEar is a bone conduction hearing instrument designed specifically for unilateral hearing loss, often called single-sided-deafness (SSD). It consists of three parts: • a small, but sophisticated behind-the-ear digital hearing aid, which is joined by… • a thin flexible connector wire to… • a transfer unit a small custom acrylic half-shell which contains a miniature oscillator. These components are fit on and in the ear that has no hearing. Using bone conduction, the oscillator conducts vibrations across the skull to the good cochlea on the other side. October 2008 marks the introduction of TransEar 380-HF, a major breakthrough in bone conduction technology. (The “HF” stands for High Frequency.) This revolutionary product uses a newly developed high frequency bone vibrator, which has its peak energy at 2300 Hz. (For comparison purposes, all other bone conduction devices peak around 700 Hz or less.) What does this mean to the user? It means that the key consonant sounds so importa