Auditory brainstem and cortical potentials following bone-anchored hearing aid stimulation

Patients suffering from conductive or mixed hearing loss and Single-Sided Deafness may benefit from implantable hearing devices relying on bone conducted auditory stimulation. However, with only passively cooperative patients, objective methods are needed to estimate the aided and unaided pure-tone audiogram. This study focuses on the feasibility aspect of an electrophysiological determination of the hearing thresholds with bone-anchored hearing aid stimulation. Therefore, 10 normal-hearing subjects were provided with a Baha Intenso (Cochlear Ltd.) which was temporarily connected to the Baha Softband (Cochlear Ltd.). Auditory evoked potentials were measured by auditory stimulation paradigm used in clinical routine. The amplitudes, latencies, and thresholds of the resulting auditory brainstem responses (ABR) and the cortically evoked responses (CAEP) were correlated with the respective responses without the use of the Baha Intenso. The recording of ABR and CAEP by delivering the stimuli to the Baha results in response waveforms which are comparable to those evoked by earphone stimulation and appears appropriate to be measured using the Baha Intenso as stimulator. At the ABR recordings a stimulus artifact at higher stimulation levels and a constant latency shift caused by the Baha Intenso has to be considered. The CAEP recording appeared promising as a frequency specific objective method to approve the fitting of bone-anchored hearing aids. At all measurements, the ABR and CAEP thresholds seem to be consistent with the normal hearing of the investigated participants. Thus, a recording of auditory evoked potentials using a Baha is in general possible if specific limitations are considered.