HEARING IMPLANT:
Megan Stokes
Since birth, Megan Stokes (age 7 years) heard the world
in a limited fashion through only one hearing ear. Bird
songs, school bells and conversations originating on the
right side of her world were not heard unless they were loud
enough to be picked up by her left ear.
In early 2008, Dr. James Milligan implanted a remarkable
bone anchored hearing aid (BAHA) from Cochlear Implants. It
clips on to a bone screw implanted behind the ear in the
skull. The BAHA system transmits mechanical energy rather
than sound energy, Milligan explained.
“Once patients are fitted with the device, six months after
the initial surgery, it acts as a transformer,” he says.
“The BAHA device picks up sound energy from the ear, and
transmits it into mechanical energy, and that’s what’s
transmitted into the bone screw.”
The bone screw’s mechanical energy is transferred across the
skull, although patient does not perceive that, Milligan
continued. “The frequencies transmitted through the cochlea
turn into sound energy again, proceeding through the ear as
hearing.”
The day the Saint John’s audiologist fitted Megan with the
bone anchored hearing device was like hearing for the first
time.
“Mommy I can hear,” Megan said. The room erupted with tears of
joy. Her mother, Penny, remembers the moment.
“We were so anxious to see what would happen when the
hearing device was turned on. As soon as she put it on, she
could hear. Everyone was crying.”
Saint John’s audiologist Linda Lupton explained that the
transmitted sound is slightly artificial sounding. Megan’s
brain has adapted and knows from which side the sound
originates.
“It is amazing that our local hospital can do such a
surgery,” Penny said. “Dr. Milligan is Megan’s guardian
angel. He is a wonderful person, gentle and respectful.”
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