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Dr. Kim Mulvihill ReportingTens of millions of Americans have some hearing loss, and with an aging population, this problem threatens to get worse. An experimental device may one day help older Americans with their aging ears, hear again.
At UCSF Medical Center, Kathy Barger is hoping to get an earful, thanks to an experimental device.
Kathy Barger, Hearing Loss Patient: "I am hoping this will return part of my hearing. To say that it would return it 100% would be absolutely a miracle."
Kathy is unhappy with her hearing aids, so she decided to try out what could be the next best thing to a bionic ear, a hybrid cochlear implant.
It's surgically implanted behind and into her ear.
Dr. Lawrence Lustig, Hearing Specialist: "It's a new way of thinking about implants because it will open up a whole era of possibilities for people with partial hearing loss."
As we get older, many of us have trouble hearing high frequencies, like consonants. Words like "sat" or "fat" can both sound like "aaah". Standard hearing aids pump up the volume, but they don't make it any easier to tell an "S" from an "F". That's where this new hybrid may help.
Dr. Joseph Roberson, Hearing Specialist: "This device would fill in that portion, the "s" or "f", which would then give clarity to the meaning of speech
For years standard cochlear implants have created a sense of sound, but only for profoundly deaf individuals, and it's not normal hearing.
Dr. Lustig: "It sounds very mechanical, it sounds very cartoonish, like Donald Duck is talking."
A hybrid is modified to add in only higher frequencies, the ones you tend to lose as you get older. It's used alongside a standard hearing aid.
Art Gardner, Hearing Loss Patient: "Now I go to plays and musicals, which I could not have done before, and even understand them."
Art Gardner of San Ramon got his hybrid at the California Ear Institute two years ago. He wanted to hear his grandchildren.
Art Gardner: "I can look at people's eyes as opposed to their lips."
There are risks to the surgery, such as complete hearing loss, and your brain has to get used to it. But Art found it worth it. Kathy hopes to.
Kathy Barger: "Until you lose your hearing, you don't realize how valuable it is."
