A seven-year-old Bangladeshi girl born without external ears, ear canals, and eardrums has undergone bone conduction implant surgery at a private hospital in Kolkata, taking the first step towards gaining the ability to hear.
According to Indian media reports, the surgery was performed last week at CMRI CK Birla Hospital. Doctors said the child had been completely deaf because, although her inner ear functions normally, the absence of the outer and middle ear prevented sound from reaching the cochlea.
During the procedure, surgeons implanted a magnetic device beneath the skin and secured it to the skull. An external sound processor will be fitted in about three weeks, once the surgical site has healed, allowing sound to be transmitted directly to the inner ear.
The operation was led by otologist and cochlear implant surgeon Dr NVK Mohan.
“The girl’s inner ear is functioning normally, but she was born without a bony ear canal or eardrum. As a result, sound could not reach the cochlea,” Mohan said.
He said a bone conduction implant was the most appropriate treatment because it bypasses the missing outer and middle ear by transmitting sound vibrations directly through the skull to the cochlea.
Unlike a cochlear implant, which stimulates the auditory nerve in patients with severe inner-ear damage, a bone conduction implant is used when the inner ear is healthy but sound cannot reach it through the normal hearing pathway.
The external processor, equipped with microphones and a sound processor, will attach magnetically to the implanted device. It can be removed while sleeping or bathing, similar to a conventional hearing aid.
Mohan said doctors had considered reconstructing the child’s ear canal but ruled it out because it would have required multiple complex surgeries with no guarantee of satisfactory hearing.
“Our priority was to restore her hearing in the safest and most effective way,” he said.
Doctors said reconstruction of the outer ears or the use of prosthetic ears may be considered later. For now, the focus is on restoring hearing, which they expect the child to achieve after the external processor is fitted.
The girl has been discharged from the hospital and is expected to return in about three weeks for activation of the external sound processor.
