Abu Dhabi: Mafraq Hospital has announced the success of ear, nose and throat (ENT) specialists in achieving a bone conduction implant — the Bonebridge.
The operation was performed for the first time in the UAE and the patient was a 19-year- old Emirati. The surgery was successfully performed by a team led by Dr Mondy Hammad, Chief of ENT, at the hospital. The patient, Hamad Ebrahim, has suffered from a hearing impediment in his left ear since childhood. The hospital is owned and operated by the Abu Dhabi Health Services Company (SEHA)
The Bonebridge consists of a magnetic device that is surgically implanted under the skin behind the ear, capturing sound and transmitting signals via electromagnetic waves to the skull and then on to the ear.
Commenting on the success, Dr Hammad said, “Being the first of its kind in the UAE, the operation makes us at Mafraq Hospital truly honoured to add this medical breakthrough to our list of other achievements. This new hearing system will overcome many shortcomings of traditional hearing aids such as embarrassment for users, especially for young people like Hamad.”
Ebrahim’s father elaborated, “We discovered Hamad was deaf in his left ear when he was 8 and he was put on medication in India when he was 15, which improved his hearing by around 60 per cent, but the situation worsened after he finished the course. Doctors advised us to install an external hearing device, but I refused; then, Dr Mondy from Mafraq Hospital suggested that we wait for a new device that is implanted under the skin and doesn’t show, in addition to another device that can easily be removed and, thankfully, the operation was a great success. We are more than satisfied with the final outcome.”
