Innovative technology can do so much more than provide smart phone apps. Consider SoundBite, a recently available state-of-the-art hearing device that improves quality of life for those who suffer single-sided deafness or significant hearing loss in one ear. Forest Lake teenager and graduate of Maple Grove Junior High, Alissa Montzka is one of approximately 7 million Americans who suffer from single-sided deafness. This condition can be from birth, the result of surgery, tumors inside the ear or a blow to the head. And up until now, Alissa’s single-sided deafness has been untreatable.
“We noticed it when she was 4 years old,” says Alissa’s father, Tim Montzka. “We handed her the telephone to speak to a relative. She didn’t speak and handed the phone back to us saying, ‘My ear doesn’t work.’ Soon afterward, our doctor informed us that Alissa had profound hearing loss in one ear and couldn’t tell us why. It could have been from birth or from a virus. She never had ear infections, so we don’t know what happened. All we know is that her condition can’t be corrected with a hearing aid.”
Instead, Alissa learned to compensate by having people sit or walk on her “good side.” But she had trouble focusing on a specific voice in crowded rooms. Last summer, she came home frustrated after a trip to Dairy Queen with her friends. The background noise bouncing around the restaurant made it impossible for her to hear any single sound.
Enter another source of 21st century technology, Facebook. Alissa takes part in a single-sided deafness group on Facebook. From it, she garnered ideas for possible solutions. One idea was a bone anchored hearing aid that is surgically implanted and works by bone conduction. Another device is called TransEar, which doesn’t require surgery but instead fits down inside the ear canal and vibrates the skull to transmit sound to the person’s good side. The Montzkas tried the TransEar but it didn’t work for Alissa.
Then Alissa read about the SoundBite Hearing System. The system also works through bone conduction. A prosthetic retainer type device is inserted over the person’s molar along with a behind-the-ear microphone near the poor ear. Montzka says, “Alissa told us about it and we thought it sounded hokey at first. A majority of the users who participated in the testing recommended it. It was a gamble because it is expensive and we weren’t sure how much insurance would cover. Plus, we couldn’t return it if it didn’t work.”
The Montzkas decided to go for it and sought out Kate Puls, an audiologist at Ear, Nose and Throat Specialty Care of Minnesota in Maple Grove (200 Grove Health Building, 9550 Upland Lane N.; entsc.com). “SoundBite is strictly for people with single-sided deafness,” says Puls. “It utilizes bone conduction which is an established principle. But this device is different in that the behind-the-ear microphone picks up sound and wirelessly transmits it to the mouthpiece. The teeth and bone imperceptibly vibrate and conduct the sound to the good ear. Outside of trials, SoundBite has only been available since January 2012. I’m excited about it because it requires no surgery. Patients don’t feel the vibration. They just hear, albeit not in their poor ear. This is not a cure for deafness. But it is a great advancement for those who cannot be helped by hearing aids.”
Alissa says that the SoundBite device feels pretty normal in her mouth. “It’s similar to having braces or a retainer. You get used to it. I’m still the same person. Only now, I catch things I used to miss. Sitting in crowded rooms is so much better. Like when I was in a lecture hall at the University of Minnesota, I could hear the teacher much better than before, even with other students talking around me. And at a basketball game, I felt like I could hear the person speaking on my deaf side. Being a passenger in a car is better too. Those were things that were difficult for me before SoundBite.”
