The Vibrant Soundbridge^® middle ear implant: A historical overview

Objective: To present a historical overview of the Vibrant Soundbridge^® (VSB) middle ear implant (MEI), since its beginning in the 1990s to date and to describe its course and contemplate what it might become in the future.

History: MEIs started to take form in researchers' mind in the 1930s with the first experiment of Wilska. In the 1970s, several devices, such as the Goode and Perkins', the Maniglia's, or the Hough and Dormer's were created but remained prototypes. It is only in the 1990s the devices that emerged remained on the market. In 1994, Symphonix, Inc. was created and aimed to manufacture and commercialize its semi-implantable MEI, the VSB. The principle of the VSB lies on a direct drive of the sound to a vibratory structure of the middle ear through an electromagnetic transducer, the floating mass transducer (FMT). The particularity of the system VSB is the simplicity of the transducer which is made of both the magnet and the coil; thus, the FMT, fixed on a vibrating middle ear structure, mimics the natural movement of the ossicular chain by moving in the same direction. The goal of the VSB was to give an alternative to patients with mild-to-severe sensorineural hearing loss who could not wear hearing aids (HAs) or who were unsatisfied conventional HA users. Subsequent to Tjellström's experiment in 1997, implantations started to include etiologies such as otosclerosis, radical mastoidectomy, failed ossiculoplasty/tympanoplasty, and atresia. Nowadays, the VSB, with more than 20 years of experience, is the oldest and most used middle ear implant worldwide. It is well acknowledged that the straightforward design and reliability of the transducer have certainly contributed to the success of the device.