Jasper Design CEO Kathryn Kranen is deaf is one ear. She wasn't born that way – her family believes a severe case of chicken pox as an infant caused permanent damage to the auditory nerve in her right ear and she's been totally deaf on that side ever since.

Other than this one small affliction, Kathryn is one of the healthiest people you'll ever meet. She's trim, athletic, engaged in life and absolutely unstoppable. She's running a business, has a young family, and is simultaneously involved in various volunteer activities in her community. To meet her, you wouldn't know she's not just perfect in every way.

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So you'll have to take my word for it – Kathryn Kranen is deaf in one ear. She can't hear you if you're sitting on her right side. When it's her young children demanding her attention it usually goes like this:

"Mommy! Mommy! Is this your deaf ear or are you just not listening to me?"

Some while back, Kathryn learned from a friend of a friend about a new device being used in the medical community that was designed to help people who are deaf in one ear. Simply stated, this device consists of a titanium post surgically embedded in the skull near the deaf ear onto which a small electronic "gadget" is snapped. Post and "gadget" combined are referred to by the manufacturer as a BAHA – a Bone Anchored Hearing Aid.

[Technically, the BAHA was originally designed for people who are missing an ear canal, so that sound can be transferred through the skull to the auditory nerve inside on the same side as the BAHA. In the case of single-sided deaf people, however, the sound has to travel all the way around/over the head to the nerve on the opposite side.]

Anyway, the gadget part of the BAHA includes a directional microphone, a DSP and transducer that takes ambient sound and translates it into a mechanical vibration which travels through the titanium post, and then through the skull and over to the good ear.

The vibration stimulates an auditory response in the good ear, which leaves the human sporting the device with the impression that both ears are functional – complete with the ability to localize sound and discern activity on the previously stone-deaf side of the head.

The titanium post, once implanted, takes 10 weeks to fuse with the bone of the skull – a process called osseo-integration. The gadget, which snaps onto the post, is about one inch square, and cannot be tested out until the post is fully fused, lest the healing and fusing process be compromised.

The post-and-gadget combo is essentially invisible, hiding under the hair a couple of inches back from where the non-functioning ear is located. The whole set-up is currently being developed and manufactured by a company out of Sweden – Entific Medical Systems, now owned by Cochlear Ltd. of Australia – and costs about $5000 (not including the surgery).

Not surprisingly – particularly to those of you familiar with hearing aids – the cost of the device is not currently covered by most medical insurance. In general, if you're deaf on one or both sides and for whatever reason, your insurance company is not interested. Kathryn was fortunate that Jasper’s insurance plan covered the surgery, but she will have to purchase the device.

Okay, so back to Kathryn.

She heard about the BAHA device – researched it, talked to her doctors, investigated the pros and cons, consulted with her husband, Kevin Kranen (Marketing Director at Synopsys), her kids, her parents, her business associates, checked with her insurance – and decided to try it.

On July 21st, Kathryn was operated on. She had the titanium post installed in her skull and then began the long healing process, along with the long wait to see if her hearing could be restored to a level she has not known since she was a tiny child. On October 4th, the gadget will be attached to the post.

Kathryn believes that life as she has known up to that point will change instantly.

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