Carina Implantable Hearing Aid

Hearing is something some of us take for granted. My sister has some hearing problems due to birth complications so we've dealt with all sorts of different solutions and hearing aids for her.

The Carina sounds promising even though it's only in "phase II" of its study. It uses four separate implants in the skull, including a fingernail sized microphone. It has a fully rechargeable lithium-ion battery which recharges via magnets you wear a couple hours a day. That kind of seems odd to me but since it promises a "natural feeling of sound" who am I to complain?

Actually I'm eager to hear some more about it after it's final testing. I doubt, however, it'll ever be in my or my families price range since right now it costs $20,000 per ear and isn't covered by any form of insurance.

Carina Implantable Hearing Aid Gets Showed Off [via Engadget]