Evaluation of Flexible Conductive Hearing Aids

January 26, 2026 updated by: Wake Forest University Health Sciences

A Noninvasive, Flexible Conductive Hearing Aid With Micro-epidermal Actuators on Pediatric and Adult Patients

Conductive hearing loss (CHL) is the most common type of hearing loss among the pediatric population. CHL occurs when sound is not properly transmitted from the external ear to the cochlea, and congenital pathologies like microtia/anotia, atresia, and absent or malformed ossicles make hearing loss permanent.

Study Overview

Status

Recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Standard treatment for permanent conductive hearing loss includes osseointegrated implants, which require surgery and are invasive for pediatric patients. Conductive hearing loss can also be treated by non-surgical solutions such as wearable and behind-the-ear aids; however, they present challenges such as instability, stigmatization, and discomfort because of the device's design. Therefore, patients (ages 6 months to 80 years) with permanent (CHL) can benefit from a flexible, Band-Aid like hearing aid.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

200

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Contact Backup

Study Locations

  • United States
    • North Carolina
      • Winston-Salem, North Carolina, United States, 27157
        • Recruiting
        • Wake Forest University Health Sciences
        • Contact:
        • Contact:

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Child
  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Male and female infants, children, adolescents, and adult patients who are diagnosed with unilateral or bilateral mixed or conductive hearing loss
  • Male and female patients seen at Atrium Health-Audiology for a clinical, standard of care office visit who have a diagnosis of conductive or mixed hearing loss and may currently wear hearing aids
  • Male and female infants, children, adolescents, and adults who are candidates for conductive hearing aids (Osseo-integrated or wearable aids) or for canalplasty or ossicular chain reconstruction surgery
  • Healthy subjects will include male and female infants, children, adolescents, and adults who do not have conductive or mixed hearing loss
  • Pregnant women -are eligible for this study. Standard of Care allows pregnant patients to be fit for hearing aids without risk.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Adult patients unable to independently understand the purpose of the study and the procedures and/or who are not willing to participate

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Basic Science
  • Allocation: N/A
  • Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: flexible Band-Aid style hearing device
Patients with conductive/mixed hearing loss will be assessed to observe their hearing threshold before using the hearing aid and reassessed with our hearing aid attached. Healthy subjects will wear noise-cancelling headphones and ear plugs to simulate conductive hearing loss, and their hearing threshold will be assessed before and during the flexible hearing aid attachment.
Device: flexible conductive hearing aid
Eligible patients will wear hearing aids on flexible substrate and MEA (Micro epidermal actuator is a flexible material (e.g., plastics) to be placed on epidermis layer of skin for generating vibrations) on skull behind the ear or forehead. A neonatal adhesive, tape, Band-Aid or a headband will secure the aid/MEA on the skin.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Does the subject indicate hearing or states they can hear sound
Time Frame: Hour 1
Voltage (with a maximum of 20 V, frequency range: 20 Hz to 20 kHz) will be applied to Micro epidermal actuator (MEA) through external power supply/function generator, or through amplifier in the hearing aid circuit. While wearing the device, they are asked to respond or repeat when they hear sound either delivered through the device or through the speaker on the wall in front of them. All sounds are presented at a comfortable level.
Hour 1

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Wake Forest University Health Sciences

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Mohammad Moghimi, PhD, Wake Forest University Health Sciences

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

January 14, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

November 1, 2027

Study Completion (Estimated)

November 1, 2027

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

October 28, 2025

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

October 28, 2025

First Posted (Actual)

October 29, 2025

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

January 27, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

January 26, 2026

Last Verified

October 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • IRB00133858

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

YES

IPD Plan Description

All of the individual participants data, collected during the trial after deidentification

IPD Sharing Time Frame

Immediately after publication. No end date

IPD Sharing Access Criteria

Any purposes

IPD Sharing Supporting Information Type

  • STUDY_PROTOCOL

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

Yes

product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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