Just like a conventional hearing aid, a custom shell is made to fit in the ear canal. However, unlike a conventional aid that would simply amplify the sound, TransEar has a miniature vibrator embedded in the shell. When sound is 'received' on the side of the dead ear, it is converted to mechanical energy that drives the oscillator. Those signals are then transferred via the bones of the skull to the cochlea in the opposite ear.

All of this happens nearly instantaneously, but your brain knows the difference. It learns to distinguish between sounds coming in on the side of the good ear versus sounds coming in from the opposite side.

The ability to determine the specific source of a sound - left side / right side, front / back, and everything in between - is called sound localization, and many TransEar users report that they have regained this ability with TransEar.