The Clinical Otolaryngology Center at Boao Super Hospital carried out an Auditory Brainstem Implant (ABI) operation on April 18, 2020. The operation was China's first clinical application of synchrony ABI. It is the only option for hearing-impaired people who cannot implant artificial cochlea. 

The ABI operation is a very difficult type of auricular nerve and skull base surgery. 

The brainstem is the regulation center of human basic life activities. Doctors need to find the cochlear nucleus of the brainstem with a diameter of 2x3 millimeters in the "life forbidden zone" and give it electrical stimulation. 

If mistakes occur during the operation, corresponding disturbance of life activities will happen, with potential complications including respiratory and cardiac arrest. This makes the ABI operation a huge surgical challenge. 

Only a few centers around the world can conduct this technology.