Enhancing Pediatric Cochlear Implant Outcomes: Evidence-Based Insights

By Natasha McDougald, Product Manager – Bimodal and Hybrid Hearing

A recent US Multicenter Study demonstrated the hearing performance and quality of life benefits with respect to a bimodal solution.  The study’s implications show that a cochlear implant and hearing aid could work together to give your patients a more natural hearing experience and should be considered within your clinic.

US Multicenter Study Results¹

Results from the recent study demonstrated that speech perception significantly improved in both quiet and noise six months after activation in the bimodal condition, including on the telephone.^1,2 Additionally, patients reported dramatic changes in their satisfaction with their hearing performance, with 9% reporting satisfaction with their bilateral hearing aid hearing performance, changing to 95% reporting satisfaction with their hearing performance using their bimodal solution.¹

Bimodal Benefits

Benefits of a bimodal hearing system include:

• Greater clarity and improved speech understanding, especially in noise^3,4,5,6,7
• Better determination of where sounds are coming from: localization³
• Better sound appreciation so your patients can enjoy their favorite music⁶

The Cochlear™ Nucleus® Implant Systems work with any hearing aid to deliver these life-changing benefits of bimodal hearing. However, the most advanced smart bimodal hearing solution is the result of the partnership between Cochlear and ReSound to enable bimodal users to connect to the people they love and the world around them.

Expanded Connectivity

For the first time, if your patients have a Nucleus^® 7 Sound Processor and a compatible ReSound hearing aid, they can stream sound directly to both ears at once from a compatible Apple^® or Android™ device.*

With this unique smart bimodal hearing solution, Nucleus 7 recipients using a compatible smartphone can:

• Connect with others on the phone
• Rediscover the joy of music
• Easily control their device settings
• Use the Nucleus Smart App to find a lost sound processor functionality

To learn more about bimodal benefits please visit our website.

References:

1. Clinical Evaluation of the Cochlear Nucleus CI532 Cochlear Implants in Adults Investigator Meeting. 2019 Apr.
2. Wolfe J, Morais M, Schafer Erin. Speech recognition of bimodal cochlear implant recipients using a wireless audio streaming accessory for the telephone. Otol Neurotol. 2016 Feb;37(2):e20-5.
3. Dorman MF, Gifford RH, Spahr AJ, McKarns SA. The benefits of combining acoustic and electric stimulation for the recognition of speech, voice and melodies. Audiology and Neurotology. 2008;13(2):105-12
4. Potts LG, Skinner MW, Litovsky RA, Strube MJ, Kuk F. Recognition and localization of speech by adult cochlear implant recipients wearing a digital hearing aid in the nonimplanted ear (bimodal hearing). Journal of the American Academy of Audiology. 2009 Jun 1;20(6):353-73.
5. Gottermeier L, De Filippo C, Clark C. Trials of a Contralateral Hearing Aid After Long-Term Unilateral Cochlear Implant Use in Early-Onset Deafness. American journal of audiology. 2016 Jun 1;25(2):85-99.
6. Sucher CM, McDermott HJ. Bimodal stimulation: benefits for music perception and sound quality. Cochlear Implants International. 2009 Jan 1;10(S1):96-9.
7. Gifford RH, Dorman MF, McKarns SA, Spahr AJ. Combined electric and contralateral acoustic hearing: Word and sentence recognition with bimodal hearing. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research. 2007 Aug 1;50(4):835-43.

* The Nucleus 7 Sound Processor is compatible with iPhone 7 Plus, iPhone 7, iPhone 6s Plus, iPhone 6s, iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 6, iPhone SE, iPhone 5s, iPhone 5c, iPhone 5, iPad Pro (12.9-inch), iPad Pro (9.7-inch), iPad Air 2, iPad Air, iPad mini 4, iPad mini 3, iPad mini 2, iPad mini, iPad (4th generation) and iPod touch (6th generation) using iOS 10.0 or later. The Nucleus Smart App is compatible with iPhone 5 (or later) and iPod 6th generation devices (or later) running iOS 10.0 or later. Apple, the Apple logo, FaceTime, Made for iPad logo, Made for iPhone logo, Made for iPod logo, iPhone, iPad Pro, iPad Air, iPad mini, iPad and iPod touch are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. App Store is a service mark of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. Information accurate as of July 2017.

**With compatible ReSound hearing aids. A list of compatible hearing aids is available online at: www.Cochlear.com/US/Nucleus7Compatibility.

The Cochlear Nucleus 7 Sound Processor is compatible with iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. Apple, the Apple logo, FaceTime, Made for iPad logo, Made for iPhone logo, Made for iPod logo, iPhone, iPad Pro, iPad Air, iPad mini, iPad and iPod touch are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries.

App Store is a service mark of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries.

Android and Google Play are registered trademarks of Google Inc.

The Android robot is reproduced or modified from work created and shared by Google and used according to terms described in the Creative Commons 3.0 Attribution License.

The Cochlear Nucleus Smart App is available on App Store and Google Play. For complete smartphone compatibility information, please visit www.cochlear.com/compatibility.

Guest author: Janet Clarke, Au.D.

Power to the Pod!

The feedback from the 2017 Hear Your Way workshops was clear: when asked for your key takeaways, the words wireless and programming appeared often, as shown above in the above Word Cloud. We hope you have enjoyed incorporating the Wireless Programming Pods (WPPs) into your programming sessions. If you haven’t yet started using the WPPs, below are some tips to help you get them set up. If you have used the WPPs, you may still find some of these tips useful.

1. Designate one Cochlear™ Nucleus^® Programming Kit to each computer. Do not move WPPs from computer to computer. If absolutely necessary to use a WPP on a different computer, you must first “forget the device” on the first computer to which the WPP was paired.
2. In the programming kit, you will find rechargeable batteries for the WPP for the Nucleus^® 7 sound processor and for the WPP for the Nucleus^® 5, 6 or Kanso^® sound processor. Charge these two batteries using the USB charger from the programming kit and your clinic’s charger, respectively.
3. If your computer has built-in Bluetooth^®, we recommend disabling it, and using the Cochlear-provided Bluetooth USB 4.0 Adapter (Manufacturer: ORICO^®). Plug the ORICO adapter into an available USB port. The ports toward the back of the computer have more power and are a better choice for the adapter. If you are using a USB hub, it must be an AC powered hub.
   • If you use a NOAHLink™, it will pair to the ORICO adapter – you will no longer need the EZURIO or LAIRD™ adapter that came with the NOAHLink. We recommend, therefore, removing the EZURIO or LAIRD and putting it away.

4. Close all open software applications, especially Custom Sound^®.
5. If you have wired programming pods plugged in to your computer, unplug them, for now.
6. Find your computer’s Bluetooth icon, right-click on it and choose Add a Device.
7. Choose one of the pods and its corresponding rechargeable battery. It’s time to put power to the pod! Do NOT attach a sound processor at this time.
   • The blue LED on the WPP will flash slowly for up to three minutes while the device is being detected.
   • Place the WPP and battery on the table (do not hold them in your hand – doing so may interfere with connectivity during the pairing process).
   • Time is on your side! Wait until you see the Cochlear Wireless Pod detected on your screen, then add it.
   • When the blue LED flashes quickly for 10 seconds, pairing is complete.

8. Follow the steps in item 7 for the other WPP.
9. If you use a NOAHLink, Pair it using the NOAHLink Pairing Wizard
10. Open Custom Sound and wait for the WPP icon(s) to appear.

11. If you have a sound processor, connect it.
    • Note that when a sound processor firmware update is required, you may notice that the WPP and processor icons momentarily disappear. Do not disconnect and reconnect anything – time is on your side! In a few seconds, the icons will reappear and the connection will complete.

12. Note that Custom Sound can detect only two pods of any type at any given time. For example, it can detect two WPPs, one WPP and one wired pod, or two wired pods.
13. When you are finished programming using the WPP, disconnect the sound processor, then remove and recharge the rechargeable battery. Cochlear does not recommend use of the recipient’s rechargeable battery, as it may be insufficiently charged, or become depleted during the programming session.
14. Please visit myCochlear^™ Clinic, Resources section, Software Support for the Wireless Programming Pod User Guides, as well as a plethora of useful Software Support Documents.

About our guest author:

Dr. Clarke is a Professional Education Manager for Cochlear Americas.  She joined Cochlear in 1998 and has been in various Clinical or Learning roles throughout her career at Cochlear.

She has been an audiologist since 1992, working with cochlear implants since 1993 and Baha since Cochlear’s acquisition of Entific in 2005. Prior to joining Cochlear, Janet worked at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Janet has her AuD from the University of Florida, and did her undergraduate & graduate degrees at Purdue University.