Give your patients the control with the Nucleus® Smart App

Since its launch in October 2016, the Cochlear™ Nucleus® Kanso® (CP950) sound processor has provided recipients a smart, simple and discreet off-the-ear wearing solution with the robust features and the uncompromised hearing performance of our Nucleus 6 BTE processors (CP910 & CP920).

Kanso features dual-microphone technology and Cochlear’s SmartSound® iQ preprocessing suite to improve hearing in all listening environments, as well as our True Wireless™ technology to allow simple yet powerful connection to a variety of speakers and sound sources.  To maximize Kanso performance, the following reminders about power optimization and optimal battery use are provided for clinicians to use for recipient programming and counseling.

________________________________________________________________________________________________

Power Optimization

Power optimization is a crucial step in the programming of Kanso recipients and should be performed at each appointment – or whenever MAPs are loaded onto the processor.  This process takes skin flap thickness, impedances and MAP parameters (rate, T/C levels, maxima) into account to ensure that all channels are within compliance for each MAP.  More practically for recipients, power optimization maximizes battery life for each program and provides an estimation of their expected minimum battery life.

Power optimization must be done with the Kanso on the recipient’s head during the ‘Write to Maps’ process in Custom Sound® 4.4 to ensure accurate measurement of their power needs.  If this is not done, MAPs will be written with a default 100% manual power level; this is different than for CP910/920, CP810 and Nucleus® Freedom® processors, which default to 75% power level.

Not optimizing power level will result in significantly-reduced battery life and potential intermittencies, and no estimation of minimum expected battery life will be calculated.

Once the MAPs have been successfully downloaded to the Kanso® while on the recipient’s head, battery suitability and an estimation of expected battery life will be provided by Custom Sound®.

Click on the icon above to see battery life estimate.

Use of Recommended Batteries

It is vitally important to use appropriate batteries with the Kanso.  The Kanso sound processor utilizes two high-power 675 (PR44) zinc air disposable batteries designed for cochlear implant use.  These batteries have additional capacity to allow for the higher power requirements needed to maintain the RF link between the Kanso and the implant.  Use of standard 675 hearing aid batteries will lead to vastly reduced battery life, intermittencies, or potentially an inability to power on the Kanso for more than a few seconds.

Dave Catlett, Au.D., CCC-A, FAAA, Regional Clinical Training Manager

Dave Catlett is a Regional Clinical Training Manager for Cochlear Americas covering the Southeast and Atlantic regions.  In this role, he provides clinical training and mentorship for Cochlear field staff as well as developing and presenting clinical trainings for Cochlear’s professional partners.  He earned his Masters in Audiology at UNC Chapel Hill and his Au.D through the University of Florida.  Prior to joining Cochlear in 2005, David spent several years as a clinical audiologist at UNC’s pediatric cochlear implant program.

©Cochlear Limited 2017. All rights reserved. Hear now. And always and other trademarks and registered trademarks are the property of Cochlear Limited or Cochlear Bone Anchored Solutions AB. The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.

The Kanso™ Sound Processor is water resistant to level IP54 of the International Standard IEC60529. The Kanso Sound Processor with the Aqua+ is water resistant to level IP68 of the International Standard when used with LR44 alkaline or nickel metal hydride disposable batteries.
SNR-WR, WNR and SCAN are approved for use with any recipient ages 6 years and older, who is able to: 1) complete objective speech perception testing in quiet and in noise in order to determine and document performance: and 2) report a preference for different program settings.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 5% of the world’s population, 466 million people, have a disabling hearing loss. They estimate by 2050, this number is expected to rise to over 900 million people or one in every 10 people.¹ As the incidence of hearing loss continues to increase, clinical evidence supports early intervention for cochlear implantation. Shortening the duration of hearing loss by implanting before hearing loss progresses to profound within approved indications can maximize outcomes, increase outcome predictability and promote health and quality of life.² Moreover, as cognitive decline becomes increasingly relevant within our aging population, hearing loss may be shifting from something we cope with and manage to something we recognize and treat.

Many people believe that cochlear implants are only indicated for those with severe to profound hearing loss and only once hearing aid benefit is gone. However, this notion is no longer true due to the expanded adult indications for cochlear implants. Cochlear implants are indicated for treatment of adults with moderate sloping to profound hearing loss. Even the most advanced or best-fit hearing aids may not be enough. In fact, Balkany et. al showed that 20% of hearing aid users are struggling.³ This population may still receive benefit from cochlear implants. Cochlear implants provide an alternative for patients who want to improve their hearing health instead of continuing to struggle with hearing aids or waiting to progress to deafness. For patients who score less than 40% on open-set word tests, there is a high likelihood they will benefit from a CI.⁴

Cochlear implants can improve quality of life and overall health of recipients. Better hearing with a CI can increase a patient’s overall quality of life, allowing them to regain confidence in social situations. In 19 clinical studies that measured quality of life for adults after cochlear implantation, all reported a significant improvement.⁵ Hearing health with a cochlear implant could also lead to better overall health. For patients with severe to profound hearing loss, cochlear implantation has been associated with reduced anxiety and depression and improved overall health.⁶

For seniors, considering cochlear implantation treatment for hearing loss is especially important. As we start to better understand the link between disabling hearing loss and cognitive decline, social isolation and depression, there is growing evidence of the superior outcomes of cochlear implants over hearing aids for people with severe hearing loss (>70dB).⁷ Cochlear implants may also slow age-related cognitive decline with improvements seen in verbal memory after surgery.⁸

“A lot of people ignore hearing loss because it’s such a slow and insidious process as we age. Even if people feel they are not affected, we are showing that it may well be a more serious problem.”
– Frank Lin, M.D.

For more details on early intervention and cochlear implantation, please download the Don’t Wait: Health Benefits of Earlier Implantation brochure.

Resources:

1. Data source: World Health Organization, www.who.it/deafness/en/
2. Derinsu U, Yüksel M, Geçici CR, Çiprut A, Akdeniz E. Effects of residual speech and auditory deprivation on speech perception of adult cochlear implant recipients.
3. Balkany et al (2007) Nucleus Freedom North American clinical trial. Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg, 136:757-762
4. Gubbels et al (2016) Can routine office-based audiometry predict cochlear implant evaluation results? Laryngoscope, 127:216-222.
5. Gaylor, BA. Raman, G. Chung, M. Cochlear Implantation in Adults. JAMA Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2018 Mar;139(3):265-72.
6. Manrique-Huarte R et al (2016) Treatment for Hearing Loss Among the Elderly: Auditory outcomes and impact on quality of life. Audiology Neurotology, 21 Suppl 1:29-25.
7. Hoppe U, Hocke T, Hast A, Hornung J. [Longterm Results of a Screening Procedure for Adult Cochlear Implant Candidates]. Laryngo- Rhino- Otologie [serial on the Internet]. (2017, Apr), [cited July 4, 2018]; 96(4): 234-238.
8. Cosetti MK (2016) Neurocognitive Testing and Cochlear Implantation: Insights into performance in older adults. Clin Interv Aging, 11:603-13.