Science Spotlight: Electrode Insertion and Positioning

By guest author: Natasha McDougald

Cochlear’s Baha® 5 Sound Processor portfolio and Nucleus® 7 Sound Processor were the first sound processors to integrate Made for iPhone (MFi) technology.  This allows recipients to stream phone calls, music and media directly from their compatible Apple® device to their sound processor.

Cochlear Sound Processors Capable of MFi:

• Cochlear Baha 5 Sound Processor Portfolio
• Cochlear Nucleus 7 Sound Processor

True Wireless™ allows streaming from a wireless accessory directly to a patient’s sound processor.  True Wireless streaming enables patients to hear their best in noisy listening environments when using the Mini Microphone.^1,2

Cochlear sound processors that are capable of True Wireless are:

• Cochlear Baha 5 Sound Processor Portfolio
• Cochlear Nucleus 7 Sound Processor
• Cochlear Kanso® Sound Processor
• Cochlear Nucleus® 6 Sound Processors

About our guest author:

Natasha has worked at Cochlear Americas for almost 7 years partnering with clinicians and surgeons at the University of Miami, UCSF, Stanford, UC Davis and UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital of Oakland to bring cochlear implants to pediatric and adult patients.  Extremely passionate, Natasha is professionally and personally invested in the implantable hearing industry and strives to forward the cause of those affected by hearing loss.  She has presented numerous talks and courses on hearing loss, multiple disabilities, advocating skills and cochlear implantation to audiences in the medical-technology, educational, special needs and family support sectors.

1. Wolfe J, Morais M, Schafer E. Improving hearing performance for cochlear implant recipients with use of a digital, wireless, remote-microphone, audio-streaming accessory. J Am Acad Audiol. 2015 Jun;26(6):532-9.
2. Hoffmann J, Andersson J, Agat T, Hedin A, Flynn MC. Hearing benefits of the Cochlear™ Wireless Mini Microphone for Cochlear Baha 4 Sound Processors. Sweden: Cochlear Bone Anchored Solutions; 2014. E83101.

The Cochlear Nucleus 7 Sound Processor is compatible with iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. For compatibility information visit www.cochlear.com/compatibility

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

©2018. 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.

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.