Effects of Hearing Aid Settings for Electric-Acoustic Stimulation

2014 ◽  
Vol 25 (02) ◽  
pp. 133-140 ◽  
Author(s):  
Margaret T. Dillon ◽  
Emily Buss ◽  
Harold C. Pillsbury ◽  
Oliver F. Adunka ◽  
Craig A. Buchman ◽  
...  

Background: Cochlear implant (CI) recipients with postoperative hearing preservation may utilize an ipsilateral bimodal listening condition known as electric-acoustic stimulation (EAS). Studies on EAS have reported significant improvements in speech perception abilities over CI-alone listening conditions. Adjustments to the hearing aid (HA) settings to match prescription targets routinely used in the programming of conventional amplification may provide additional gains in speech perception abilities. Purpose: Investigate the difference in users’ speech perception scores when listening with the recommended HA settings for EAS patients versus HA settings adjusted to match National Acoustic Laboratories’ nonlinear fitting procedure version 1 (NAL-NL1) targets. Research Design: Prospective analysis of the influence of HA settings. Study Sample: Nine EAS recipients with greater than 12 mo of listening experience with the DUET speech processor. Intervention: Subjects were tested in the EAS listening condition with two different HA setting configurations. Speech perception materials included consonant-nucleus-consonant (CNC) words in quiet, AzBio sentences in 10-talker speech babble at a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of +10, and the Bamford-Kowal-Bench sentences in noise (BKB-SIN) test. Data Collection and Analysis: The speech perception performance on each test measure was compared between the two HA configurations. Results: Subjects experienced a significant improvement in speech perception abilities with the HA settings adjusted to match NAL-NL1 targets over the recommended HA settings. Conclusions: EAS subjects have been shown to experience improvements in speech perception abilities when listening to ipsilateral combined stimulation. This population’s abilities may be underestimated with current HA settings. Tailoring the HA output to the patient’s individual hearing loss offers improved outcomes on speech perception measures.

2015 ◽  
Vol 2015 ◽  
pp. 1-4 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dayse Távora-Vieira ◽  
Stuart Miller

People with residual hearing in the low frequencies and profound hearing loss in the high frequencies often do not benefit from acoustic amplification. Focus on this group of patients led to the development of the combined electric-acoustic stimulation (EAS) systems which can provide users with greater speech perception than can cochlear implant (CI) alone or acoustic hearing alone. EAS users wear a combined speech processor that incorporates a behind-the-ear audio processor that sits with an ear hook on the user’s pinna and a hearing aid, which sits in the ear canal. However, with the introduction of single-unit processors, which combine the audio processor, coil, control unit, and battery pack into a single device that sits on the implant site, therefore off the ear, simultaneous electric (CI) and acoustic (hearing aid) stimulation is not currently possible with a combined processor. To achieve EAS with a single-unit processor, a CI user must also wear a hearing aid. This study seeks to determine if experienced users of combined EAS speech processors could also benefit from using a combination of a single-unit speech processor that sits off the ear and an in-the-ear hearing aid.


2013 ◽  
pp. n/a-n/a ◽  
Author(s):  
Oliver F. Adunka ◽  
Margaret T. Dillon ◽  
Marcia C. Adunka ◽  
English R. King ◽  
Harold C. Pillsbury ◽  
...  

2019 ◽  
Vol 277 (2) ◽  
pp. 367-375 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matti Iso-Mustajärvi ◽  
Sini Sipari ◽  
Heikki Löppönen ◽  
Aarno Dietz

Abstract Purpose To evaluate the insertion results and hearing preservation of a novel slim modiolar electrode (SME) in patients with residual hearing. Methods We retrospectively collected the data from the medical files of 17 patients (18 ears) implanted with a SME. All patients had functional low frequency hearing (PTA (0.125–0.5 kHz) ≤ 80 dB HL). The insertion results were re-examined from the postoperative cone-beam computed tomography scans. Postoperative thresholds were obtained at the time of switch-on of the sound processors (mean 43 days) and at latest follow-up (mean 582 days). The speech recognition in noise was measured with the Finnish matrix sentence test preoperatively and at follow-up. Results The mean insertion depth angle (IDA) was 395°. Neither scala dislocations nor tip fold over were detected. There were no total hearing losses. Functional low-frequency hearing was preserved in 15/18 (83%) ears at switch-on and in 14/17 (82%) ears at follow-up. According to HEARRING classification, 55% (10/18) had complete HP at switch-on and 41% (7/17) still at follow-up. Thirteen patients (14 ears) were initially fitted with electric–acoustic stimulation and seven patients (8 ears) continued to use it after follow-up. Conclusions The preliminary hearing preservation results with the SME were more favorable than reported for other perimodiolar electrodes. The results show that the array may also be feasible for electro-acoustic stimulation; it is beneficial in that it provides adequate cochlear coverage for pure electrical stimulation in the event of postoperative or progressive hearing loss.


2006 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-56 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wolfgang K. Gstoettner ◽  
Silke Helbig ◽  
Nicola Maier ◽  
Jan Kiefer ◽  
Andreas Radeloff ◽  
...  

2014 ◽  
Vol 135 (2) ◽  
pp. 147-153 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hideaki Moteki ◽  
Ryosuke Kitoh ◽  
Keita Tsukada ◽  
Satoshi Iwasaki ◽  
Shin-Ya Nishio ◽  
...  

2014 ◽  
Vol 134 (7) ◽  
pp. 717-727 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shin-Ichi Usami ◽  
Hideaki Moteki ◽  
Keita Tsukada ◽  
Maiko Miyagawa ◽  
Shin-Ya Nishio ◽  
...  

2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. 1-6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Priscila Carvalho Miranda ◽  
André Luiz Lopes Sampaio ◽  
Rafaela Aquino Fernandes Lopes ◽  
Alessandra Ramos Venosa ◽  
Carlos Augusto Costa Pires de Oliveira

In the past, it was thought that hearing loss patients with residual low-frequency hearing would not be good candidates for cochlear implantation since insertion was expected to induce inner ear trauma. Recent advances in electrode design and surgical techniques have made the preservation of residual low-frequency hearing achievable and desirable. The importance of preserving residual low-frequency hearing cannot be underestimated in light of the added benefit of hearing in noisy atmospheres and in music quality. The concept of electrical and acoustic stimulation involves electrically stimulating the nonfunctional, high-frequency region of the cochlea with a cochlear implant and applying a hearing aid in the low-frequency range. The principle of preserving low-frequency hearing by a “soft surgery” cochlear implantation could also be useful to the population of children who might profit from regenerative hair cell therapy in the future. Main aspects of low-frequency hearing preservation surgery are discussed in this review: its brief history, electrode design, principles and advantages of electric-acoustic stimulation, surgical technique, and further implications of this new treatment possibility for hearing impaired patients.


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