Overview

Severe to profound hearing loss affects 0,8% of the global population. For these people, a conventional hearing aid often does not provide sufficient benefit. However, these people can benefit from a cochlear implant (CI). A CI needs to be individually programmed (fitted) for each recipient. A fitting "map" is defined as a set of electrical parameters that are individually adapted to a recipient's needs to achieve optimal sound perception. At present, most CI recipients are fitted with a default frequency allocation map that doesn't take individual variability in size and shape of the cochlea into account. In this study, a fitting strategy based on the post-operative CT scan, that will allow the audiologist to set a frequency-band distribution for CI fitting that may be more closely aligned to the natural tonotopic frequency distribution of a normal hearing cochlea, will be evaluated. This study will focus on patients that are already implanted with the HEARO robotic system.

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

• Age ≥ 18 years
• Post-lingual onset of severe to profound sensory-neural hearing loss in the implanted ear(s)
• Subject implanted by Robot Assisted Cochlear Implant Surgery (RACIS)
• Subject implanted with MED-EL cochlear implant(s) with Flex28, Flex 26 or FlexSoft electrode to obtain maximum cochlear coverage
• Subject planned to receive a MED-EL SONNET 2 or RONDO 3 audio processor on the newly implanted side
• Subject is either a user with unilateral implantation, bilateral implantation or a bimodal CI user (unilateral CI user with contralateral ear adequately fitted with a hearing aid)
• Pre- operative and post-operative CT scan of the temporal bone available
• Pre-operative result of pure-tone audiometry, speech test in quiet and in noise available
• Audio processor not yet activated on the newly implanted side
• Minimum of 10 active channels can be activated
• Fluent in the language of the test centre (Dutch or French)
• Signed and dated ICF before the start of any study-specific procedure

Exclusion Criteria:

• Subject is a Single-Sided Deafness (SSD) CI user
• Subject is an Electric Acoustic Stimulation (EAS) user (with an EAS audio processor)
• Lack of compliance with any inclusion criteria
• Anything that, in the opinion of the Investigator, would place the subject at increased risk or preclude the subject's full compliance with or completion of the study