Upgrade to Nucleus ® 6 in Previous Generation Cochlear™ Sound Processor Recipients

• Published in: Journal of the American Academy of Audiology Vol. 29; no. 9; p. 802
• Main Authors: Biever, Allison, Gilden, Jan, Zwolan, Teresa, Mears, Megan, Beiter, Anne
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 01.10.2018
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Cochlear Implants; Hearing Loss, Sensorineural - surgery; Humans; Middle Aged; Patient Satisfaction; Prospective Studies; Prosthesis Design; Young Adult
• ISSN: 2157-3107
• DOI: 10.3766/jaaa.17016

The Nucleus 6 sound processor is now compatible with the Nucleus 22 (CI22M)-Cochlear's first generation cochlear implant. The Nucleus 6 offers three new signal processing algorithms that purportedly facilitate improved hearing in background noise. These studies were designed to evaluate listening performance and user satisfaction with the Nucleus 6 sound processor. The research design was a prospective, single-participant, repeated measures design. A group of 80 participants implanted with various Nucleus internal implant devices (CI22M, CI24M, Freedom CI24RE, CI422, and CI512) were recruited from a total of six North American sites. Participants had their external sound processor upgraded to the Nucleus 6 sound processor. Final speech perception testing in noise and subjective questionnaires were completed after four or 12 weeks of take-home use with the Nucleus 6. Speech perception testing in noise showed significant improvement and participants reported increased satisfaction with the Nucleus 6. These studies demonstrated the benefit of the new algorithms in the Nucleus 6 over previous generations of sound processors.