May 2008: Sound Partnership Newsletter

For more than 25 years, Cochlear has delivered unsurpassed hearing performance with the most reliable implant devices on the market.

Dear Colleague,
The spring meetings are behind us, and it was great to see you at AAA and CI2008.  Please find below the May 2008 clinic newsletter from Cochlear.

Technology Spotlight

Hybrid Clinical Trials - Cochlear is happy to announce that 16 clinics in the United States are participating in new clinical trials of the Nucleus® Freedom™ Hybrid™ devices.  For these studies, six of the participating clinics are implanting a Hybrid device with a short electrode array, while the other ten sites are implanting a Hybrid device with a longer electrode array.  The intent of these studies is to further explore the application of electric-acoustic hearing, not just for speech understanding in quiet and in noise, but also for aspects related to music perception/appreciation and hearing in spatially separated noise.

Two distinct populations of patients have been shown to benefit from electrical stimulation.  Recipients of the Nucleus Hybrid cochlear implant, who have significant levels of low-frequency hearing (but very poor high-frequency hearing) may benefit from electrical stimulation delivered by a shorter electrode.

Experience over many years has shown that patients with severe and profound hearing loss, for low and high frequencies, benefit from electrical stimulation delivered by more "traditional" cochlear implants.

Taken together, this knowledge demonstrates that cochlear implant technology can be applied across a broader range of hearing loss than previously thought.  The overall goal of studies at Cochlear, such as these, is to better serve a broader population of individuals with hearing impairment who could benefit from CI technology.

Recent Research

In our April newsletter we included a summary of the important Fraysse paper, in this month’s newsletter we are including a summary of the Adunka and Buchman paper, which surveyed the cochlear implant surgeons on their technique.  We hope you find the summary useful.  Cochlear is also currently surveying North American cochlear implant surgeons to gather their views on surgical technique and to see what percentage of North American surgeons utilize the Advance Off-Stylet™ technique.

Summary

Oliver F. Adunka, MD; Craig A. Buchman MD.  Scala Tympani Cochleostomy I: Results of a Survey Laryngoscope, 117:2187–2194, 2007.

Objective of the study

To assess current surgical techniques for scala tympani cochlear implantation among North American surgeons.

Study design

A survey was distributed at the 2006 William House Cochlear Implant Study Group in Toronto, Canada. Only surgeons were asked to fill out the survey:

• The survey was anonymous
• Questions surveyed the number of devices implanted per year, drill type, burr size, and how each surgeon typically drills the facial recess and lastly,
• Three intraoperative images depicting various views through the facial recess onto the promontory were presented and surgeons asked to identify the location they would drill the cochleostomy on each image

Key findings in the paper include

• More than 60% of the respondents performed more than 20 implants per year so it was an experienced group.
• Surgical experience correlated to cochleostomy location and final size of the cochleostomy. Less experienced surgeons tended to place the cochleostomy superior to the round window (away from scala tympani) and with a larger cochleostomy.
• The survey demonstrated marked variations in surgical techniques for scala tympani cochlear implantation.
• Authors seek “aggressive dissemination of such information… …to make surgeons aware of these important techniques.”
• This quote says it all:

“Overall, uniformity in scala tympani cochleostomy placement is lacking. This probably has resulted from the general feeling that precise location within the cochlea is unnecessary. Recent studies now suggest that electrode location should be within the scala tympani, and that dislocations or placement of the array into the scala vestibuli may result in worse outcomes [references to Skinner et al. 2007 and Aschendorff et al. 2007].”

Raise Your Hand 2 Update

In honor of Better Hearing and Speech Month, our public awareness and education campaign on hearing loss, "Raise Your Hand 2" is now underway!  This campaign encourages people to take responsibility and "raise their hand" for their or their loved one's hearing health.  It takes a very personal approach, using the important insight that hearing has on special life moments.

As part of "Raise Your Hand 2", survey results are now available for you to review.  The survey results reinforce the very poignant effects hearing loss can have on special moments and memories.

Kassie DePaiva, of "One Life to Live" has joined Cochlear in the "Raise Your Hand 2" campaign.  Kassie's son J.Q. was born deaf, but now hears with the help of two cochlear implants.  Kassie will share her experiences and discuss the importance of hearing health throughout the month of May.

Visit www.raiseyourhand.info to read Kassie DePaiva's interview, see the survey results and more!

Please contact your customer care representative if you have any questions.

Thank you for reading and for your continued support.

Cochlear