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Comparison in New Cochlear Implanted Subjects of a Tonotopy-based Bimodal Fitting With or Without Synchronization

M

MED-EL

Status

Enrolling

Conditions

Sensorineural Hearing Loss, Bilateral

Treatments

Device: ABFS then ABFnoS (Cochlear implant)
Device: ABFnoS then ABFS (Cochlear implant)

Study type

Interventional

Funder types

Industry

Identifiers

NCT05898659
MED_EL_REG_BIMOD_Nice_study

Details and patient eligibility

About

Main objective:

For a bimodal fitting (hearing aid (HA) + cochlear implant (CI)): Comparison of a tonotopy based fitting strategy with synchronization between HA and CI (ABFS) to a tonotopy based fitting strategy without synchronization (ABFnoS) for the accuracy of sound localization.

Secondary objectives:

Comparison of ABFS to ABFnoS for the bias of sound localization. Comparison of ABFS to ABFnoS for speech perception in noise. Comparison of ABFS to ABFnoS for the auditory skills experienced by the subject.

Full description

Introduction: Cochlear implantation allows the rehabilitation of profound bilateral deafness, restoring speech perception and verbal communication when the traditional hearing aid no longer provides satisfactory hearing gain.

A cochlear implant includes an electrode array and its functioning is based on the principle of cochlear tonotopy: Each electrode encodes a frequency spectrum according to its position in the cochlea (high frequencies are assigned to the basal electrodes and low frequencies to the apical electrodes). The cochlear implant thus breaks down the frequency spectrum into a number of frequency bands via bandpass filters corresponding to the number of electrodes in the implant. During the fitting these bands can be modified by the audiologist.

MED-EL has developed a fitting strategy (ABF) that allows, from a post-operative scanner, to calculate the theoretical characteristic frequency of neurons stimulated by each electrode contact and to transmit this information to the fitting software of the CI.

Bimodal hearing refers to the use of a CI in one ear with a HA on the contralateral side.

This association allows for adults and children a better perception of speech in quiet and in noise, a better perception of music, hearing comfort, better sound quality, better localization of sound and, consequently, a better quality of life compared to unilateral CI alone. However, there is great variability in the integration process; while some bimodal users show substantial benefits, others receive little or no benefit.

This variability could be due to different processing times between CI and contralateral HA.

Recently, MED-EL (Austria) has developed a new approach to synchronize the treatment time of the CI with that of the contralateral HA via the fitting software. This new approach takes into account the different treatment times between CI and contralateral HA and allows synchronization between the 2 systems (CI and HA).

This strategy (ABFS) could therefore allow a better integration of information in bimodal hearing and in particular improve the sound localization compare to a strategy without synchronization (ABFnoS).

Main objective:

For a bimodal fitting (hearing aid (HA) + cochlear implant (CI)): Comparison of a tonotopy based fitting strategy with synchronization between HA and CI (ABFS) to a tonotopy based fitting strategy without synchronization (ABFnoS) for the accuracy of sound localization.

Secondary objectives:

Comparison of ABFS to ABFnoS for the bias of sound localization. Comparison of ABFS to ABFnoS for speech perception in noise. Comparison of ABFS to ABFnoS for the auditory skills experienced by the subject.

Plan of the study:

It is a prospective open monocentric randomized crossover study: Measures will be done on the patient at 6 weeks and 12 weeks post-activation.

Enrollment

20 estimated patients

Sex

All

Ages

18+ years old

Volunteers

No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

  • Adult patient (>= 18 years old) speaking French
  • Patient who fulfils the criteria for cochlear implantation
  • Total hearing loss for less than 5 years

Exclusion criteria

  • retro-cochlear pathology: auditory neuropathy, vestibular schwannoma
  • patient with residual hearing < 70 dB hearing level (HL) at 250 Hz and 500 Hz and < 80 dB HL at 1000 Hz on the contralateral ear

Trial design

Primary purpose

Other

Allocation

Randomized

Interventional model

Crossover Assignment

Masking

Double Blind

20 participants in 2 patient groups

ABFnoS then ABFS
Active Comparator group
Description:
Cochlear Implant with ABFnoS first during 6 weeks then with ABFS during 6 weeks
Treatment:
Device: ABFnoS then ABFS (Cochlear implant)
ABFS then ABFnoS
Active Comparator group
Description:
Cochlear Implant with ABFS first during 6 weeks then with ABFnoS during 6 weeks
Treatment:
Device: ABFS then ABFnoS (Cochlear implant)

Trial contacts and locations

1

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Central trial contact

Vincent Péan, PhD

Data sourced from clinicaltrials.gov

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