Study Comparing Two Cochlear Implant Fitting Methods With and Without Synchronization to Improve Sound Localization in Adults with Bilateral Hearing Loss

What this Trial Is About

Researchers are studying adults with bilateral sensorineural hearing loss who have recently received cochlear implants. The trial compares two fitting strategies for bimodal hearing, which combines a cochlear implant CI in one ear and a hearing aid HA in the other. The study aims to evaluate whether synchronizing the sound processing between the CI and HA improves the accuracy of sound localization, speech perception in noise, and auditory skills. Participants will experience two different fitting strategies in a randomized crossover design. One strategy ABFS synchronizes the processing times of the cochlear implant and the hearing aid, while the other ABFnoS does not synchronize them. Each participant will use one strategy for 6 weeks and then switch to the other for another 6 weeks. This allows direct comparison of the two approaches within the same individuals. During the study, participants will be assessed at 6 weeks and 12 weeks after activation of their cochlear implant. Researchers will measure how accurately participants can localize sounds, the bias in sound localization, their speech recognition in noisy environments, and the auditory experiences reported by the participants. This trial is conducted with careful monitoring to evaluate these outcomes over the 12-week period following implant activation.

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