RESULTS OF THE EUROPEAN ADULT MULTI-CENTRE HIRES® 120 STUDY

Buechner A (1), Lenarz T (1), Boermans PP (2), Frijns J (2), Mancini P (3), Filipo R (3), Fielden C (4), Cooper H (4), Eklof M (5), Freijd A (5), Lombaard S (6), Meerton L (6), Pickerill M (7), Vanat Z (7), Wesarg T (8), Aschendorff A (8), Kienast B (9), Arnold L (9), Boyle P (9), Meyer B (10), Sterkers O (11), Mueller-Deile J (12), Ambrosch P (12), Helbig S (13) , Frachet B (14), Gallego S (15), Truy E (15), Jeffs E (16), Morant A (17), Marco J (17).

(1) Medical University of Hannover, Germany; (2) Leids Universitair Medisch Centrum. The Netherlands; (3) University of Rome "La Sapienza", Italy; (4) Birmingham Adult Cochlear Implant Programme, UK; (5) Karolinska University Hospital, Huddinge, Sweden; (6)RNTNE Cochlear Implant Programme London, UK; (7) The Emmeline Centre, UK; (8) Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg, Germany; (9) Advanced Bionics, France; (10) St Antoine, France; (11) Beaujon Clichy, France; (12) Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel, Germany; (13) Klinikum d J W Goethe Universität, Frankfurt, Germany; (14) Avicenne, France; (15) Hopital Edouard Herriot, France; (16) Nottingham Cochlear Implant Program, UK; (17) Hospital Clinico Universitario, Spain.

Background: A new sound coding strategy called HiRes® 120 was commercially released by Advanced Bionics® in 2006. This sound coding strategy gives cochlear implant users access to virtual channels by steering current between two adjacent electrodes.

Aims: The goals of this study were to: 1) Investigate the efficacy of HiRes 120 vs. the previous generation HiRes coding strategy; 2) Determine the benefit of the Harmony® sound processor compared to earlier processor models; 3) Identify variables to predict users who might benefit from HiRes 120.

Methods: The multi-centre study consisted of several different protocol options evaluating the benefit of HiRes 120 with the Harmony or PlatinumTM sound processors. Experienced users, as well as users with no previous cochlear implant experience, were evaluated.

Results: Results from 65 users will be reported. Performance results are significantly better with HiRes 120 (p=0.0204) compared to HiRes. Subjective sound quality questionnaire data show a significant improvement in the categories ‘immunity to noise’ (p=0.037) with HiRes 120. A significant benefit for HiRes 120 in music was reported for sound quality (p=0.048) and sound pleasantness (p=0.0196) compared to HiRes. The Harmony processor was rated highly, especially with respect to increased battery life.  86.4% of subjects preferred HiRes 120 when using the Harmony (N=22).

Conclusions: The HiRes 120 strategy has proven to offer benefit in challenging, real life situations such as noisy environments or with music. The behind-the-ear Harmony processor is reliable, comfortable and has a substantial battery life improvement compared to the previous Auria® processor.

E-mail: laurea@abionics.fr