PRELIMINARY RESULTS USING THE “FITTING TO OUTCOMES EXPERT” (FOX®)

Govaerts PJ (1), Buechner A (2), Nunn T (3), Brendel M (2,4), Vaerenberg B (1), Ceulaer GD (1), Daemers K (1), Jiang D (3), Lenarz T (2), O’Connor AF (3).

(1) The Eargroup, Antwerp, Belgium; (2) Medical University of Hannover, Department of Otolaryngology, Hannover, Germany; (3) Guy's and St. Thomas' Hospitals; (4) Advanced Bionics GmbH, Hannover, Germany.

Background: Cochlear implant programming requires specific skills and competences.  Routine fitting procedures may sometimes be so laborious that no time is left for in depth performance assessment, let alone for feedback on such an assessment to modify the fitting.  To overcome this issue, a software program FOX® was developed at the Eargroup, to automate the fitting and turn it into a simple, rapid, expert driven and outcome based procedure. The core is a feed-back engine to which both audiological results and existing program parameters are fed and which delivers modifications to the program. 

Aims: To pilot the use of FOX outside of the Eargroup and to get feedback both on system and on practical use.

Methods:  Ten adult subjects using the HiResolution® Bionic Ear® system were included at Guy’s and St. Thomas’ hospitals as well as the Medical University of Hannover (MHH). A baseline test was conducted with the subjects’ clinical programme, using a sentence test presented in noise. The FOX system was driven and used to create a new programme. After ensuring that the new programme supported detection of a practical range of sound intensities, the participants were encouraged to acclimatize for about 15 minutes. The speech test was then applied again. The subjects were allowed to choose between clinical programme and FOX programme, taking both home for a more extensive trial.

Results: The outcomes of the tests at both clinics will be presented, including subjective feedback obtained through Sound Quality Questionnaires. Clinician comments on the practical use of FOX will also be reported.

Conclusions: The introduction of fully automatic and outcome driven expert software has the potential to substantially reduce fitting time and to provide good fitting quality.  Such an approach will allow audiologists to allocate more time to the more difficult subjects and to further develop expertise.

E-mail: martinab@advancedbionics.de