The purpose of this study is to evaluate the benefit of bilateral implantation with bone-anchored hearing systems (BAHS), in terms of sound localization abilities, as well as auditory working memory. The hypothesis is that the use of two BAHS (bilateral condition) will not only improve localization abilities, but it will also increase the ability to retain words in working memory, compared to performance with only one BAHS (unilateral condition).
The patients included in this study are adult patients with a bilateral conductive or mixed hearing loss, that are already bilaterally implanted with two percutaneous bone-anchored devices (BAHS). The study consists of two visits. At visit 1, the patients are fitted unilaterally and bilaterally with the investigational device (Ponto 3 SuperPower). After fitting, the patients perform a test of spatial resolution (minimum audible angle, visit 1) and an auditory working memory test (visit 2). These two outcome measures are conducted in the laboratory using the Ponto 3 SuperPower unilaterally and bilaterally. Additionally, the patients fill in a questionnaire (SSQ12) to report perceived performance in their everyday life with their own devices. This is a post market study and all products used are CE marked and used in clinical practice worldwide.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
NA
Purpose
BASIC_SCIENCE
Masking
NONE
Enrollment
26
Bone-anchored hearing systems (BAHS) use the body's natural ability to transfer sound through bone conduction. The sound processor picks up sound and converts it into vibrations that are transferred through the skull bone to the inner ear (cochlea). Thus, for patients with conductive or mixed hearing losses, patients with lasting hearing loss following a middle ear disease or malformations (such as microtia), the vibrations are bypassing the conductive problem in the ear canal or middle ear. The intervention in this study is audiologically fitting two bone-anchored sound processors (Ponto 3 SuperPower) to patients that are already bilaterally implanted with abutments.
Audiology Department, Nuffield House, University Hospitals Birmingham
Birmingham, West Midlands, United Kingdom
Minimum Audible Angle test
Minimum angle at which noise bursts are accurately localized (Right/Left) in the unilateral and bilateral conditions
Time frame: 4 months
SWIR test
Percentage of recalled words in the unilateral and bilateral conditions
Time frame: 4 months
SSQ12
Subjective performance as measured by Speech, Spatial and Qualities of Hearing questionnaire (SSQ); 12 items with a scale from 0-10 where 0 represents "Not at all" and 10 represents "Perfect"
Time frame: 4 months
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