How do we select which brand of cochlear implant?

Cochlear Implants
#1

Hi I live in Ontario, I am 70 years old and just qualified for a cochlear implant for my left ear. The reason is that I have meniers.

My hearing is constantly in flux. Volume, tone and clarity change, daily, hourly, even minutely.
Word recognition in my left ear is poor as it sounds distorted, like a broken speaker.

There are three cochlear implants available to me. MED-EL, advance bionics cochlear corporation. The surgeon seemed to favour medel because he said something about they have different sizes compared to advanced bionic which only has one size.

Unlike hearing aids, we are not able to try these out. And select which cochlear implant sounds the best for me.

My question is how do we select which brand of cochlear implant? Of the three Which one sounds more natural ?
Which of the three gives better word recognition?
Which of the three works well with the oticon hearing aid that I will be using in my right ear?
Which of the three works with hearing aid apps to control both hearing aid and cochlear implant at the same time?

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#2

This comment needs to be explained better or it is just incorrect.
All three brands of CI are good. Each has little differences that might be important to you.

From reading many experiences from many CI people all three are basically the same.

All three the same.

This i believe the MedEl would be best but you have to have an intermediate device with you to use it. This you can also do with the other brands with an intermediate device. AB is hand in hand with Phonak and Cochlear is hand in hand with Resound. Both of these do not need an intermediate device to use compatible phones.

I know AB does this with one app and Cochlear does it with one app in the USA.

MedEl and Cochlear both have off the ear and on the ear processors. AB only has the on the ear processor, no off the ear.

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#3

I agree with @Raudrive and his analysis of your questions. The only thing I can add is :-

All 3 companies you can get the same result. Sometimes WRS can depend upon how much rehab you do or don’t do. IMO rehab is very important to your progress.

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#4

tony:
i just had my external part installed on left ear tuesday, 8/13. i chose AD as they also made the hearing aid i wear. It took the AuD two minutes to link both devices. both devices also use bluetooth so I can link my phone. good luck
scott

#5

Yes my concern is that they give you a marvel hearing aid for my other ear. It’s so outdated. My right ear needs a hearing aid. I don’t understand why they don’t give you the latest phonack hearing aids. Basically I would be improving my left ear with ci. And my right ear would be compromised with a hearing aid that is many generations behind the current and up to date models

Phonak Naida L50-SP - programming issues
#6

I recommend reading my two posts:

And:

#7

@Tony3 that’s not so in my case. I have a N8 CI and an extremely old platform from Resound - an
Enzo 3D and it’s only a few months old. It’s level of technology is the lowest available in the Enzo 3D line. I think it’s level 5.

In bimodal hearing I hear perfectly well. I stream, answer the phone and communicate well and participate in meetings. So I don’t agree with your comment you need the best top level technology available, that’s just not correct. If you look at my audiogram you will see how severe profound my L ear is and I do well with this hearing aid.

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#8

Rehab is also very important but it also depends on how well your brain hears as well.

My friends (twins) have AB Naida Marvel plus a Naida Link Aid and they have to lipread and use sign as their brains don’t hear very well.

They were both re-implanted and it’s made no difference what so ever. Their inside implant was the first generation AB and now they have a much better internal implant but they still don’t hear very well.

#9

I wore Phonak aids exclusively before going CI. My decision to go with Cochlear was very simple, my surgeon said they have the best support hands down where I live.
Which brand has the best support where you live?
Is your current Phonak compatible with the AB processor? It takes a special Phonak aid to be compatible. This might be an expense you had not expected.

All three CI brands work equally well. The CI evaluation should clear the air for your ability to use one properly with good rehabilitation. There will always be random cases the candidate does not do as well as expected but typically most candidates do much better than expected as far as word understanding goes. CI has changed my life for the better in so many ways.

Good luck with your decision.

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#10

I would go with cochlear they are the absolute leader in this cathegory

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#11

purely speculative, world wide Cochlear has what is it 60% market share. Even big companies like demand couldn’t sucessfully compete with them. It makes sense as part as the divesting strategy
they could make Oticon hearing aids compatible with their CI (time will tell)

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#12

That would be very nice. Cochlear did buy out the Oticon CI business. I don’t know how that could tie to Oticon hearing aids but it sure might. Bimodal Cochlear users would have two compatible hearing aid choices. A great idea.

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#13

Oticon do have a strong desire to increase share of market in the pediatric segment.

having an arrangement with cochlear do make sense as part of an agreement for sale.

that could explain why, they have delay so much @ power instruments.

Time will tell

#14

I am planning to get CI.

Currently inclined to Advanced Bionics due to Phonak’s reputation.

However, Kenso 2 and Rando 3, like sound processors, are really appealing due to the comfort of wear.

What should I do? I see AB’s maximum simulation rate is 83000 PPS while Cochlear has 32000 PPS and MED-EL has 51000 PPS.

PPS rate is the number of updates per second the implant is capable of.

Channel-wise, it is 16, 22, and 12, respectively. On that - Electrodes and Channels | cochlear implant HELP

#15

Don’t just rely on Phonaks reputation. AB has had several recalls of internal parts. Where the recipient had to go through another procedure to be reimplanted.

Cochlear has the greater market share and are more reliable devices.

Do your research on each company.
Speak to the company representatives.
Talk to your audiologist, what one does she/he recommend.
Find a Cochlear audiologist near you talk to them, and arrange an evaluation for yourself.
Think about your work life, which type of device would be more suitable on or off the ear.
Think about how far you have to travel for mappings? Which company is the closest audiologist to where you live or work. A Ci audiologist is different to a HA audiologist.

Good luck.

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#16

@Dipak_P, what @Deaf_piper has written is absolutely true. Despite my tendency to AB now, in 2013, when I had CI surgery, my place had no support from that company, so I got a Cochlear company implant.I don’t regret it, except maybe that I couldn’t get it earlier.

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#17

The 3 brands all can produce great results if you work at the rehab. There might be some differences I’m don’t know about when it comes to Meniers. Only your surgeon and audi can address how that part will effect the choice.

Reading https://cochlearimplanthelp.com/ helped me a lot when I was deciding. It is an impartial source of info. I also contacted the reps from Cochlear America and AB. You can also join each brand’s facebook group and ask questions.

I choose Advanced Bionics partly for the seamless integration with the Link HA, bluetooth without a device and the MRI compatible internal magnet. There is a replaceable battery compartment for emergencies. I also liked that if my second ear gets worse, I can try using a link HA before I jump to a second CI.

I just passed my 1 year anniversary of being activated and have no complaints. My word discrimination at one month with both CI and HA went from 36% to 100%. With just the CI, it went from 16% to 80%.

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#18

@db4art, do you hear when bilateral features kick in?

I mean the ones described in my post here:

#19

I am bimodal with the CI in my right ear and the Link HA in my left. I’m not bilateral which means a CI in both ears. So I’m not sure what you’re asking.

The CI and HA work together perfectly. Speech and sounds seem as if they are coming from a single source in my brain. Neither is as good alone as they are together.

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#20

I know about the differences between bilateral and bimodal (see and click my nickname). I simply used brachylogy due to the subheading in that article:

Screenshot_20240805_173800_Chrome
Screenshot_20240805_173800_Chrome1439Ă—3726 348 KB

Source:

However, thank for describing your experiences with Naida Link with CI.