Osia 2I activated

Bone Conduction Hearing Aids
#1

My Osia 2I was activated this past Thursday, January 11. I used the device 10.5 hours yesterday and went to bed worn out. The Osia is performing beyond my expectations as a hearing aid, but is falling short of expectations as a Made For IPhone device.

We had expected the hearing from my bad ear side (left) to be transported to the right ear via the bones in my head. But, it appears that the left (non hearing ear) is actually receiving the vibration from the implant and is able to interpret it into recognizable sound.

I gave it its hardest test to date by going to Walmart this afternoon. I not only was able to understand people on my right and in front of me, I understood people behind me and on my left. This understanding came with more background noise than usual because the store was packed.

As a hearing aid I couldn’t ask for more. However, as an output for my iPhone, it is do far failing miserably. The sound from my phone sounds unnaturally tinny, like it’s coming from one of those $5 drug store AM radios my dad gave me when I was a kid. To make it worse, I can’t adjust the volume. I hit the power button on the phone three times to call up the Osia Smart App Interface and I can see it has chosen a different program than usual, but I cannot get any of the buttons to respond. Once I hang up the phone, that program disappears and I can’t find it anywhere. On the programs that I can find, I can adjust the equalizer settings, but without knowing what the program is, I’m flailing around in the dark.

I have a follow up scheduled in 2 weeks. I will add this to the list of problems and questions for him to answer when I go see him.

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#2

It sure sounds like you are doing great. Especially for just getting activated.
Congratulations

The phone stuff will probably be a simple programming thing or maybe a little education for you??

Make a list of all the good things and bad things to share with your audiologist. I bet you will get some help.

Thanks for the update.

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#3

By chance I literally just came back from having my hearing tested. I have the Osia but also use trad Has for playing music. When I first got the Osia, very early after its release, an audi at Kaiser tested me thoroughly because I was her first user. She tested me with trad aids, and with Osia. (I 'd had a recent test without aids.)She showed me the charts. With the Osia, my worse by far right ear with ski slope loss showed very near normal levels across teh entire graph…!!! I was delighted. She tried to remain non challante but clearly was amazed as well. The damn thing is brilliant for speech. I mean, fantastic! I only have it on my right side but some of the sound migrates to my left. I use the Osia alone for everyday activities. At work I use the Osia alone, and it’s way good enough.
Anyway, just an hour ago I had my hearing tested again after several years by a different audiologist at Kaiser and she found that my bone conduction hearing was terrific with the Osia implant; again, very close to normal across the decibel spectrum. She was wowed… (The air conduction in my right ear had deteriorated some)
My speech recognition with the Osia is very very good; same with speech in noise.
If your cochlear nerve is good, and it sounds like it is, this should really work out for you. Give it a little time. And go listen to the birds!

p.s. it may take some tweaking to really dial in Osia, just like with traditional aids.

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#4

@TexOkie you are off to a flying start, congratulations.
What’s the old proverb, “all good things come to those that wait”! It will just take some more time for your brain to learn how to interpret all these new signals.
Brain fatigue is so very real, your trying hard to understand all what’s going on around you. Take it easy and give yourself a break at midday. Relax, have lunch, in peace and quiet. Good luck on your new journey.

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#5

I had my second follow up this afternoon with another Audiologist. My regular audiologist wasn’t available.

Everything is going well with the Osia except for the streaming and operation of the iPhone app. I believe that both problems are caused by excess operator headspace and will eventually resolve as the fool behind the controls figures out how it works.

I have still not had any luck with the TV Streamer, so the audiologist unpaired it and then repaired it again. This time however, he had me turn off the resident Bluetooth transmitter in the phone. How he got it to pair with the phone transmitter turned off, I’ll [quote=“TexOkie, post:1, topic:84307, full:true”]
My Osia 2I was activated this past Thursday, January 11. I used the device 10.5 hours yesterday and went to bed worn out. The Osia is performing beyond my expectations as a hearing aid, but is falling short of expectations as a Made For IPhone device.

We had expected the hearing from my bad ear side (left) to be transported to the right ear via the bones in my head. But, it appears that the left (non hearing ear) is actually receiving the vibration from the implant and is able to interpret it into recognizable sound.

I gave it its hardest test to date by going to Walmart this afternoon. I not only was able to understand people on my right and in front of me, I understood people behind me and on my left. This understanding came with more background noise than usual because the store was packed.

As a hearing aid I couldn’t ask for more. However, as an output for my iPhone, it is do far failing miserably. The sound from my phone sounds unnaturally tinny, like it’s coming from one of those $5 drug store AM radios my dad gave me when I was a kid. To make it worse, I can’t adjust the volume. I hit the power button on the phone three times to call up the Osia Smart App Interface and I can see it has chosen a different program than usual, but I cannot get any of the buttons to respond. Once I hang up the phone, that program disappears and I can’t find it anywhere. On the programs that I can find, I can adjust the equalizer settings, but without knowing what the program is, I’m flailing around in the dark.

I have a follow up scheduled in 2 weeks. I will add this to the list of problems and questions for him to answer when I go see him.
[/quote]

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#6

I have the Osia 2–I’m not sure what the Osia 21 is…anyway, I agree with all of the above. These aids are miraculous for those with conductive loss, and perhaps with those who have ‘mixed’ loss. For speech especially.

I have to amend my post above, I found out from an audi today that what was tested for bone conduction last week was simply the ability of my mastoid to transmit sound to the cochlear nerve, and for that to transmit sound to my brain. My implant wasn’t involved. still, when I was initially tested for the processor and implant, I scored through the roof. And my experience confirms this. I love this thing!

-just not for music. It’s not good for trebles beyond speech. Too tinny.

since I also use signia aids for music, I had to dedicate my Iphone app to one aid or the other, and I chose the Signia. I do have a hand held device for changing programs and adjusting volume for the Osia. it works with gool ol’ radio waves I believe. I have no issues with that. But I have to use the speaker phone when wearing the Osia. No streaming.

#7

The Osia 2I is the newest version to date with the main difference being the 2I can tolerate a stronger MRI. I believe they said the implant will allow for a 3 Tesla MRI. I’m not sure what the different levels of Tesla measurement mean, other than the higher the number, the stronger the magnetic field.

The way my surgeon explained it to me, I should be able to have any MRI that I might need without surgery to remove the implant. The only reason to remove the implant would be if the implant was covering up the area of interest for the MRI.

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#8

yes, this is my understanding as well.

A couple of years ago, when I got my Osia, there were already plans for an MRI compatible version. I chose to go ahead with my version. My surgeon was pretty blase about the issue, given my medical history (no MRIs so far.) He said that ‘work arounds’ were possible.

I’m glad that you got the newer, MRI friendly device! I would have too.

#9

I’ve been active with my Osia for a little over two months now. The longer I have them, the less noticeable they are. I don’t notice sound as if it’s coming through an electronic device, for the most part, sound is normal. I occasionally hear an echo distortion that I believe is feedback, which surprised me. I didn’t think it was possible for the sound from the Osia processor to reach the microphones. But, my granddaughter tells me she hears it when it feeds back. OMG, now I’m one of those little old men with whistling ears.

I still haven’t gotten the TV Streamer working, and the app on my iPhone is a mystery to me. It appears I only have micro adjustments in the volumes of the low, mid, and high frequency ranges. I also don’t seem to have a way to name each program m so I have to rely on my memory that “X” icon is the sound program for church, and “Y” is the program for inside a motor vehicle traveling down the highway.

I’ve attempted to connect with a Cochlear America Mentor, but at the time they called me back, I was in the process of admitting my wife to the hospital for what turned out to be an emergency surgery and a five day stay. I’ll have to see if they can still talk, or if I need to start that process over.

So, there has been some bad with the good, but the good far outweighs any negative experience that I’ve had so far.

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