Evaluation of a wireless remote microphone in bimodal cochlear implant recipients.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the benefit of a wireless remote microphone (MM) for speech recognition in noise in bimodal adult cochlear implant (CI) users both in a test setting and in daily life. DESIGN This prospective study measured speech reception thresholds in noise in a repeated measures design with factors including bimodal hearing and MM use. The participants also had a 3-week trial period at home with the MM. STUDY SAMPLE Thirteen post-lingually deafened adult bimodal CI users. RESULTS A significant improvement in SRT of 5.4 dB was found between the use of the CI with the MM and the use of the CI without the MM. By also pairing the MM to the hearing aid (HA) another improvement in SRT of 2.2 dB was found compared to the situation with the MM paired to the CI alone. In daily life, participants reported better speech perception for various challenging listening situations, when using the MM in the bimodal condition. CONCLUSION There is a clear advantage of bimodal listening (CI and HA) compared to CI alone when applying advanced wireless remote microphone techniques to improve speech understanding in adult bimodal CI users.