Brands of CI..

[Fragmenter]

Great post! I learned something new today!

 

[R2D2]

Welcome Mre!

Sorry that you've had such a bittersweet experience with CIs so far. I agree with you that it's important to be honest and I'm glad that you have come here with your story. I hope to see a lot more of your posts as I am interested to see how you get on with your new implant.

I have the cochlear freedom and during surgery testing last week I had some facial twitching too so they turned off a few of the electrodes that caused the issue. I was told that it wouldn't make any difference to the outcome as it can be made up for by skillful mapping.

I also know of another person who only has 8 electrodes out of 22 running for the same reason and she is doing really well with her implant.

 

[Boult]

I am not going to comment on Mre4339's post.. *getting skeptical* sorry.. If you gonna ask me why, I will not answer.. I am staying out of brand war!

 

[darkangel8603]

I have AB and is happy with it.. It works very well for me, my latest audiologly test reveal that my implanted ear is at a normal hearing level. So i am very happy with AB.. That all i can say..

 

[Mre4339]

update on freedom

Thank you R2D2,
I am doing well. Went to get mapping yesterday. All, the electrodes are still on and so far doing so good. Even though, this freedom is not sharp as advanced bionics yet. My next mapping will be in 2 weeks and a hearing test. Hopefully, I am back to where I am after the 3rd mapping.

I am sorry that you have twitching in your face. Can you ask your audiologist to do some research with the program? The programs can do wonders for you. With the advanced bionics, I had twitching to high pitches. Can you ask her or him if this is related to high pitching? if so, ask if it can be turned down or lower the power a little and still have the electrode on? Just wondering if that would work?

Hope it works out for you.

 

[Mre4339]

Brand war?

Dear Boult,
Did I mention about brand war?

I just put up the post of my experience. I did mentioned that "All of them are great but we all have to depend which is best for us individually?" Please reread my post again.

As I was taught not to say a bad comment; if there is a complimentary, say it.

Please do not reply if you are against my post. This is just a friendly experience post.

 

[Mre4339]

Ab

Dear DarkAngel,
That is wonderful that your AB is doing wonders to you. My best friend, old counselor and 6th grade teacher had Advanced Bionics. That was the reason; I got the first CI implanted after her. She still inspires me but mostly it was my decision to go for it.

Advanced Bionics are wonderful but I was sad that it did not work for me. What impressed me about Advanced Bionics that it is so powerful and sharp. I am starting to miss it but I will keep myself positive about this freedom. It is working for me so far and keeping my fingers cross to get back to where I should be.
Take care.

 

[R2D2]

Thank you R2D2,
I am doing well. Went to get mapping yesterday. All, the electrodes are still on and so far doing so good. Even though, this freedom is not sharp as advanced bionics yet. My next mapping will be in 2 weeks and a hearing test. Hopefully, I am back to where I am after the 3rd mapping.

I am sorry that you have twitching in your face. Can you ask your audiologist to do some research with the program? The programs can do wonders for you. With the advanced bionics, I had twitching to high pitches. Can you ask her or him if this is related to high pitching? if so, ask if it can be turned down or lower the power a little and still have the electrode on? Just wondering if that would work?

Hope it works out for you.

Best wishes with the mappings - they can do a lot!

I only experienced twitching when they were testing the implant during surgery and they turned off the particular electrodes that were causing the problem, so hopefully when I have switch on next week it will have been resolved or can be turned down. I've been told that turning off electrodes is not a big problem as they can map over the differences. I will find out more and talk about it more with the audie next week!

 

[Gwyddbwyll]

Hello guys. My first post here.

I've been approved for a CI - surgery scheduled for September 13th. I'm in the UK (not America). I have to choose between Cochlear and Med-El. I'm impressed by the new Cochlear Freedom and some of it's technical advantages - 24 electrodes, splash proof, bipolar stimulation, and people seem very happy with the programs (Beam, Adro, Speak, Whisper). Med-El dont provide as much material to look at, nor is their presentation as good. I've just been on their website though and they have their advantages too. Deeper penetration = less frequency mismatch. Impressive speech recognition statistics. Long battery life (3-5 days versus Cochlear 1-2). They also boast of "fine frequency" transmission instead of using 'envelopes' resulting in better appreciation of music. Having a hard time deciding.

Anyone else faced the same choice and what factor finally tipped the balance for you? Mine might be splash-proof as I have a very active lifestyle. Thanks.

 

[Boult]

Hello guys. My first post here.

I've been approved for a CI - surgery scheduled for September 13th. I'm in the UK (not America). I have to choose between Cochlear and Med-El. I'm impressed by the new Cochlear Freedom and some of it's technical advantages - 24 electrodes, splash proof, bipolar stimulation, and people seem very happy with the programs (Beam, Adro, Speak, Whisper). Med-El dont provide as much material to look at, nor is their presentation as good. I've just been on their website though and they have their advantages too. Deeper penetration = less frequency mismatch. Impressive speech recognition statistics. Long battery life (3-5 days versus Cochlear 1-2). They also boast of "fine frequency" transmission instead of using 'envelopes' resulting in better appreciation of music. Having a hard time deciding.

Anyone else faced the same choice and what factor finally tipped the balance for you? Mine might be splash-proof as I have a very active lifestyle. Thanks.

They didn't show you Advanced Bionics over there? since you are in UK so here's the website for europe; http://www.bionicear-europe.com/

 

[Gwyddbwyll]

Thanks for the link but AB isnt an option.. the hospital only carries Cochlear and Med-El.

I'm leaning towards Cochlear at the moment but every new thing I learn swings me back and forth. Hmm.

 

[Boult]

Thanks for the link but AB isnt an option.. the hospital only carries Cochlear and Med-El.

I'm leaning towards Cochlear at the moment but every new thing I learn swings me back and forth. Hmm.

I see.. well in my case. when I got mine in this town, the CI center did not do AB so I convinced them and the surgeon doctor that I will be first AB client and more will follow ("if you build them, they will come" comes to mind eh) good enough I got AB here in this town and my ci centers now do both AB and Cochlear and they now have more AB clients as well as Cochlear clients. all is well.

One should not be deterred by limitations.


If you really don't have severe ossified cochlea then it is safer to go with what you are leaning towards now. Since Med-El is very ideal for those with ossified cochlea.

 

[Awauphi]

I see.. well in my case. when I got mine in this town, the CI center did not do AB so I convinced them and the surgeon doctor that I will be first AB client and more will follow ("if you build them, they will come" comes to mind eh) good enough I got AB here in this town and my ci centers now do both AB and Cochlear and they now have more AB clients as well as Cochlear clients. all is well.

One should not be deterred by limitations.


If you really don't have severe ossified cochlea then it is safer to go with what you are leaning towards now. Since Med-El is very ideal for those with ossified cochlea.

i gotta ask.. what is the heck.. ossified cochlea? lol.. I guess i will google this up.

 

[Awauphi]

Never mind... lol what it mean.. ossification (bone growth) in their cochlea. Bone growth may block the space inside the cochlea, preventing the use of conventional cochlear implants, which consist of a single array of electrodes.

 

[Boult]

Never mind... lol what it mean.. ossification (bone growth) in their cochlea. Bone growth may block the space inside the cochlea, preventing the use of conventional cochlear implants, which consist of a single array of electrodes.

Yes and sometime the cochlea split due to ossification so might require two electrode array to enter for low and high.

 

[moonflower]

wow

it is so much information about CI i enjoyed learning about CI
smile

but i am not going for CI
but still i enjoyed learning about technologies of CI how much they even changes since winks
I am happy for ppl who enjoyed wearing CIs i support them smile

 

[R2D2]

Hello guys. My first post here.

I've been approved for a CI - surgery scheduled for September 13th. I'm in the UK (not America). I have to choose between Cochlear and Med-El. I'm impressed by the new Cochlear Freedom and some of it's technical advantages - 24 electrodes, splash proof, bipolar stimulation, and people seem very happy with the programs (Beam, Adro, Speak, Whisper). Med-El dont provide as much material to look at, nor is their presentation as good. I've just been on their website though and they have their advantages too. Deeper penetration = less frequency mismatch. Impressive speech recognition statistics. Long battery life (3-5 days versus Cochlear 1-2). They also boast of "fine frequency" transmission instead of using 'envelopes' resulting in better appreciation of music. Having a hard time deciding.

Anyone else faced the same choice and what factor finally tipped the balance for you? Mine might be splash-proof as I have a very active lifestyle. Thanks.

Welcome! I am in Australia but hail from the UK as well! Great to have another Brit here I was born severely/profoundly deaf and did well with hearing aids until last year when I lost my hearing. I was implanted with the Cochlear Freedom 5 weeks ago and was switched on over 2 weeks ago. I'm really happy with what I'm hearing for this stage even though it's early days. There are quite a few other longer term Freedom users on this board as well and they have positive things to say about their experiences. It has also recently won an award for medical design excellence. It is also very reliable when compared to other brands.

With Med El, my only concern would be that because it has such a small market share (4%?) there may be questions as to the resources available to you and viability over the long term. Both Cochlear and AB work very hard to develop new, backward compatible software upgrades over time and it's important to be able to benefit in the future I feel because no one wants to go through surgery twice.

I've been very happy with my dealings with Cochlear customer service so far too. I had a problem getting insurance and they found a place for me who gave me a good price for example.

Best wishes for your surgery and let us know which one you decide to go for. Med El sounds good from the way you describe it and it would be cool to have a Med El user on the forum for variety and spice of life.

 

[R2D2]

wow

it is so much information about CI i enjoyed learning about CI
smile

but i am not going for CI
but still i enjoyed learning about technologies of CI how much they even changes since winks
I am happy for ppl who enjoyed wearing CIs i support them smile

Thanks for taking an interest

 

[Gwyddbwyll]

Thanks R2D2 - I read your story in another thread since I found this forum a few days ago and have been following it I did read about the Freedom system winning awards - it seems to be well designed as a complete package.

The 4% figure surprises me because I read somewhere that Med-El was "widely used in Europe". Perhaps that 4% refers to Australia or America? I will have to try and find out.

Cochlear does impress me in the literature I've read and in their technology. They do a much better job than Med-El who come across as very German / Austrian - even the BTE is blocky 1970's style. But I dont want to discount Med-El just on that. As part of my assessment I met another CI user (who really impressed me - and I'm quite cynical so not that easily impressed). He had chosen MedEl because "it was a better fit for what he wanted." And that 1970's blocky BTE actually looked cooler than the Nucleus because it doesnt look like a HA at all, just a MP3 player or memory stick! That kinda appealed to me. I believe that MedEl also follow the same policy of making it backwards compatible - actually their power consumption lasts longer than Cochlear's (3-5 days versus 1-2 days for the Nucleus - is that what it is for you?) so they have power to spare for future things. I think they save power because their insertion is deeper and closer to the ganglion nerve cells (which the electrodes stimulate) and therefore need less power to stimulate them. That's how I understand it anyway.. I might have got it wrong.. I had no idea how they worked just a few weeks ago.

Boult - I read about your story elsewhere too I think its very cool you decided on what you wanted and made it happen. I dont think I'll go that way though. The CI is paid for by the hospital and their specialist team has picked 2 of the main 3. As I'll have to work with this CI team, its important to me they're experienced with it in setting up the mappings / programs.

 

[R2D2]

The 4% figure surprises me because I read somewhere that Med-El was "widely used in Europe". Perhaps that 4% refers to Australia or America? I will have to try and find out..

Yes that figure was only for America I believe probably because they had some problem with FDA compliance a couple of years back? I have no idea what the European figure would be but I follow your logic that since it's Austrian it would have a greater share there.

Cochlear does impress me in the literature I've read and in their technology. They do a much better job than Med-El who come across as very German / Austrian - even the BTE is blocky 1970's style. But I dont want to discount Med-El just on that. As part of my assessment I met another CI user (who really impressed me - and I'm quite cynical so not that easily impressed). He had chosen MedEl because "it was a better fit for what he wanted." And that 1970's blocky BTE actually looked cooler than the Nucleus because it doesnt look like a HA at all, just a MP3 player or memory stick! That kinda appealed to me. I believe that MedEl also follow the same policy of making it backwards compatible - actually their power consumption lasts longer than Cochlear's (3-5 days versus 1-2 days for the Nucleus - is that what it is for you?) so they have power to spare for future things. I think they save power because their insertion is deeper and closer to the ganglion nerve cells (which the electrodes stimulate) and therefore need less power to stimulate them. That's how I understand it anyway.. I might have got it wrong.. I had no idea how they worked just a few weeks ago..

Yes my batteries are currently only lasting 2 days (grrr!) but I have a friend also with the Freedom who has gone as long as 8 days and currently is at 5 days. It depends somewhat on the speed of the program you are using. Also there are rechargeable battery options as well for the body worn and I believe they are bringing one out for the BTE too. I appreciate your concerns though as I also live in a country where I have to pay for my own batteries! I actually buy mine from the US because I save 50% of the cost compared to what I pay in Australia.

I took a look at the Med - El website and I think the blocky look is actually quite cool! I also notice that they say their implant magnets do not need surgical removal in case of an MRI, which is a plus factor since with both the Freedom and AB you would need surgery to remove the magnet. Their reliability statistics are impressive as well.

Interesting - I've learned some new things about the Med El.