Nucleus Hybrid S12: Multicenter Clinical Trial Results

Area of Science:

• Otolaryngology
• Audiology
• Biomedical Engineering

Background:

• Preserving low-frequency residual hearing is crucial for cochlear implant recipients to benefit from acoustic-electric hearing.
• Traditional cochlear implants may not always be optimal for patients with residual low-frequency hearing.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the efficacy of a short 10-mm cochlear implant in preserving low-frequency residual hearing.
• To evaluate speech perception and subjective hearing outcomes at 12 months post-implantation.

Main Methods:

• A multicenter clinical trial involving 28 subjects with low-frequency hearing and severe high-frequency loss.
• Utilized a Nucleus Hybrid S12 implant, assessing speech perception (CNC words, AzBio sentences) and the Speech, Spatial, and Qualities of Hearing Scale (SSQ) pre- and postoperatively.

Main Results:

• Functional hearing preservation was achieved in 85% of subjects at 12 months.
• Significant improvements in speech perception in quiet (81% on CNC words) and in noise (77% on AzBio sentences) were observed.
• Subjective hearing ratings (SSQ) also showed significant postoperative improvements.

Conclusions:

• The short 10-mm cochlear implant successfully preserves residual hearing, enabling acoustic-electric hearing.
• This device leads to substantial improvements in speech understanding in quiet and noisy environments.
• The findings support the use of short-electrode cochlear implants for hearing preservation in select patient populations.