Active Middle Ear Implant Patient Outcomes With Adaptive Feedback Canceller

Area of Science:

• Audiology
• Biomedical Engineering
• Hearing Technology

Background:

• Active middle ear implants (AMEI) are crucial for hearing restoration.
• Feedback suppression is essential for effective AMEI function.
• Firmware upgrades, such as from fixed feedback canceller (FFC) to adaptive feedback canceller (AFC), aim to enhance device performance.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate audiological patient performance after upgrading AMEI firmware from FFC to AFC.
• To assess the impact of AFC on functional gain, speech perception, and sound localization.
• To analyze feedback reduction capabilities with the new AFC system.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective observational study involving 15 patients with AMEI.
• Patients with prior FFC experience were upgraded to an AFC algorithm.
• Evaluated outcomes included functional gain, speech perception in silence and noise, sound localization, and feedback reduction.

Main Results:

• Thirteen patients were analyzed, with no significant difference in functional gain between FFC and AFC.
• Clinically relevant improvements in speech discrimination in silence were observed with AFC.
• Speech discrimination in noise improved, while sound localization showed no significant changes between the systems.

Conclusions:

• Adaptive feedback canceller (AFC) is more effective than fixed feedback canceller (FFC) for AMEI.
• AFC improves sound quality and feedback cancellation, leading to enhanced speech understanding.
• The upgrade to AFC offers significant benefits for AMEI users, particularly in challenging listening conditions.