Hearing Preservation with Intracochlear cochlear monitoring

Introduction:

The systematic development of atraumatic CI electrodes is based on anatomical studies. The Development of HiFocus SlimJ Electrode was in conjunction with these studies. Intracochlear cochlear monitoring allows a new approach to hearing preservation CI surgery. These results are reported here.

Patients & methods:

From September 2017 until November 2018 there were 81 patients implanted with the HiFocus SlimJ Electrode in our clinic. All patients had residual hearing in the low frequency range. Intraoperatively, cochlear monitoring was performed by intracochlear CM measurements via implant telemetry. The residual hearing was recorded at first fitting and after 3 months. The results of cochlear monitoring were correlated with residual hearing.

Results:

The electrode was placed in all patients into the scala tympani. The insertion depth averaged 369 ° (283 ° -520 °) (n = 30). At initial fitting 55.6% and after three months 56.3% had a good hearing loss ( < 15dB) in the range of 125 Hz – 1.5 Hz. A grouping could be carried out on the basis of the course of the cochlear monitoring, which has a connection to the postoperative hearing support.

Conclusion:

Cochlear monitoring via implant telemetry provides real-time feedback during insertion, thus optimizing the insertion depth for hearing preservation using an atraumatic electrode.

Publication History

Publication Date:
23 April 2019 (online)