Advanced bionics new HiRes90K cochlear implant: clinical experience

Abstract

To respond to the decreased age of implantation in recent years, Advanced Bionics redesigned the complete package producing the HiRes90K device. The implant electronics are contained within a hermetically sealed, titanium case, with a removable magnet and telemetry coil attached and encased in silastic. The implant maintains the full capacity of the CII's electronics with update rates of up to 90,000 Hz and objective telemetric measures. Eleven adult subjects have been implanted with the HiRes90K using a minimally invasive approach. All subjects are fitted with the HiRes speech coding strategy since first fitting, several using the Auria behind the ear processor. Performance has been evaluated using a speech test battery as well as subjective measures assessing sound quality. Results to date are encouraging: the mean HiRes90K group performance is above that of a control group formed from all MHH adult CII users. The averaged score in HSM sentence test in noise (10 dB signal to noise ratio) at 6 months is 40%. The HiRes90K device appears much simpler to implant than the previous CII device, is compatible with the minimally invasive surgical approach, and hence is particularly well suited for implantation in young children.