Spy Photo – CR210 Basic Remote Control for Cochlear CP900 Processors
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Author Archives: CochlearImplantHELP
Health Canada Approves new Advanced Bionics and Cochlear Processors
Eagle-eyed Bob MacPherson has struck gold again, uncovering Health Canada approvals for both Advanced Bionics‘ and Cochlear‘s new sound processors! Following is a list of specific components licensed:
Advanced Bionics
- Naida CI Q70 (processor)
- Zinc-Air battery pack
- T-mic 2
- 3 rechargeable battery sizes
- Power adapter (charger?)
- CPI-3 (programming hardware?)
Cochlear
- CP 910 Processor
- CP 920 Processor
- Accessory adapter
- Bilateral personal audio cable
- Coil & Cable
- Integrated Coil
- Lapel mike
- Litewear (off-ear battery option)
- Magnet
- Mains isolation cable
- Monitor earphones
- Personal audio cable
- Portable phone cable
- Programming shoe with cable
- Standard battery module (compact battery seems to missing)
- CP920 coil cable (tighter bend, since there is no accessory port to block)
- Charging kit
- Remote controls (CR210 & CR230)
- Intraoperative remote assitant (to check functionality in the OR)
- Power Domes, speaker unit, and earhook for acoustic stimulation hybrid operation
- Processing unit plug
- Stetoclip (sounds surgical)
Bonus points go to Cochlear for providing lots of accessories, such as the bilateral personal audio cable! The portable phone cable is interesting – is this in addition to a wireless means of connecting to cell phones, or instead of one?
Advanced Bionics Receives Worldwide Approval for HiRes Optima Strategy
Advanced Bionics announces regulatory approval from FDA, Health Canada, and TÜV for HiRes Optima.
HiRes Optima is a modification of the HiRes Fidelity 120 strategy, and is intended to optimize power efficiency. This new strategy improves battery life without compromising the listening benefits of the HiResolution bionic ear system. AB cochlear implant recipients using this new technology enjoy an average improvement of 55% in battery life, giving them considerably more time to hear their world before needing to change a battery.
Advanced Bionics Receives FDA Approval for HiRes Optima Strategy
Thanks to Bob MacPherson for breaking the news of FDA approval of the HiRes Optima sound processing strategy!
HiRes Optima is a modification of the HiRes Fidelity 120 strategy, and is intended to optimize power efficiency. This new strategy improves battery life without compromising the listening benefits of the HiResolution bionic ear system.
New Product Announcements?
With Advanced Bionics, Cochlear, and MED-EL all preparing to announce new processors, a room full of professionals is always a good place to watch. There aren’t many cochlear implant conferences coming up, so the British Cochlear Implant Group conference on March 21st and 22nd bears close scrutiny.
The programme includes time for AB, Cochlear, MED-EL and Neurelec to provide manufacturer’s updates. While CochlearimplantHELP.com has no specific product introduction information, we have been reporting on the upcoming devices.
Advanced Bionics:
AB is readying a new processor with wireless capabilities and features from Phonak. You can stream the phone audio from one ear to the other (another AB implant or a Phonak hearing aid). Connect to phones, music players, etc. via BlueTooth through the ComPilot. More information is available in this brochure.
Cochlear:
The Nucleus 6 processor will be available in two sizes – with or without an accessory port. The processor may offer wireless capabilities using the remote as a gateway device. And it may be possible to program the processor remotely! The Nucleus 6 will also be able to act as a hybrid hearing aid / cochlear implant, using the Acoustic Component.
MED-EL:
MED-EL has been busy as well, preparing the RONDO one-piece processor. This is the world’s first processor to be completely self-contained. The batteries, processor, and headpiece are all one unit. Nothing sits on the ear at all!
Neurelec:
This French cochlear implant manufacturer has a time slot to provide an update at the conference as well. The current system from Neurelec is very creative – one implant has two arrays, one for each cochlea! Externally, the Saphyr processor sits on one ear, and a wired microphone is on the other ear. This system provides true stereo sound.
Irish Health Minister: “Priority” to offer children bilateral cochlear implants in 2014
In the continuing saga of the Irish Happy New Ear campaign, Irish Health Minister James Reilly has said that providing children with bilateral cochlear implants in 2014 is “a high priority” for the government.
Read more here.
More New Cochlear Processor Spy Photos
These photos confirm that Cochlear’s new processor will be available in two versions. The larger one has an accessory port, which can be used for direct audio input, a lapel microphone, or with earbuds or headphones to check that the processor and audio accessories are working properly.
Notice that two rechargeable battery sizes are shown. There is also a disposable battery option, and a battery holder that uses two disposable batteries.
Scroll down and click on the ‘Follow’ button to get the latest updates!
Sinn Féin Insists Irish Government Provide Bilateral Implants for Children
Sinn Féin has taken a firm stance requesting that the Irish government fund bilateral implants for children. Read the statement here.
New Electrode Array Technology Development
Pamela Bhatti, Ph.D., leads a team of scientists and engineers who are working on a new device that could dramatically improve sound resolution for deaf individuals who opt for cochlear implants. The researchers believe the new array could help users overcome the limitations in language perception that plague contemporary implants.
Read more here.
Interview with Stuart McNaughton, author of He Is Not Me
What difference has your cochlear implant made to your life?
Well, in a nutshell, I am no longer dependent on others. Since I was implanted, I have traveled all over the world, frequently on my own. I became so confident that I even went to Australia for nine months. I tried my best at learning the Finnish language, completed my accounting and marketing studies and then went on to do a Master’s degree. None of these would have been possible without my cochlear implant. In truth, I am incredibly dependent on my implant.
What inspired you to write He Is Not Me?
I actually started writing He Is Not Me more than ten years ago. Back then, there were very little – if any – accounts of cochlear implantation out there for people to read, and my original aim was to be among the first to write an account. The more I wrote, however, the more I remembered about what I call ‘the bad times’. These bad times were so harrowing that reliving what I thought I had forgotten made me put down the manuscript, sometimes for months at a time. What inspired me to carry on was the hope that, one day, my book would make just one person start the amazing journey I have been on since 2001.
Tell us more about where the name of the book came from.
The name of the book only came to light very recently, as I was nearing the end of my writing. My cochlear implantation has had such a profound effect on me that I no longer relate to the ‘old me’, and that is where the name of the book came from – he is not me. It’s really that simple.
Why is your story different?
Whilst I like to think that we are all different, many of the deaf and hard-of-hearing, and those with cochlear implants will relate to different phases of the book, whether it be the bullying, being discriminated against, being in the care of an audiologist etc. As the book started to take shape, the common theme that emerged was that, without my family, I would not be where I am today. Without my parents fighting a system that tried to stick a label on me and confine me to the deaf world, I really would not be where I am today.
What do you hope readers gain from your story?
Different people will relate to the book at different stages. For example, I talk about the many healthcare professionals who ‘put me back together again’ – they will get a really in-depth account of what a cochlear implant recipient was thinking and feeling, things that rarely get spoken about during a thirty minute medical consultation. My biggest hope is that parents out there will learn that this technology exists, and realise that there are options for their child. Whilst it is their choice to decide what is best for their child, to be forewarned is to be forearmed, is it not? My parents are really my heroes, and this is apparent throughout the story. In fact, my own mother has written a foreword for He Is Not Me, and I think many mothers out there will relate to what she writes in her own words.
What do you think your parents’ advice would be to the parents of deaf children today?
I am laughing at this very question. In fact, I just called my parents and my mother answered the phone. I posed this question to her, and this is what she said: get lots of advice, do the research, but don’t delay. I guess this kind of ties in with the Author’s Message on the He Is Not Me website, in which I state that I honestly didn’t start living until I was twenty-three, the day I got my cochlear implant.
Are you considering bilateral implantation and, if so, what do you hope to gain?
I have considered bilateral implantation for a long time. It can be frustrating not knowing exactly where sound is coming from, but more importantly: I have nearly been run over twice as I have been unable to hear oncoming traffic. Indeed, I was run over once – and pushed – to the floor by a speed biker in London. I think he thought he was Lance Armstrong!
What technology or advancement would be a ‘dream come true’ for you in cochlear implants or the hearing industry?
I have had my cochlear implant for more than twelve years, and I am absolutely astounded by how durable it is. You would not expect a flat screen television, or a mobile telephone to function for that long, would you? To ask for more would sound ungrateful, almost disrespectful to the many people who work tirelessly on cochlear implant development. There has been talk about fully implantable systems, but to be honest, I like the idea of returning to the deaf world each night. But the minute I wake up, the sound processor is back on. For me, a life without sound isn’t a life at all.
Stuart McNaughton is a Manager of the Bionic Ear Association, sponsored by Advanced Bionics, and author of ‘He Is Not Me’. For more information, visit www.HeIsNotMe.com.
