Marten Geisen (Frankfurt a.M.), Silke Helbig (Frankfurt a.M.), Timo Stöver (Frankfurt a.M.), Tobias Weißgerber (Frankfurt a.M.), Uwe Baumann (Frankfurt a.M.)
Cochlear implant (CI) users frequently experience moderate sound quality and degraded speech perception, particularly in real-world environments with background noise. This study evaluates whether anatomy-based fitting (ABF), a personalized frequency band mapping, improves sound quality and speech perception compared to standard logarithmic mapping.
Participants were randomly assigned to two groups in a crossover design: one group received the manufacturer's standard mapping (STD), while the other received ABF. After three months, participants switched to the alternate mapping for another three months. In the final phase, both mappings were made available for three months, allowing participants to choose their preferred setting. Speech perception tests in quiet (FMS) were conducted at various intervals to assess the benefits of each mapping method. Subjective hearing quality was evaluated using the SSQ questionnaire. Participants were implanted with MED-EL Synchrony 2 implant devices.
Among the 70 subjects recruited, 19 patients were classified as dropouts for various reasons. 27 subjects completed the study so far. Results at the end of the study interval showed that the median FMS for STD and ABF groups was 70% and 65%, respectively. The ABF setting was preferred by 15 subjects and the STD by nine subjects. The median SSQ quality score for the STD preferred group was 4.8 (N=9) and 5.6 (N=15) for the ABF preferred group. Overall, the ABF setting was rated by all subjects with a median of 2 and the STD setting with 3 in school grades (1-excellent, 5-poor), indicating better hearing quality in the ABF group.
While speech perception scores showed only minor differences between mappings, there was a clear trend toward higher quality ratings for the ABF group.
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