Active clinical trials for "Deafness"

We recently developed a new Neuro-immersion system based on virtual reality and 3D (dimension) motion tracking. This tool makes it possible to evaluate and record the spatial localization performance of sounds and to highlight localization deficits in the three dimensions of space in deaf patients. Unfortunately, there is currently no suitable support to compensate for these localization deficits. However, the discomfort felt by the patients is clearly verbalized. Thanks to the new virtual reality system, we are now able to develop a training protocol based on spatial sound localization tasks.

The study is a prospective, multi-center, single arm study The study is part of the Post Market Clinical Follow (PMCF) activity. The investigational device used in this study is the Ponto 4 already fitted to the subjects prior to the study. The device is CE marked and available on the market since June 2019. Treatment is not provided in the study therefore risks are limited to the audiological measurements. The audiological measurements in the study are standard non-invasive measurements already familiar to the clinics. The hearing with Ponto 4 will be evaluated via speech and hearing tests, and patient reported outcomes.

360 million people worldwide suffer from disabling hearing loss. The prevalence of hearing impairment, all stages combined, in the French population is 7% (4 million people), of which 9% have severe impairment and 3% have profound or total impairment. Cochlear implants are indicated in severe to profound deafness in some cases. The principle of the cochlear implant is to directly stimulate the fibres of the auditory nerve via electrodes inserted into the cochlea. It stimulates the auditory nerve and sends electrical impulses to the brain where they are interpreted as sounds. The steps in hearing rehabilitation are surgical placement of the cochlear implant, activation, and follow-up adjustments. There is no formal consensus on the exact adjustment procedures during activation or follow-up, but principles are followed depending on the cochlear implant adjustment centers (jack). All centers focus on sound intensity adjustments to achieve the goals of tonal audiometry in open-field silence with cochlear implant alone between 20 and 40 db (30 db most frequently). However, it is common practice to observe that this means of assessment does not really represent the performance of the individual because hearing a sound does not mean that someone will be able to recognize it and interpret it. Some of the patients who achieve these goals have difficulty hearing well in a noisy environment. Speech audiometry in silence and especially in noise would be a better reflection of patient needs. Bimodal hearing is having a cochlear implant and a contralateral hearing aid. In cochlear implants, having bimodal binaural hearing improves the patients ability to understand speech in silent and noisy contexts. It should thus be considered when a second cochlear implant is not indicated in the contralateral ear. It has been shown that intelligibility and musical perception are altered when the frequency allocations are different from the manufacturer's default frequency allocations. The possible redundancy between the acoustic and electrical information on the contralateral ear can lead to metallic distortion of the voice, which is perceived as less natural. This is due to a different stimulation of the cochlear tonotopic zones concerning conversational frequencies, between the implanted side and the device side. However, the frequency distribution is not subject to adjustment in current practice. A modification of the frequency distribution is possible on cochlear implants, which could improve the intelligibility and comfort of the implanted patient. This working hypothesis will be studied, and a simple protocol for frequency reallocation of the cochlear implant will be developed to optimize the daily hearing performance of the implanted patients. An evolutionary algorithm will be used. The search for new adjustment solutions will be carried out within the safety limits imposed by the adjusters (detection and comfort loudness threshold).

Clinical management of cochlear implant (CI) recipients involve programming, counselling, performance evaluation and habilitation. This requires the recipients to travel to the clinic for follow up appointments which can pose significant challenges for recipients, particularly those who live far away from the clinic. Remote Assist (RA) is a new solution that allows the clinician to make MAP and sound processor adjustments via the recipient's Nucleus Smart app (NSA) installed on their smart phone. With RA the clinician can also perform counselling using a video call directly via the NSA. As RA uses no specialized hardware and software that needs to be sent and retrieved back from the recipient, it has the potential to further improve the remote programming experience and convenience for both the recipient and the clinician.

The ability to encode the speech signal is determined by ascending and descending auditory processing. Difficulties in processing these speech signals are well described at the behavioral level in a specific language disorder. However, little is known about the underlying pathophysiological mechanisms. The assumption is that we should observe a degradation of the signal provided by the ear in the deaf subject while in case of specific language impairment it would be a phonemic disorder (possibly linked to a processing disorder auditory). The two population groups should therefore have different abnormalities of their central auditory process - which could be modified by the target remediation for each group.

The primary purpose of the study is to develop and test the preliminary efficacy of a first-in-kind community-based intervention to provide affordable, accessible and effective hearing health care to low-income, minority older adults.

The aim of this clinical investigation is to evaluate objective and subjective hearing performance with the Cochlear Baha 5 SuperPower Sound Processor on the Baha Attract System, compared to the unaided hearing performance. Comparison of audiological test results with the same sound processor on a Baha Softband will also be performed. Short term safety parameters will be collected.

This study will assess the effectiveness of post-cochlear implant or hearing aid fitting Aural Rehabilitative Therapy (ART) delivered by means of telemedicine technology.

This is a pilot study of workshops to help Veterans with both vision and hearing loss live a happier, fuller and less stressful life. The results will be used to guide the development of a large scale clinical trial.

For patients with sudden hearing loss, the initial treatment is not usually effective. We use Dexamethasone or Methylprednisolone to be an Intratympanic steroid administration as a salvage treatment. An randomized, double-blind, multi-center study is designed to find the difference between Dexamethasone or Methylprednisolone.