title: Hearing performance with 2 different high-power sound processors for osseointegrated auditory implants.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To compare speech understanding of the BAHA BP110 and BAHA Intenso sound processors.
  
  
  METHODS
  Prospective experimental study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Tertiary referral center.
  
  
  METHODS
  Twenty experienced user of osseointegrated auditory implants with conductive or mixed hearing loss.
  
  
  METHODS
  In a first session, half of the participants were fitted with an Intenso, the other half with a BP110. After 1 month of use, aided speech understanding in quiet and in noise was measured, and the other test processor was fitted. One month later, speech understanding with the second sound processor was assessed.
  
  
  METHODS
  Speech understanding in quiet and in noise, with noise arriving either from the front, the rear, or the side of the user with the osseointegrated bone conductor.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Significant improvements were found for both processors for speech understanding in quiet (+9.6 to +34.8 percent points; p = 0.02 to 0.001) and in noise (+6.2 to +13.8 dB, p < 0.001). No significant differences were found between the 2 devices for speech in quiet. For noise from the rear, subjects were able to understand speech at signal-to-noise ratios which were lower (less favorable) by -5.1 dB (p < 0.001) when compared with the Intenso.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Speech understanding is substantially improved by both devices, with no significant differences between the sound processors in quiet. In noise, speech understanding is significantly better with the BP110 when compared to the Intenso for noise from the rear.
authors: Department of ENT, Head and Neck Surgery, Inselspital, University of Bern, Switzerland.
authors: Anja
authors: A
authors: Kurz
authors: Marco
authors: M
authors: Caversaccio
authors: Martin
authors: M
authors: Kompis
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001309:Auditory Threshold / Q000502:physiology; D001844:Bone Conduction / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006310:Hearing Aids; D006314:Hearing Loss, Conductive / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000534:rehabilitation; D046089:Hearing Loss, Mixed Conductive-Sensorineural / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000534:rehabilitation; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016348:Osseointegration / Q000502:physiology*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D013017:Sound Localization / Q000502:physiology; D013067:Speech Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D016896:Treatment Outcome