1Lt April Myers, Capt Brandon Tourtillott, Ben Sierra, Au.D.
This is a follow-on/continuation from a similar subject presentation done at MASC 2005. Published reports regarding benefit provided by bimodal use of a cochlear implant have been mixed. Some research on the subject has concluded that performance is improved with bimodal hearing though the processing is different. Many of our Cochlear Implant Recipients stopped wearing amplification on the opposite ear following Cochlear Implant Surgery. Recent articles by Ching, et.al., indicate that by using a loudness matching technique bimodal performance improvement and patient satisfaction can be attained. We will report findings on eight of our patients after implementing the Ching Loudness Balance Technique. Our report will also discuss data obtained using a standard cochlear implant test battery as well as subjective findings regarding our patients’ experiences.