World first cochlear implant process a win for patients
Cochlear implant recipients are benefitting from the success of a world first mapping verification process developed at South Metropolitan Health Service and a new clinic approach is also reducing ENT waitlists.
Audiology Head of Department Dr Dayse Tavora said the first study demonstrated that patients are showing an average of a 17 percent improvement in speech understanding after using the new mapping verification process, with some of them achieving an improvement as high as 40%.
The study to investigate if acoustic cortical auditory evoked potential (aCAEP) measures could be used to verify the cochlear implant was first conducted with 180 patients.
SMHS acts as a treatment hub, so this has now been implemented for patients from SMHS, the North Metropolitan Health Service (NMHS) and East Metropolitan Health Service (EMHS).
"To program a cochlear implant, an audiologist will need to essentially find the softest level of sound that the patient can hear and the loudest comfortable level for them," she said.
"Previously, this has meant relying on the response that the patient is providing verbally, and/or through the observation of behaviours where the patient cannot provide a reliable response.
"Our new mapping process removes this subjectivity and measures the actual brain activity in response to the sound via the implant."
SMHS has also developed an Extended Scope of Audiology Clinic and an Implant Audiology-led Clinic to assist in managing patients.
This has resulted in significantly reduced waiting times for those patients who are suitable for the clinic.
"When the Extended Scope Audiology Clinics started many of the first patients had been waiting for more than a year or even longer, but now we are seeing patients who have been waiting around two months.
"The same clinics have been implemented across EMHS and NMHS.
"With the Implant Audiology-led Clinic, waiting times have been reduced to around two months for these patients. As a result, the ENT team and time is optimized significantly since the patient only sees the ENT after having the entire implant workup completed."
Watch the recent Seven News story (external link) featuring two SMHS patients discussing the life-changing impact of the new cochlear implant mapping process.