Quality Control of CE-Certified Phonak Hearing Aids - 2018_28

Quality Control of CE-Certified Phonak Hearing Aids - 2018_28

Phonak Hearing Systems pass through different development and study stages. At an early stage, feasibility studies are conducted to investigate new algorithms, features and functions in an isolated manner. If the benefit is proven, their performance is then investigated regarding interdependency between all available algorithms, features and functions running in parallel in a hearing aid (pivotal/pre-validation studies) and, as a result, they get optimized. Afterwards, and prior to product launch, the Phonak Hearing Systems undergo a final quality control in terms of clinical trials. This is a pre-validation study, investigating optimized algorithms, features, functions and wearing comfort. This will be a clinical investigation which will be conducted mono centric at Sonova AG Headquarters based in Stäfa (Switzerland).

In this study a comparison with two CE-labeled Phonak Receiver-in-the-canal (RIC) devices is done. The experimental device and the active comparator will be compared regarding Sound Quality perception and speech intelligibility in Quiet and in Noise. The experimental device contains direct connectivity functionality which will be investigated in terms of streamed Audio quality, streaming stability and Usability preferences of functions and Features which are related to direct connectivity. The active comparator device does not contain direct streaming functionality. This will be a clinical investigation which will be conducted mono centric at Sonova AG Headquarters based in Stäfa (Switzerland).

Inclusion Criteria:

• Adult hearing impaired persons (minimum age: 18 years, mild to moderate Hearing loss) without hearing aid experience
• Good written and spoken (Swiss) German language skills
• Healthy outer ear
• Ability to fill in a questionnaire (p/eCRF) conscientiously
• willingness to wear Receiver in the canal hearing aids
• Informed Consent as documented by signature
• owning a compatible smartphone

Exclusion Criteria:

• Contraindications to the MD in this study, e.g. known hypersensitivity or allergy to the investigational product
• Limited mobility and not in the position to attend weekly appointments in Stäfa (Switzerland)
• Limited ability to describe listening impressions/experiences and the use of the hearing aid
• Inability to produce a reliable hearing test result
• Known psychological problems
• Central hearing disorders