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Round window stimulation with the Vibrant Soundbridge: Comparison of direct and indirect coupling
Author(s) -
Olszewski Lukasz,
Jedrzejczak W. Wiktor,
Piotrowska Anna,
Skarzynski Henryk
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
the laryngoscope
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.181
H-Index - 148
eISSN - 1531-4995
pISSN - 0023-852X
DOI - 10.1002/lary.26536
Subject(s) - coupling (piping) , round window , stimulation , materials science , biomedical engineering , optoelectronics , audiology , cochlea , medicine , composite material
Objectives/Hypothesis The purpose of this study was to measure the degree of coupling between the floating mass transducer (FMT) and the round window membrane (RWM) in patients with conductive and mixed hearing loss implanted with the Vibrant Soundbridge (VSB) device. The efficiency of direct and indirect coupling of the FMT to the RWM was compared by measuring differences between the initial prescription targets and the final settings of the VSB audio processor after fine‐tuning. Study Design Retrospective study. Methods Investigation of a group of subjects with either conductive or mixed hearing loss implanted with the VSB, a device that uses a FMT coupled to the RWM. There were two subgroups: subjects in which coupling was direct (no interposed material) or indirect (interposed material). The functional gain, insertion gain, and compression characteristics of the device were measured to assess the efficiency of coupling and to investigate the proximity of the fitting to prescriptive targets. Results Coupling for the subgroup with indirect coupling of the RWM was higher (better) than for the subgroup with direct coupling. The gain deviation from prescriptive targets was smaller for the subgroup with indirect coupling. Conclusions The coupling method can have an effect on the coupling efficiency and the final electroacoustic settings of the device. The prescription targets were not accurate for the majority of subjects from either subgroup. Indirect coupling appears to provide more effective stimulation of the cochlea. Level of Evidence 4. Laryngoscope , 127:2843–2849, 2017