BionicEar.com - Harmony Cochlear Implant by Advanced Bionics

HiResolution Sound produces a more accurate representation of the acoustic environment designed for hearing in the real world.

Hearing Whispers to Shouts
Listening to Music
Using the Telephone
Hearing in Restaurants
Recognizing Voices

HiResolution, because there are no unimportant sounds

The Harmony HiResolution Bionic Ear is a unique and technologically innovative cochlear implant system with built-in flexibility and upgradeability.

Its flexibility arises from 16 independent circuits that allow each electrode to be powered and programmed separately using simultaneous or non-simultaneous stimulation.
Its upgradeability comes from the sophisticated architecture of the HiRes 90K implanted electronics.
Bionic Ear recipients have access to HiResolution Sound today and will have access to new sound-processing strategies in the future through programming software upgrades.
HiRes Fidelity 120 represents the latest in such software upgrades now available* to Bionic Ear recipients.

* Within the USA, Fidelity 120 available for adults only

Hearing Your Life With Harmony
The Harmony HiResolution Bionic Ear System is an advanced cochlear implant system that helps you hear beyond words. HiResolution^® Sound helps you or your child hear not only words and sentences, but also the meaning conveyed through emotions and voice inflections. HiResolution Sound automatically and reflexively adapts to your environment, without having to press a button or flip a switch. This is particularly important for children who need to be able to learn spontaneously from the sounds they hear around them. In fact, studies* have shown that children using HiRes develop auditory skills faster than those using conventional cochlear implant sound processing.

Through advancements in our technology, Harmony can help you:

Participate in a teleconference with authority and confidence
Enjoy your child’s piano recital or school play
Engage in lively conversations with friends and colleagues at a cocktail party
Call your wife on your cell phone to tell her you’re running late

The majority of HiResolution Sound recipients report that:**

Music sounds better
Speech sounds more natural
Using the telephone is easier

Additionally, some recipients report that:**

Hearing in noisy environments is not as demanding

1. Bosco E, D’agosta L, Mancini P, Traisci G, D’Elia E, Filipo R. Speech perception results in children implanted with Clarion^® devices: Hi-Resolution™ and standard resolution modes. Acta Otolaryngologica. 2004; 25: 48- 58.

2. Osberger MJ, Koch DB. Effect of sound processing on performance of young children with cochlear implants. In: Miyamoto RT, ed. Proceedings of the VIII International Cochlear Implant Conference. Amsterdam, Netherlands: Elsevier; 2004; 7- 10

3. Robbins AM, Osberger MJ. Pediatric performance of children with HiResolution sound processing. Poster presented at the 10th Symposium on Cochlear Implants in Children, Dallas, TX, March 15-19, 2005.

** As reported in recent clinical trials.

“Just weeks ago during an ultrasound, I listened to my baby’s heartbeat for the first time. The doctor even got teary-eyed because during my other two pregnancies, I said, ‘I wish I could hear it.’ This technology is absolutely amazing!”
—Stacey McGovern, implanted at age 29

The Four Steps of HiResolution Sound Processing

Capturing a wide sound window
Because more information provides the most complete sound picture
Composing the full spectrum of sound
Because a broad range of sound offers richness and fullness to your hearing life
Detailing sound with 10 to 20 times greater resolution
Because details are needed for music and better hearing in noisy environments
Delivering processed sound at the fastest speeds
Because high speed stimulation preserves the information to meet unique hearing needs

Click here to learn more about The Four Steps of HiResolution Sound Processing >>

Real Listeners and HiResolution Sound
To understand the types of benefits offered by HiResolution Sound Processing, it is helpful to look at the results experienced by a group of postlingually deafened adults. In a recent clinical trial,* 51 adults who were implanted with the CII Bionic Ear^® listened with standard sound processing strategies (CIS, MPS or SAS) for three months, and then were switched to HiResolution Sound Processing for three months.

Average speech perception abilities were significantly better with HiResolution Sound than with conventional strategies for all tests (single-syllable words, easy sentences in quiet, difficult sentences in quiet and in noise**). The largest improvements were seen for the test in noise. Those who used HiResolution Sound indicated that it provided a distinctly better quality of sound in everyday listening situations.

* Study design did not allow determination of whether HiRes^® was solely responsible for performance improvement.
** CNC monosyllabic words, CID Everyday Sentences, HINT sentences in quiet, HINT sentences in noise.

HiResolution provides noticeably better quality of sound in everyday environments.
Ninety-six percent (96%) of the patients preferred HiResolution Sound Processing to the other strategies, across multiple listening conditions.

The graph below shows the percent of all adults who ranked the quality of HiResolution Sound as being better than conventional strategies (SAS, MPS or CIS) on seven important conditions.

The next graph shows the percent of the highest performing adults (HINT in NOISE > 70% Correct) who ranked the quality of HiResolution Sound as being better than conventional strategies (SAS, MPS or CIS) on the same seven important conditions.

User Performance on CID Sentences
With Hearing Aid Verses After HiResolution Cochlear Implant

For the individuals who achieved greater than 70% correct on speech tests in noise on both standard processing and HiResolution Sound, the quality of sound provided by HiResolution Sound Processing was judged significantly better than with other strategies. They preferred HiResolution Sound even though they had high scores on the sentence tests both before and after switching to HiResolution Sound.

HiResolution Sound Processing delivers remarkable improvements in speech understanding, especially in noise.

Click here to enlarge for easier viewing >>

With other strategies, 45% of patients scored better than 50% on difficult sentences in noise. With HiResolution Sound Processing, 67% of patients scored better than 50% on difficult sentences in noise.

Converting from other strategies to HiResolution, 27% (13 of 49) of users achieved an additional 30% to 60% correct on speech performance tests in noise (e.g. from 2.8% correct to 61% correct, or 44% correct to 82% correct).

The next graph shows individual scores for 19 adults with the lowest performance (HINT in Noise at 3 months) using conventional strategies (SAS, MPS or CIS).

Their performance after using conventional strategies for 3 months is represented in green, and their performance after using HiRes for 3 months is represented in blue.

Click here to enlarge for easier viewing >>

For the 19 users with the lowest sentence-recognition-in-noise scores on standard processing, 10 of those patients improved their scores with 30% to 60% higher test scores using HiResolution Sound Processing. Another five users improved up to 20%.

For the most difficult sentence-in-noise test, patients overall showed better performance with HiResolution than with other strategies.

The following graph shows individual scores for 51 adults (HINT in Noise at 3 Months) ranked from lowest to highest using conventional strategies (SAS, MPS or CIS).

Their performance after using conventional strategies for 3 months is represented in green bars. The blue bars show the performance for these same individuals after using HiRes for 3 month