Pre-Market Testing of ReSound Alera

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Answer

We do significant testing on all of our products before we release them. We have clinics in Chicago and in Copenhagen where we see patients and fit them with products before the products are released to the market. Alera™ has been well tested including had four or five pre-alpha tests where we tested different pieces of the system. For example, we had a pre-alpha on the new environmental optimizer, Environmental Optimizer II, where we tested various noise reduction settings. We had many clinical trials where we brought in 30 to 40 patients and tested one or two aspects of the system. And then at the end we finally test the entire system multiple times as well.

We've had very, very good feedback. In our clinical trial patients do not get to keep their hearing aids. We've had enormous interest from patients wanting to buy the hearing aids when they come on the market and excellent positive feedback about the accessories. We're excited about Alera and the end user benefits that it brings to the market.

For more information about ReSound, visit www.gnresound.com/ or the ReSound web channel on AudiologyOnline.

Laurel A. Christensen, Ph.D. is Chief Audiology Officer for GN ReSound, where she leads all aspects of audiology including new product trials, audiology input to marketing, and global audiology relations. Prior to joining ReSound in 2003, she was a researcher and Director of Sales and Marketing at Etymotic Research and a tenured professor on the faculty at Louisiana State University Medical Center (LSUMC). She holds a Master's degree in clinical audiology and Ph.D. in audiology from Indiana University.