Question
Is there a Starkey rechargeable CROS option available to patients?
Answer
The Starkey Muse iQ Rechargeable is the only fully rechargeable wireless CROS system on the market. With Starkey's CROS system, the Muse iQR is available in the same three technology levels: the i1600, the i2000 and the i2400 in addition to the Muse iQR Transmitter. If you're not familiar with our approach to CROS systems, you would first order the Muse iQR receiver for the better ear, in the technology level that you desire (e.g., i2400). You would then order the Muse iQR transmitter for the dead ear, or the side that needs the transmitter. For us, the transmitter is what we call "tier agnostic." In other words, in and of itself, the transmitter doesn't have a technology level assigned to it. When you program the transmitter and the receiver together during the fitting, the transmitter then takes on the technology level, features, and performance of the receiver that it has been coupled to. If you get a rechargeable transmitter, and you're using it with an i2400 receiver, the transmitter takes on the characteristics of that i2400 device. The advantage to this approach is that the transmitter is a lower-cost component than the hearing aid. You're not paying the cost of two high-level hearing aids; you're paying for whatever technology level that you're ordering for the receiver, and then the transmitter is the same cost regardless of technology level, because it simply takes on the characteristics of that receiver.
The other thing about our CROS systems is that the directionality, the noise control features, etc., act completely independent on the transmitter and the receiver side. If the listening environment dictates it, the transmitter and the receiver could be functioning differently from a directionality perspective, or from a noise control perspective. Or, if the environment dictates it, they can be working exactly the same. It's independent of performance when it comes to both directional microphones and noise control.
We also have what we call our balance control. This allows you, within the programming software, to set where the main signal is coming from (i.e., the transmitter side, the receiver side, or have them be equal). You also have the ability to give the patient control over this balance control. By using the onboard rocker switches, they can shift where the main input is coming from. Do they want more coming from the transmitter? Do they want to hear more from the receiver side? Or do they want it to be equal? You can set that up in the user control configuration to give them the ability to mix the sound coming from the transmitter and the receiver for best hearing, depending on the situation that they're in.
This Ask the Expert is an excerpt from the CEU course, The Right Power, Performance and Personalized Solution for Any Situation! Click the link on the course title to register and view the course. For more information, visit www.starkey.com or visit Starkey's Partner Page on AudiologyOnline.
