Question
I fit a lot of RIC and BTE hearing aids, but some of my patients insist on a discreet custom option. I want a small device that is high on performance – what does the Phonak Virto B-Titanium offer in terms of performance?
Answer
Phonak Virto B-Titanium is a super discreet IIC (invisible in canal) solution that combines performance, functionality, and aesthetics. It is the smallest ever custom product from Phonak.
The new AutoSense OS provides state-of-the-art automatic operation. No matter the environment, the hearing aid provides the best hearing possible. Further enhanced with an innovative pre-calculation, the new AutoSense OS features adaptive SoundRecover2, a new way to treat expansion for better soft speech intelligibilityand improved calculations of gain settings for asymmetrical hearing losses provides more comfort for first-time users. These set the foundation for the new AutoSense OS and place it in a class of its own for operating systems currently available on the market. I’ll briefly review these new features.
SoundRecover2 is an adaptive frequency lowering algorithm that is only applied by the Target fitting software when the patient’s level of hearing loss requires it. This helps ensure that sound quality is optimized and that high frequency phonemes are given audibility when needed.
Expansion is typically used in hearing aids to suppress very soft sounds such as circuit noise, microphone noise or sounds in quiet environments like the fan of a laptop. The downside of expansion is that it can affect soft speech intelligibility. The Belong platform includes a new expansion calculation that is based on hearing loss and is independent in each program. This maintains the benefits of expansion while providing a 10% improvement in speech intelligibility when compared with our prior product. Additionally, Target allows expansion to be turned off, which may be useful in select cases such as with individuals who need to listen to very soft environmental sounds.
It can be challenging to fit binaural hearing aids on first time users with asymmetrical hearing loss. Giving more amplification to the poorer ear and less amplification for the better ear can cause an individual to reject amplification, as it may feel unbalanced and too loud, especially at the poorer ear. It may also reduce intelligibility, by giving too much amplification in the poorer ear where there is more distortion. AutoSense OS addresses the issue of asymmetrical losses for first time users by automatically providing slightly less gain for the poorer ear on the first fitting, and slightly more gain for the better ear. This provides significantly more comfort to new users without compromising speech intelligibility, and better spontaneous first fit acceptance of the hearing aids.
For more information, view the Phonak recorded course, Phonak Belong - New Custom Solution or visit the Phonak Partner Page on AudiologyOnline.
