Interview with Diane Hammel, Au.D., FAAA, Senior Product Manager, Phonak US

Topic: Naida hearing instruments

Carolyn Smaka: Hello everybody, this is Carolyn Smaka from AudiologyOnline, and I'm speaking today with Diane Hammel from Phonak about Naida. Welcome, Diane!

Diane Hammel: Thank you very much for having me.

Smaka: My pleasure. Thanks for taking the time to speak with us today. Before we get into Naida, can you tell us a little bit about yourself and what you do for Phonak?

Hammel: I am Senior Product Manager at Phonak US, which means that I manage the introduction of new products into the United States market, and existing products through their life cycles. I've been with Phonak for almost four years, and in product management for two years. Before I joined Phonak I'd been in a private practice setting and I had the opportunity to fit many, many patients. Bringing that extensive dispensing experience to my current position has been a real advantage.

Smaka: Thank you. Naida looks very innovative and there's a lot to talk about. Can you start by telling us about the Naida SoundRecover technology?

Hammel: Yes, we're very excited about the SoundRecover, non linear frequency compression. It is a Phonak propriety algorithm which is designed to compress and shift high frequencies into an adjacent area of audible hearing. This unique approach enables high frequency information to be compressed while producing a minimum of artifacts. As a result high frequency sounds, like fricative consonants, women's and children voices, birds chirping and microwave beeping, to name just a few, become audible.

Smaka: Is Naida is targeted to wearers with more significant hearing losses?

Hammel: That is correct. Naida UltraPower was released at the end of January and is our highest power instrument. It has 80dB of peak gain and 141 dB SPL maximum output, so you can imagine how significant a hearing loss we can reach with Naida UP. We also now offer Naida SuperPower, which is smaller but still very powerful. Its maximum gain is 75 dB and 136 dB SPL max output. With these instruments wearers with a moderate-severe to profound hearing loss have a unique new choice.

Smaka: It's clear why technology like SoundRecover would be important for that target group.

Hammel: Exactly, because the greater the degree of hearing loss, the greater the degree of high frequency hearing loss. Conventional amplification cannot provide sufficient high frequency amplification to allow audibility of these important sounds. By compressing those higher frequency signals into adjacent areas of audibility Naida provides more hearing and an unprecedented clarity of speech, and better hearing in background noise. Significant benefits especially for an enduser population that is challenged due the degree of their hearing loss.

Smaka: Are there any demos available for professionals to hear SoundRecover or tools to help counsel patients regarding this technology?

Hammel: Absolutely, there are demos that are very helpful on the Naida website, www.naida.phonak.com. You will find demos of how SoundRecover sounds, and comparisons of sound quality with and without SoundRecover. The website also has some very impressive recordings that demonstrate clearly how the speech quality of wearers improves after use of Naida with SoundRecover. That's been one of the most exciting and touching outcomes of Naida. To be able to hear the improvements in own speech clarity for both children and adults is nothing short of amazing.

We are very excited to be able to such exceptional benefits. Speaking for myself, one of the primary reasons that audiology was appealing to me as a profession was because I could positively impact the quality of life of my patients. When you can help individuals with a significant hearing loss to hear better, then we also give them the opportunity to perform better academically, socially or at work. You are really making a big difference and this feels really good. That is what Naida has been able to do and we have some terrific testimonials and reports about how wonderfully the product is working out in the real world. The most amazing thing about SoundRecover is that wearers seem to adapt to it rather quickly. On the average we have found that it takes 4 weeks to fully adjust.

Smaka: Can you also tell us about some of the other features of Naida?

Hammel: Sure, Naida was built on our new CORE platform. It's a highly versatile platform with great features and high performance processors made even smaller so we can provide not only new wireless functionalities but also further miniaturize the instruments.

We have the ability now to do fittings that don't require cables, which is a real convenience for hearing professionals as well as the patients.



iCube - CableFree Fitting Device

CORE technology allows us to provide terrific automatic we call SoundFlow. The main advantage of this sophisticated feature is the seamless transition between settings, maintaining constant audibility. What's been very exciting about SoundFlow is that it's been so widely accepted in Naida without perceived loss of audibility or clarity by these power users.

Smaka: Naida seems to be really optimized for end wearers in mind who have severe to profound hearing loss when we're seeing so much in the industry is going the other way, toward open fitting. It's great to see a really innovative new product for these wearers.

Hammel: We're very excited about that and if the response we have had from hearing professionals and end users is any indication, so are they!

Smaka: Feedback is often an issue with this group. Does Naida have effective feedback management?

Hammel: Yes Naida has our latest feedback suppression technology, WhistleBlock. It allows for as much as 20 dB added stable gain which is a significant benefit in any fitting, but is particularly important in a power fitting. This gives us the confidence that we can, without compromise, meet targets and provide the needed audibility.

Smaka: You had mentioned wireless programming earlier. What other wireless capabilities does Naida have?

Hammel: Since Naida was designed with the end user with severe hearing loss in mind there are a lot of additional applications and tools available. It's of course FM compatible and has an elegant integrated FM receiver or a universal FM receiver with an AudioShoe. You can also use Naida with all of our new wireless accessories. iCom allows to pair Naida with up to eight Bluetooth devices such as cell phones, TV and MP3 players. Direct audio plug-in is also possible For Naida wearers in particular, there are distinct advantages to using iCom with a cell phone. With iCom wearers experience binaural streaming of the phone signal to both Naida hearing instruments enabling much better hearing especially when in noise.

Naida features an elegant integrated FM receiver

Smaka: We know children have certain needs in terms of hearing aid fittings. What does Naida offer for pediatric fittings?

Hammel: There are several components that are unique to Naida and pediatric fittings. One is that when you order any Naida you can request a pediatric (Junior) model, and automatically receive the hearing aid with a mini- earhook and our new tamperproof solution that is very easy to use. It allows to turn the hearing instrument off while the battery remains safely locked. Removing the battery does not require a special tool. This is exactly what customers have been asking for.

Also, in our fitting software we now have a dedicated pediatric Junior Mode. Phonak designed the Junior Mode with the input of a pediatric advisory board as well as many pediatric specialists. They provided input in the selection of defaults for pediatric fittings based on two age groups: 0-4 years and 5-8 years. The fitter simply selects the age group and all the default settings are automatically loaded into the hearing instrument. The professional has the option to customize the defaults if they have specific preferences for their pediatric fittings. The Junior Mode is a tool that can in fact be used with any Phonak product that can be fit with iPFG.


Naida Junior models are dedicated to the unique needs of children with significant hearing loss

Smaka: What kinds of outcomes are you seeing with children wearing Naida?

Hammel: We're very encouraged by the outcomes that we've seen thus far for Naida pediatric fittings. SoundRecover has been tested extensively, including a study conducted by Prof. Susan Scollie at the University of Western Ontario in Canada. Publication of the first two articles resulting from this study is pending, they have been submitted to Ear and Hearing. In this study nearly all subjects had significant improvement on at least one speech recognition test and stable vowel recognition scores. In addition, many demonstrated objective and subjective benefit and most preferred the SoundRecover processing strategy over conventional processing. These very encouraging results supporting the benefits of SoundRecover non-linear compression strategy in pediatric fittings.

Smaka: Those are amazing results. They are mainly attributed to SoundRecover?

Hammel: Yes. This is the only variable that was was different. We had a unique opportunity to partner with independent researchers and systematically look at outcomes, both subjective and objective. Phonak is committed to obtaining evidence-based results, and hearing professionals rightly expect them.



Naida models are available in 18 colors

Smaka: Earlier you mentioned testimonials and reports from end users. Can you share some of that?

Hammel: As product manager I solicit feedback from hearing professionals and end users alike. I get to hear terrific stories about benefit and improved quality of life that we so enjoy sharing. It's my opportunity to vicariously fit hearing aids even though I'm not clinically active anymore.

I received an email yesterday about a young man who's been a really tough fit. He's very particular about how he hears, and has adjusted very well to Naida and to the SoundRecover signal processing. His audiologist is delighted with his progress so far. I also recently received a letter from a gentleman in California who is not only very severely hearing impaired, but is also visually impaired. He is a skier and uses a guide. He hasn't been able to ski for several years because he just couldn't hear well enough and the wind noise was also very disturbing. He was fit with Naida and he's been out skiing seven times since! And, when he gets hot and sweaty, he benefits from the fact that Naida is water resistant. He's been able to hear without having difficulty even with wind noise and he's back to doing something that he really enjoys without having to worry about sweat or humidity.

Water resistance is so important. We know that end users in this hearing loss category wear their hearing aids hard and for many hours a day. The Naída water resistant housing allows wearers to use their instruments while doing rigorous labor, strenuously exercising, being active outdoors in humid climates or even when unexpectedly caught in the rain.

Smaka: Is there anything else that we should let our readers know about Naida before we wrap?

Hammel: I encourage them to visit the Naida website, www.naida.phonak.com. There's a tremendous amount of information there. We provide extensive information on SoundRecover, including a recommended verification protocol for SoundRecover, background stories, sound samples, speech samples, color choices and specifications all in one place.

I would encourage everyone to fit their next patient in this hearing loss category with Naida and find out for themselves how satisfying it can be to provide exceptional benefit for this population.

Smaka: Naida sounds like a very exciting and innovative new product from Phonak! For more information about Naida, please visit www.naida.phonak.com as well as the Phonak web channel here at AudiologyOnline, www.audiologyonline.com/channels/phonak.asp.

Thanks much Diane, and we look forward to hearing more from you and from Phonak in the future.

Hammel: My pleasure and thank you for having me.



About Phonak

Headquartered near Zurich, Switzerland, Phonak has developed, produced and globally distributed state-of-the-art hearing systems and wireless devices for over 50 years. The combination of expertise in hearing technology, mastery in acoustics and strong cooperation with hearing care professionals allows Phonak to significantly improve people's hearing ability and speech understanding and therefore their quality of life.

Phonak offers a complete range of digital hearing instruments and wireless communication systems. With 2,500 employees worldwide, Phonak drives innovation and sets new industry benchmarks regarding miniaturization and performance.