Nucleus® smart sound processing technology
Whether in a restaurant, playground or office, let the sound processor do the work by automatically adapting to the environment.
What you'll find on this page
- Why two microphones are better than one.
- How SmartSound® iQ with SCAN* technology adapts to the environment.
- How data logging helps a hearing health professional.
Our technology makes hearing easier — especially in noise
Every day adults and children are moving through different hearing environments. Their sound processor should give them the possible hearing, no matter where they are.
Cochlear™ Nucleus® sound processors feature our latest smart sound processing technology to help adults and children automatically adjust their hearing in any surrounding.
Features include:
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Dual microphones to help filter out background noise.1
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Automatic sound processing to help make hearing easier.1-3
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Technology that helps adults and children hear more clearly during face-to-face conversations when there's background noise.4,5
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Data logging to give a hearing health professional information about how adults and children use their device for possible program adjustments.
Two synchronised microphones help filter out background noise
Having more than one microphone on a sound processor can help adults and children focus on what they want to hear.
Cochlear's dual-microphones deliver better hearing performance compared to a single microphone.1 The two microphones help automatically filter background noise, so adults and children hear more of what they want.
"With the Cochlear implant I don't have a problem understanding my family, my wife and my daughter."
- Mathias, Cochlear™ implant recipient
Sound processors that adapt to the environment – automatically
Our SmartSound® iQ function with SCAN* technology is designed to replicate natural hearing. It captures sound and adapts to the environment without the need for manual adjustments.1-3
How it works:
- Dual microphones capture and filter sound.
- The industry's first automatic scene classifier, SCAN, analyses the surroundings and identifies the listening environment as one of six scenes, such as quiet, noisy or windy.
- The SmartSound iQ function then automatically optimises the sound and adjusts the setting for different hearing conditions to provide their hearing.
The Nucleus 7 and Kanso 2 Sound Processors also feature ForwardFocus**, an option designed to help adults and children hear better in challenging and noisy environments.4,5
Once your hearing health professional enables ForwardFocus, an adult or child can switch it on through their Nucleus Smart App when they want to reduce noise coming from behind and focus on the conversation in front of them.
Data logging: vital information for a hearing health professional
Life is busy. Some days it's tough for adults and children to remember how they're using their sound processor. But data logging technology automatically tracks usage and records the information which can then be accessed by a hearing health professional through programming software.
A hearing health professional can review the data for trends and important information that shows how the system is working for an adult or child.
They can make any adjustments accordingly, to be sure the adult or child is always hearing well.
For parents, data logging adds confidence that their child is getting the most benefit from their Nucleus system.
It also means a hearing health professional can download information about a child’s hearing, such as:
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How many hours per day they're using the cochlear implant.
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The different sound environments they experience in a day.
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The volume levels they use throughout the day.
Track how an adult or child hears
Another special feature of the Nucleus Smart App^, the Hearing Tracker feature, gives direct access to usage information. This is available with the Nucleus 7 and Kanso 2 Sound Processors.
With the Hearing Tracker in the Nucleus Smart App, adults and children can monitor important information about how an adult or child is using the sound processor.
The Hearing Tracker shows:
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Time in speech: The amount of time adults and children hear in speaking environments is a goal that helps them monitor how they're using their sound processor.
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Coil Offs: This is the number of times the sound processor was disconnected from the implant on a given day, telling an adult or child how many times it was removed.#
It's helpful to establish a baseline number of coil offs to try and minimise them. For parents, they can monitor how often their child removes their sound processor.
More information
Disclaimer
Please seek advice from your health professional about treatments for hearing loss. Outcomes may vary, and your health professional will advise you about the factors which could affect your outcome. Always follow the directions for use. Not all products are available in all countries. Please contact your local Cochlear representative for product information.
For a full list of Cochlear’s trademarks, please visit our Terms of Use page.
Views expressed are those of the individual. Consult your health professional to determine if you are a candidate for Cochlear technology.
* SNR-NR, WNR and SCAN are approved for use with any recipient ages 6 years and older, who is able to 1) complete objective speech perception testing in quiet and in noise in order to determine and document performance 2) report a preference for different program settings.
** ForwardFocus is a clinican-enabled, user-controlled feature. It should only be activated for users 12 years and older who are able to reliably provide feedback on sound quality and understand how to use the feature when moving to different or changing environments. It may be possible to have decreased speech understanding when using ForwardFocus in a quiet environment.# The coil offs feature in the Nucleus Smart App is not available for Nucleus 22 implant recipients.
^ The Cochlear Nucleus Smart App is available on App Store and Google Play. For complete smartphone compatibility information, please visit www.cochlear.com/compatibility
Apple, the Apple logo, Apple Watch, FaceTime, Made for iPad logo, Made for iPhone logo, Made for iPod logo, iPhone, iPad Pro, iPad Air, iPad mini, iPad and iPod touch are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. App Store is a service mark of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries.
Android is a trademark of Google LLC. The Android robot is reproduced or modified from work created and shared by Google and used according to terms described in the Creative Commons 3.0 Attribution License. Google Play and the Google Play logo are trademarks of Google LLC.
For a list of compatible Apple and Android devices go to www.cochlear.com/compatibility.
References
- Mauger SJ, et al. Clinical outcomes with the Kanso off-the-ear cochlear implant sound processor. Int J Audiol. 2017, Apr; 56(4): 267-276. [Sponsored by Cochlear].
- Mauger SJ, et al. Clinical evaluation of the Nucleus 6 cochlear implant system: performance improvements with SmartSound iQ. Int J Audiol. 2014, Aug; 53(8): 564-576. [Sponsored by Cochlear].
- Wolfe J, et al. Benefits of Adaptive Signal Processing in a Commercially Available Cochlear Implant Sound Processor. Otol Neurotol. 2015 Aug;36(7):1181-90.
- Cochlear Limited. D1660797. CP1150 Sound Processor Interim Clinical Investigation Report. 2020; Jan.
- Cochlear Limited. D1376556. CLTD 5709 Clinical Evaluation of Nucleus 7 Cochlear Implant System. 2018;Jan.