Artikel
Remote Fitting and Measurement in Nucleus Cochlear Implant Patients
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Veröffentlicht: | 8. Juli 2008 |
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Gliederung
Text
Remote measurement and fitting of cochlear implant patients can potentially reduce the travel effort of patients which could be beneficial for patients in large territorial states without access to local cochlear implant centres, as well as save working time of audiological professionals doing intra-operative measurements and speech processor fittings. This study is conducted to investigate if commercially available, internet-based video-conferencing technologies are suitable for remote fitting and measurement in patients with Nucleus cochlear implants.
Intra-operative measurements were conducted where the audiologist controlling the measurement software was not in the operating theatre. Post-operative fitting was conducted in two fitting sessions for each recipient. In the local fitting session the audiologist and recipient were in the same room; in the remote fitting session they were in different rooms. During remote measurement audio signals and during remote fitting audio and video signals were transmitted via the internet using video-conferencing technology. The fitting and measurement software were controlled remotely via the same internet link. All active participants' assessment of functionality and practicability of remote fitting and measurement was collected in questionnaires.
Preliminary results show that a bandwidth of 1 MBit/s is suitable for remote fitting, where remote control, bidirectional video and audio are used. Video transmission is not required for remote measurements. For the audiologist, remote intra-operative measurement seems to be time-efficient but remote fitting requires more time than local fitting.
Available technology can support remote fitting and measurement of patients with Nucleus cochlear implants.