Lesson Learned: Get multiple opinions.
I decided to take the plunge. I returned to the clinic that I was originally scheduled to have the procedure. The doctor that I met with before had left the practice but the clinic's founder was still there and he had worked with the prestigious House Ear Clinic in Los Angeles. I had another audiogram done and met with him. It went well and we scheduled a surgery date to have the same Oticon Ponto Plus Power implanted that was planned last year.
The device selection was much easier than for the cochlear implant. In this case, there were only two companies offering products: Oticon and Cochlear Corporation. While Cochlear's Baha 5 was the newest product on the market, it was ten dB (or 10 times) less powerful than Oticon's Power model. The higher power products from Cochlear were all based on very old electronics and software so they were not very competitive.
Nothing has been easy or quick in this process so far. A couple of days after this meeting, Cochlear Corporation announced that they had a new Baha 5 Power that would be available soon. This was a higher power version of the Baha 5 introduced a year and a half earlier. I was eager to get closure on this lengthy process, perhaps almost as much as anyone making this far reading this journal. Still, I didn't want to undergo surgery to have the implant done without considering all the options.
I contacted Cochlear Corporation and asked if there was any way to try a Baha 5 Power. Their customer engagement specialist was able to arrange for me to try it for a full weekend. Hats off to Cochlear for their customer responsiveness. I was amazed that they were willing to let me borrow their brand new product, worth about $6000 for the weekend, a week or two before they would even get a chance to show it off to the audiologists!
I delayed the surgery two more weeks to accommodate the test period with the device and meet with another audiologist at a different clinic.
The test period went well. This was the first time even getting to hold a Baha device. Again, I was pleased with the audio quality but it just didn't seem to jump out at me. I think it was not "mapped" to my hearing loss well and was even for the wrong ear so it might have been further misconfigured. Still, it reminded me that the bone conduction technology was a viable solution.
Baha's device is designed around connecting directly with iPhone's using Bluetooth Low Energy model. This offers a great set of capabilities but unfortunately recent iOS updates seem to have made the pairing very unreliable. Reading through app store reviews and forum comments, people seemed to have unresolved problems. I had a connection working for about four minutes in six hours of trying. Perhaps an iOS update would fix the problem but it was also possible that Apple's efforts to secure Bluetooth would leave it never working correctly, even with the brand new Baha 5 Power. The result is that Bluetooth being built into the processor should be a huge advantage of the Baha over the Oticon Ponto models, it doesn't help at if it doesn't work reliably. Also, I'm currently using an Android so while I tested with an old iPhone, I would be effectively locking myself into a Apple.
The Baha 5 Power demo was configured with a metal band instead of the soft elastic headband. The metal band pressed so tight it became painful after only a couple of hours. If I had not used the elastic headband before, I might have blamed the bone conduction system. As it was, I knew not to blame the Baha for the headband.
Lesson Learned: Test bone conduction devices with a headband. Preferably for at least a weekend but two weeks would be better.
The Oticon Pontos seem to be more resistant to the whistling of feedback. This was important to me but noticeable even to family members.
In terms of sound quality, it is hard to judge. The latest audiologist I met with let me demo for a short time both a Baha 5 and an Oticon Ponto Plus mapped for my hearing loss. She said the power was unnecessary and she was the only one that said the non-power would be preferred over the power for me. I still took advantage of trying to try them both side by side for an hour. The sound was different but similar in overall quality between the Baha and the Oticon. They did seem softer though, probably because of not having enough power. I think that she just looked at my low and mid range frequency losses and was using the processor to provide better hearing to that side rather than blasting the power strong enough to be picked up by the good ear.
Lesson Learned: Make sure that the device is mapped to your hearing.
Lesson Learned: If possible, try competing products side by side.
In the end, I looked at all the options. I ended up sticking with the Oticon Ponto Plus Power for the following reasons:
- Better resistance to feedback
- Mature product
- Equal support of both Apple & Android
- Higher clinic familiarity
- Seemingly better waterproofness (Baha doesn't have IP ratings but claims to be similar)
- "Universal" abutment - a Baha can be installed on an Oticon screw but Cochlear redesigned their abutment so that Oticon's devices can no longer attach.
- Slightly smaller size
- Option of the magnetic attachment under the skin - it is not too hard to switch from the abutment sticking through the skin to a magnet under the skin or the reverse
- Bluetooth built into the device for use with iPhones (if they can get it working!)
- Newer electronics and software-presumably 1.5 years of advancement should have some benefit
- Company responsiveness - I was really impressed with my interactions with the company
A week before surgery, I told the clinic to keep the order of the Oticon Ponto Plus Power. I was now set with a device on order and a surgery date of June 30th! It was a relief to be done with the decisions.
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