Wireless CROS Versus Transcranial CROS for Unilateral Hearing Loss

Abstract

Eight subjects with unilateral hearing loss were fitted with wireless CROS and transcranial BTE CROS hearing aids. Results revealed that two subjects preferred the BTE transcranial CROS; four subjects preferred the wireless CROS; one subject found both hearing aid systems to be equally satisfactory; and one subject rejected both CROS fittings. In addition, a fitting strategy is introduced using probe microphone analysis to: (a) measure trans-cranial thresholds (TCT) in the unaidable ear in dB SPL measured near the eardrum, and (b) determine the sensation level of the real ear aided response (REAR-TCT) for uncorrected and corrected speech-weighted noise. The results highlight some of the difficulties associated with successfully fitting a transcranial CROS hearing aid.