Empowering Cochlear Implant Users in Their Home Environment by eHealth Solutions

Abstract

In the chapter, the authors address the prescient need to update accepted care models of cochlear implant (CI) fitting and long-term maintenance to better utilize self-care and tele-medicine possibilities, thus shifting the focus of CI maintenance to the recipient. There is a strong evidence base that such a move will better meet the needs of CI users, giving them greater control of and involvement in their hearing progress. Simultaneously, such an approach can better meet present shortcomings in the market acceptance and delivery of the benefit of cochlear implants, particularly in the elderly segment of the population, where device penetration of the market remains low (c. 7%). Such initiatives make it viable to reach many more users, as the present models are prohibitively expensive for such expansion. A case study of pilot software for CI maintenance based on tele-audiology is described with the inclusion of data collected from initial studies.