Comparison of the TEMPO plus ear-level speech processor and the CISPRO plus body-worn processor in adult MED-EL cochlear implant users

A study was conducted to compare the new MED-EL TEMPO+ ear-level speech pro cessor with the CIS PRO+ body-worn processor in the COMBI 40/COMBI 40+ impl ant system. Speech tests were performed in 46 experienced subjects in two t est sessions approximately 4 weeks apart. Subjects were switched over from the CIS PRO+ to the TEMPO+ in the first session and used only the TEMPO+ in the time between the two sessions. Speech tests included monosyllabic word tests and sentence tests via the telephone. An adaptive noise method was u sed to adjust each subject's scores to approximately 50%. Additionally, sub jects had to complete a questionnaire based on their 4 weeks of experience with the TEMPO+. The speech test results showed a statistically significant improvement in the monosyllabic word scores with the TEMPO+. In addition, in the second session, subjects showed a significant improvement when using the telephone with the TEMPO+, indicating some learning in this task. In t he questionnaire, the vast majority of subjects found that the TEMPO+ allow s equal or better speech understanding and rated the sound quality of the T EMPO+ higher. All these objective and subjective results indicate the super iority of the TEMPO+ and are mainly attributed to a new coding strategy cal led CIS+ and its implementation in the TEMPO+. In other words,based on the results of this study, it appears that after switching over from the CIS PR O+ to the TEMPO+, subjects are able to maintain or even improve their own s peech understanding capability. Copyright (C) 2001 S. Karger AG, Basel.