A clinical and real-world investigation of cochlear implant recipient speech performance in noise with the automation of ForwardFocus.

Objective: This study investigated the speech performance with and user acceptance of the Cochlear™ Nucleus^® 8 Sound Processor, with a particular focus on the automatic activation of the noise reduction feature, ForwardFocus (FF), in the new SCAN 2 program (SCAN 2 FF).

Design: Prospective, single-site, open-label within subject interventional study (NCT05080283).

Study sample: Twenty adult (>18 years of age) cochlear implant recipients with at least 6 months of experience with their cochlear implant system.

Results: There was a significant and clinically meaningful decrease (improvement) in SRT of 4.3 and 4.2 dB with the SCAN 2 FF program compared to the SCAN 2 program in the S0Nrearhalf and S0N3 configurations, respectively (both p < 0.001). Scores on the Speech Spatial and Qualities of Hearing Scale (SSQ12) were comparable between the Nucleus 7 and Nucleus 8 Sound Processors. Most participants provided positive subjective evaluations of the SCAN 2 FF program and the overall Nucleus 8 Sound Processor following take-home use.

Conclusion: The SCAN 2 FF program on the Nucleus 8 Sound Processor offers cochlear implant recipients a clinically meaningful benefit for speech recognition in noise.