Advanced Bionics Mentor Training

Lily's Dad and I are now official Advanced Bionics Mentors, after going out to Valencia, California and meeting the AB staff, touring the facility again and hearing why Advanced Bionics is the leading Cochlear Implant manufacturer in the world. 

We had previously committed ourselves to helping anyone on a CI journey, but hadn't really thought of ourselves as mentors or advocates on behalf of the AB brand, until we attended the recent training.  

What we understand now about Advanced Bionics is:

1) AB is first in total system reliability.  That means their internal device is over 99% reliable and their external processor has the lowest average 3-month failure rate of only less than 1%.  We've had no problems at all after 18 months of use.

2) AB has the best hearing performance with their:

• HiRes for the best hearing in noise, music and speech development.  And with HiRes 120 I think people are hearing even better, especially music.
• Auto Sound - You don't ever have to change the programs. You set it and forget it.  Even on the BWP, we set the controls and never move them.  The Input Dynamic Range (IDR)/Window is 80dbs, that is the widest of any implant, letting in the most sound possible.
• T-Mic for the most natural hearing and wireless connectivity.  We don't use the T-mic yet, but compared to a regular BTE mic, there are huge sound and usability advantages.  We love the off the ear Mic with the BWP which allows nothing on the ear, but still maintains the same language and listening advantages as the Harmony.  This is critical for a pre-language learner.  

3) Upgradeability without surgery - This was a big one when we made our choice. The internal device is so sophisticated, the software potential is tremendous.  Will Lily have to have another surgery in her lifetime?  I'm certain of it.  But who knows when and what that next iteration will be.  Hopefully it is 20+ years from now. 

4) Outstanding Service - We've had a great experience with the staff, but didn't really test out the service before we selected AB.  Now I would call the company if I was making a choice again and ask dozens of questions.  Also I can't testify to the customer service/technical support because we've never had to use it. That is a good testimony.

For me some of the new comparative studies done by independent centers around the world are a big reason I am excited by AB.  These studies demonstrate that the Advanced Bionics implant with some of its unique components is outperforming its competitors.  While we guessed that their sound performance was best when making this decision for Lily, now the research is confirming it  (citations and research available on request).

Comments

[Cloggy]

Always good to hear that the choice of CI living up to expectations, but I agree... when looking and deciding which system the choose.... it's difficult.

I'm really interested in those articles you talked about. The comparisons and other recommendations...

You have my email addres...