Med-El thoughts

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mif

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Hi All,

I am a new member of this forum and will be having CI surgery next month. Am trying to decide between Cochlear and Med-El. It seems to me that most folks on here have Cochlear and certainly Cochlear is the most visible, aggressive, and public company- but I am wondering if folks can be a little reflexive as to WHY this is. I have a few questions and would really appreciate feedback:
1. What kind of experiences have people had with Cochlear marketers and other companies' marketers?
2. In terms of Med-El- the new processor has no switches on the device, which has seemed to cause a lot of trepidation/concern among people (including me!). What do people think about that? I know there is a remote, but who wants to carry the remote around? Do most people with CIs tend to switch programs a lot or does it make sense that there are no switches? It seems to me that this could either be a very smart move or a not-so-smart one-- what do people think?

Thanks so much for your comments!
Michele
 
I think it has to do with being more comfortable the the company itself as none of us can really compare which implant is better without experiencing what other brands are like for our type of deafness. So we look at the features the implant and the reliablity of the company instead.

Whatever you pick, I don't think you can't go wrong.

I wouldn't like the remote either... I got enough to carry as it is.. like my cellphone and such and I lose these things.
 
to me it seems like the manufacturers are ranked like this:
1: Cochlear
2: Advanced Bionics
3: Med-El

That's what it seems to me. Cochlear's been around much longer than the other 2, and is commonly the preferred implant it seems. Has to do with reliability and such.


It could be possible that the Med-El device has no switches on the processor because it makes the changes for you according to situation? I have no idea. I know with Advanced Bionics, it will switch programming depending on situation automatically, you don't have to make the switch yourself. No clue if that's the case for Med-El. Cochlear, I think you make the switch yourself, but I'm not sure. I'm only more knowledgeable about Advanced Bionics since that's the one I'm choosing for myself (there's no remotes with AB devices, and I certainly don't want a remote, I find them annoying). But all 3 are good devices, it's just a matter of which one you think will work best for you in terms of preferences, etc. For some people, the remote is very handy to have, but for others it's just an awkward nuisance.

You can always speak with the CI audie about each of the implants too and why they function the way they function. He/she may be able to tell you. I don't know.

Definitely look around online, and try to get in contact with folks who have different devices, find out how they feel about using a remote vs. not having a remote, that sort of thing.
 
don't know anything about CIs.. but on the topic of remotes.. i have one for my HA and it's pretty useful. Don't know how often CI users change programs, but if you do it a lot it can be useful.. however, mine changes both HAs, so it does save me time.
*EQL*
 
Cochlear's implant has a remote and controls on the bte as well. I have never liked Med-El's processors but again that choice you have to make based on what works best for you.
 
My daughter has Advanced Bionics. I chose it because I feel like their technology is way better than Cochlear. BUT- I did not research Med-El, (because their customer service was terrible and they never got back to me).

For what it's worth, that was our experience.
 
I researched the 3 brands pretty extensively a couple of years ago when Li-Li got her first, and focused in on some specifics a year ago when she went bilateral: and I came away feeling that all non-technological things being equal, all three are great systems and we'd be equally satisfied with any one. Having more electrodes in the Cochlear array was interesting to me bc I thought that might allow for more potential for retrofitting future tech using the implanted array, but I never fully got my head around the issues around the distinctions between the approaches the different brands employ in the spacing of the array, so I didn't let that drive the decisions. As Lighthouse said, you really can't go wrong with these 3.

All other things aren't equal, though so after the implants themselves, we looked at the surgical aspect; our hospital's success rate, our surgeon's experience and found that two were far more familiar to our hospital (AB and Cochlear) and our surgeon had extensive experience implanting one in particular (Cochlear). At our hospital, there had been several re-implantations required on the AB side due to device failure (although I'm certain that was due to a limited issue that is no longer a problem, so that didn't impact our decision). Surgeon experience weighed most heavily.

Also important: which were our cochlear clinic's audiologists more familiar with, with which did they have more training? Those mappings are critical, for a very long time. Very close between AB and Cochlear, although they reported that they had more toddlers w/Cochlear, but more teenagers chose AB because AB external equipment looked very much cooler (this was pre-N5, of course, and I also thought the AB looked a lot more cool!). Li-Li was in diapers, though, so she forfeited any attempt at coolness right there and then.

We chose Cochlear, and considered an AB for the second side a year later, to provide all possible benefits, but again, surgeon experience and concern that the different strategies employed by the two processors might conflict led us back to Cochlear.

I received the same type and volume of marketing and informational material from Cochlear and AB upon request -- all very welcome, no hard sell at all -- nothing really from Medel.

Beth [Li-Li's Mom]
 
My uncle is a candidate for a CI. He is having the surgery done this summer. Once he gives his report, I will report back here.
 
mif said:
Hi All,

I am a new member of this forum and will be having CI surgery next month. Am trying to decide between Cochlear and Med-El. It seems to me that most folks on here have Cochlear and certainly Cochlear is the most visible, aggressive, and public company- but I am wondering if folks can be a little reflexive as to WHY this is. I have a few questions and would really appreciate feedback:
1. What kind of experiences have people had with Cochlear marketers and other companies' marketers?
2. In terms of Med-El- the new processor has no switches on the device, which has seemed to cause a lot of trepidation/concern among people (including me!). What do people think about that? I know there is a remote, but who wants to carry the remote around? Do most people with CIs tend to switch programs a lot or does it make sense that there are no switches? It seems to me that this could either be a very smart move or a not-so-smart one-- what do people think?

Thanks so much for your comments!
Michele
Click to expand...
Hello Michele

Ive just had medel implanted last week, and Ive been looking for over 2 years as to what 1 i wanted, as other user said it doesnt really matter as such, they all serve their purpose and are GOOD. I went for MEDEL so I can tune to what i need, and being a remote control freak lol thats other reason. I myself would sooner use remote than touch the c.i like people who used to fiddle about with hearing aids, Ive never had hearing aids, just other people telling me. but they all GOOD...also looking at Medel it was nice and slim and ajustable for comfort, nice colour for grey parts on side of my head lol..

Michele the choice is yours and whatever you choOse will be Good, AND good luck....
 
2 years on

GrendelQ said:
I researched the 3 brands pretty extensively a couple of years ago when Li-Li got her first, and focused in on some specifics a year ago when she went bilateral: and I came away feeling that all non-technological things being equal, all three are great systems and we'd be equally satisfied with any one. Having more electrodes in the Cochlear array was interesting to me bc I thought that might allow for more potential for retrofitting future tech using the implanted array, but I never fully got my head around the issues around the distinctions between the approaches the different brands employ in the spacing of the array, so I didn't let that drive the decisions. As Lighthouse said, you really can't go wrong with these 3.

All other things aren't equal, though so after the implants themselves, we looked at the surgical aspect; our hospital's success rate, our surgeon's experience and found that two were far more familiar to our hospital (AB and Cochlear) and our surgeon had extensive experience implanting one in particular (Cochlear). At our hospital, there had been several re-implantations required on the AB side due to device failure (although I'm certain that was due to a limited issue that is no longer a problem, so that didn't impact our decision). Surgeon experience weighed most heavily.

Also important: which were our cochlear clinic's audiologists more familiar with, with which did they have more training? Those mappings are critical, for a very long time. Very close between AB and Cochlear, although they reported that they had more toddlers w/Cochlear, but more teenagers chose AB because AB external equipment looked very much cooler (this was pre-N5, of course, and I also thought the AB looked a lot more cool!). Li-Li was in diapers, though, so she forfeited any attempt at coolness right there and then.

We chose Cochlear, and considered an AB for the second side a year later, to provide all possible benefits, but again, surgeon experience and concern that the different strategies employed by the two processors might conflict led us back to Cochlear.

I received the same type and volume of marketing and informational material from Cochlear and AB upon request -- all very welcome, no hard sell at all -- nothing really from Medel.

Beth [Li-Li's Mom]
Click to expand...
no hard sell at all -- nothing really from Medel.
Things have changed or they have this side of the pond, Medel never left me alone for over a year when I asked questions,they were very good, even had a visit from them, where as other were just postage coming in my door lol.

But you are right all 3 are GOOOOOOOOD....

i had my op last week
 
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