Cochlear implants

Have your Cochlear Nucleus sound processor upgrade shipped Ready-to-Wear so that you can wear it right away

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If you want to wear your sound processor upgrade as soon as it arrives, choose Ready-to-Wear, a free-of-charge Cochlear service that loads programs to your new sound processor before it ships to you.

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Ready-to-Wear for Cochlear Nucleus sound processor upgrades

Getting a sound processor upgrade can be an exciting and anticipated occasion. The upgrade process typically takes 6-8 weeks from order placement to receiving your new sound processor in the mail. Did you know there is an option of receiving your new Cochlear™ Nucleus or Kanso sound processor upgrade pre-programmed so you can wear the new device right away?

What is Ready-to-Wear1?

1. Ready-to-Wear is a free of charge service provided by Cochlear. Before your sound processor upgrade ships from Cochlear, our Hear Always Team will pre-load programs onto the device so that you can wear it as soon as it arrives to you in the mail.

2. To ensure you have access to the features of the latest sound processor technology, if your clinician approves it, we will program the processor with SCAN 2 and automated ForwardFocus2 in program slot 1. Your existing programs will then shift over one slot (P1 will become P2, P2 will become P3, etc.) If you have four programs in your existing MAP, the program that exists in program slot 4, will be removed. Manual ForwardFocus will be enabled on programs 2-4, but you will need to activate it via the Nucleus Smart App3

What is SCAN 24 with automated ForwardFocus?

SmartSound® iQ25 with SCAN 2 technology6789 senses the changes in your listening environment and automatically adjusts to help deliver clearer sound as you move through your day. The automated ForwardFocus feature more powerfully reduces background noise to help you hear sounds in front of you better. Because it is automated, you don’t need to actively switch between programs, the processor does it for you based on the environment.

Graphic explaining survey results from recipients: Did you know 2 out of 3 Nucleus 8 Sound Processor recipients surveyed say they now hear better in noisy environments; Ready-to-Wear for Cochlear Nucleus sound processor upgrades1011

What if I try automated ForwardFocus and don’t like it?

1. You can easily switch to one of your existing programs or manually activate ForwardFocus via the Nucleus Smart App.

2. You can always schedule an appointment with your audiologist if you need adjustments to any features or programs.

Why would you choose Ready-to-Wear?

Ready-to-Wear allows you to use your new sound processor right out of the box without having to first visit your audiologist for programming.

Hear from Nancy, who chose Ready-to-Wear for her sound processor upgrade.

How to choose Ready-to-Wear?

There are multiple ways to initiate an upgrade order:

1. Online via the online Cochlear store

2. Email upgrade@cochlear.com

3. Call Cochlear at 800-483-3123 option 1.

No matter where you place your upgrade order, the option is available to choose Ready-to-Wear.

Who qualifies for Ready-to-Wear?

1. Participants using the Ready-to-Wear program must be over the age of 5.

2. If you’ve visited your audiologist in the last 3 years, you’ll likely have programming that qualifies.

3. In order to qualify to have SCAN 2 and automated ForwardFocus enabled, you must be over the age of 12 and it must be approved by your clinician.

A recipient looking at her mobile phone showing her white Nucleus 8 Sound Processor, smiling and enjoying a cup of coffee; Ready-to-Wear for Cochlear Nucleus sound processor upgrades.

Who does not qualify for Ready-to-Wear?

Ready-to-Wear is not available for hybrid externals and certain implant types, including but not limited to ABI-CI4 implants, double array implants and N22 implants that are not currently paired with a Nucleus® 6 Sound Processor.

  • If you have an N22 implant and are currently wearing an Nucleus 6 Sound Processor, you may qualify to use Ready-to-Wear.
  • If your clinician decides that this option is not right for you or Cochlear is unable to program it, your sound processor will be shipped unprogrammed.

When do you need to visit your audiologist after receiving your sound processor Ready-to-Wear?

1. If you experience issues with retention or discomfort upon wearing your sound processor that has programs loaded through the Ready-to-Wear service, you’ll need to contact your audiologist immediately.

2. If you have a compatible ReSound12 hearing aid, you’ll need to visit your audiologist to have it linked with your upgraded sound processor to use smart bimodal streaming13.

3 .To activate advanced features or to adjust your programming, you can speak with your audiologist in your next appointment.

Who makes Ready-to-Wear possible?

1. Cochlear’s Hear Always Team is dedicated to ensuring recipients are in sound and to making the lives of recipients and clinicians a little easier. If a recipient needs a sound processor repaired or upgraded, this team works together and with clinicians to properly identify and load an individual’s unique programs onto the device before it is shipped. From working with

2. Cochlear’s customer service teams on order processing, to obtaining programming MAPS from clinics, to loading programs onto sound processors, they each provide strengths to allow for a processor to be delivered to a recipient Ready-to-Wear from the comfort of home. This is no small task, as the team often programs over 1,000 sound processors per month!

“We are Here Always to help you Hear Always.”

~Mike Solano, Hear Always Technician

 

Consider Ready-to-Wear when you place an order for a Cochlear Nucleus or Kanso sound processor upgrade. 

 

  1. Ready-to-Wear is available to recipients age 5 or older. The Ready-to-Wear service is not available for hybrid externals and certain implant types. For bimodal recipients with a compatible ReSound hearing aid to take advantage of smart bimodal streaming, they will need to visit their clinician to have the hearing aid and sound processor re-linked.
  2. ForwardFocus can only be enabled by a hearing implant specialist. It should only be activated for users 12 years and older who are able to reliably provide feedback on sound quality and understand how to use the feature when moving to different or changing environments.  It may be possible to have decreased speech understanding when using ForwardFocus in a quiet environment.
  3. The Cochlear Nucleus Smart App is available on App Store and Google Play. For compatibility information visit www.cochlear.com/compatibility.
  4. In the U.S., SNR-NR, WNR and SCAN are approved for use with any recipient ages 6 years and older who is able to 1) complete objective speech perception testing in quiet and in noise in order to determine and document performance 2) report a preference for different program settings.
  5. SmartSound® iQ (SSiQ) technology uses dual microphones to zoom in on preferred sounds, such as speech, and filter out surrounding noise.
  6. Mauger SJ, Warren C, Knight M, Goorevich M, Nel E. Clinical evaluation of the Nucleus 6 cochlear implant system: performance improvements with SmartSound iQ. International Journal of Audiology. 2014, Aug; 53(8): 564-576. [Sponsored by Cochlear].
  7. Mauger S, Jones M, Nel E, Del Dot J. Clinical outcomes with the Kanso™ off-the-ear cochlear implant sound processor. International Journal of Audiology.2017, Jan 9; 1-10. [Sponsored by Cochlear].
  8. Wolfe J, Neumann S, Marsh M, Schafer E, Lianos L, Gilden J, O’Neill L, Arkis P, Menapace C, Nel E, Jones M. Benefits of Adaptive Signal Processing in a
    Commercially Available Cochlear Implant Sound Processor. Otol Neurotol. 2015 Aug; 36(7):1181-90. [Sponsored by Cochlear].
  9. Cochlear Limited D1864200 SCAN 2 Design Description. 2023.
  10. Surveyed recipients who upgraded from Nucleus® 7 Sound Processor to Nucleus® 8 Sound Processor with SmartSound® iQ2 with SCAN2 and ForwardFocus technology enabled.
  11. ForwardFocus can only be enabled by a hearing implant specialist. It should only be activated for users 12 years and older who are able to reliably provide feedback on sound quality and understand how to use the feature when moving to different or changing environments.  It may be possible to have decreased speech understanding when using ForwardFocus in a quiet environment. In the U.S., SNR-NR, WNR and SCAN are approved for use with any recipient ages 6 years and older who is able to 1) complete objective speech perception testing in quiet and in noise in order to determine and document performance 2) report a preference for different program settings.
  12. ReSound is a trademark of GN Hearing A/S
  13. For compatibility information and devices, visit cochlear.com/compatibility and resound.com/compatibility.
Jen Schulz
Jen Schulz is an Associate Marketing Manager and has worked for Cochlear since 2016. She is responsible for creating and publishing recipient services content and communications. Jen was born and raised in New York but now calls Colorado home. She enjoys baking in her spare time and spending time with her husband and 2 dogs.

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