Cochlear Partners With Apple to Introduce World's First Made for iPhone Hearing Implant

Cochlear Limited has announced the Cochlear Nucleus 7 Sound Processor, the world's first Made for iPhone cochlear implant sound processor.

Approved by the FDA in June, the Nucleus 7 Sound Processor now lets users stream sound from a compatible iPhone, iPad and iPod touch directly to their sound processor. They can also control, monitor and customize their hearing on their iPhone or iPod touch through the Nucleus Smart App available to download for free from the App Store.

“The approval of the Nucleus 7 Sound Processor is a turning point for people with hearing loss, opening the door for them to make phone calls, listen to music in high-quality stereo sound, watch videos and have FaceTime calls streamed directly to their cochlear implant,” explains CEO Chris Smith. “This new sound processor builds on our long-standing commitment to help more people with hearing loss connect with others and live a full life.”

The Nucleus 7 Sound Processor offers a range of features with the Nucleus Smart App. The new Hearing Tracker feature records coil-offs time (each time the sound processor coil does not detect the implant coil, such as if it has fallen off a child's head) and time in speech (which measures the amount of time you spend in speech environments in hours, including FM and streaming). The Nucleus Smart App Find My Processor feature helps locate a lost sound processor by using Location Services to determine the last place the sound processor was connected to the paired iPhone or iPod touch, whether it has been lost on the playground, in the house or in the car.

Other implants and hearing aids have used iOS apps to control their features as well; however, Cochlear's is the first to be controlled by the iPhone itself. To facilitate this, Apple has developed a free protocol that hearing aid and implant manufactures can use with their devices.

“We wanted to see something that could become ubiquitous out in the world,” Apple’s Sarah Herrlinger, senior manager for global accessibility policy and initiatives told TechCrunch. “We want everybody to use our technology and to say ‘wow my iPhone is the best piece of technology I’ve ever used before’…with every iteration of our operating system our goal is to add in new accessibility features in order to expand the support that we can give to people all over the world.”


To control your hearing aid settings you navigate to Settings -> General -> Accessibility. Under the 'Hearing Devices' section you should see your device.

More details at the link below...

Read More