Oticon just announced the very first invisible IIC and CIC hearing aids with DNN and AI, the Oticon Own SI. The SI is an upgrade to the famous Oticon Own series of custom-made hearing aids which were well known for the comfort and quality of their sound, especially for patients with high-frequency hearing loss. Read this article if you are interested to know more about Oticon Own SI IIC and CIC hearing aids.
Introduction of Oticon Own SI
The Oticon Own SI are custom-made IIC and CIC. The ITC and ITE model of the Oticon Own is still at the Oticon Own older technology level. They take a size 10 battery and can be fairly invisible for people with medium to large size ear canals. They can cover the Mild to Severe range of hearing loss.
How the DNN and AI processing of Oticon hearing aids are different?
Sound processing with DNN (deep neural network) and AI (artificial intelligence) is heating up in the domain of audiology and hearing aids. Oticon is one of the leading manufacturers in terms of using DNN and AI in their hearing aids.
Here is what makes Oticon's approach to DNN sound processing unique/different compared to other rivals:
Oticon DNN used in their latest products such as Oticon Intent miniROTE and Oticon Own SI is the second generation of their processing algorithms
Oticon DNN processing is always on (unlike other rivals the DNN processing can be switched on and off based on the level of the ambient noise
Oticon DNN works across all soundscapes meaning it will be acting in the background in noisy environments as well as other challenging hearing environments
Oticon DNN is now in the single microphone Oticon Own SI IIC and CIC models (yes, they hold the SIRIUS chip now)
Oticon DNN is available in all technology levels of Oticon Intent and Own SI hearing aids
What are the advantages of Oticon Own SI CIC versus IIC?
Here are the benefits of Oticon Own SI CIC over the IIC models:
Push-button to control the volume and programs
Better spatial and Ear-Priority in noisy environments
Activating the tinnitus program via the push button
Other features of Oticon Own Si are:
SuddenSound Stabilizer is available in both IIC and CIC
Wider dynamic range, 80 to 10,000 Hz
Automatic feedback control
Available in 5 colours: beige, light-brown, medium-brown, dark-brown, and Black-transparent
How better is Oticon Own compared to Oticon Own SI in terms of speech understanding?
I think it is still quite early to find any 3rd party test results for the Oticon Own SI, but there is an in-house test done by Oticon that we can discuss. They did compare Oticon Own Si CIC versus Oticon Own CIC in several noisy conditions.
the test environment was done as if the user is sitting in a restaurant with unwanted coming from speakers placed on the right and left side behind the user. In the second test, they added a cutlery sound which is classified as a sudden sound that can be found in restaurant environments. Please see Figure 1 below.
Figure 1 - Test environment for a user with Oticon Own versus Oticon Own SI CIC in a noisy environment with noise from behind and cutlery sound from the front.
As you can see in Figure 2 the generation 2.0 DNN chip in Oticon Own SI improved the relative SNR by 1 dB when measured from the front (zero degree), and pretty much about 1.0 dB in any other direction.
Figure 2 - Relative SNR improvement due to Gen 2.0 DNN processing,
Oticon Own SI versus Oticon Own
When the SuddenSound Stabilizer was switched on the SNR improvement jumped to 5.4 dB for Oticon Own SI which is about 2.7 dB higher than Oticon Own. Please see Figure 3.
Figure 3 - Relative SNR improvement due to Gen 2.0 DNN processing and SuddenSound Stabilizer, Oticon Own SI versus Oticon Own
Is Oticon Own available in ITC and ITE?
At the time of publishing this article, the Gen 2.0 DNN technology is only available in IIC and CIC models.
Figure 4 - Oticon Own SI form factors
Does Oticon Own SI support tinnitus management?
Except for the IIC model the Oticon Own CIC, ITC and ITE support tinnitus SoundSupport.
What technology levels is the Oticon Own SI available?
The Oticon Own SI is available in 4 different technology levels. the Oticon Own SI 1 is the highest technology level.
Figure 5 - Oticon Own SE technology levels
What are the advantages of IIC and CIC hearing aids versus miniRITE and RIC hearing aids?
Learn more about invisible IIC and CI hearing aids in this article.
Have a question about invisible hearing aids, please share it at the bottom of this article, or contact us now.
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