Sonic Radiant™ Custom Hearing Aids in 2022.2
AudiologyOnline: I understand that Sonic is now offering custom Radiant customs, can you tell us more about that?
Erin Reichert: We are so excited to now offer Radiant custom products. Patients who desire custom hearing aids will have varying degrees of hearing loss as well as preferences for instrument size, options, colors and more so that is why we have developed the 5|5|5 pledge for Radiant customs.
5 – Styles for fitting flexibility
Five popular custom styles — IIC, CIC, ITC, ITE Half-shell (HS), ITE Full-shell (FS) — provide our highest fitting flexibility to obtain the perfect fit. The IIC and CIC are more powerful than before with the option of fitting a 90-speaker. And the ITC, ITE HS and ITE FS with 2.4 GHz Bluetooth® Low Energy are Made for iPhone® hearing aids, offering hands-free communication for iPhone and iPad users to make calls more convenient and comfortable. These Radiant styles are also the first Sonic custom models to support direct audio streaming on compatible Android™ devices.
5 – Technology levels from 100-20
All Radiant custom products come in a full range of five technology levels, 100|80|60|40|20. They deliver the benefits of Radian-technologies and our more effective feedback cancellation – the same advanced digital signal processing (DSP) found in our Radiant behind-the-ear products.
5 – Colors in every style
Pair your patient's individual hearing loss with their preferences for color options. All Radiant styles and technology levels are available in five colors — Black, Beige, Light Brown, Medium Brown, and Dark Brown — to match hair and skin tones.
AudiologyOnline: What can you tell me about connectivity with the Radiant customs?
Erin Reichert: The ITC, ITE HS and ITE FS with 2.4 GHz Bluetooth Low Energy are Made for iPhone hearing aids, offering hands-free communication for iPhone and iPad users to make calls more convenient and comfortable. These Radiant styles are also the first Sonic custom models to support direct audio streaming on compatible Android devices. They will be compatible with all the Sonic wireless accessories – the RC-A remote control, SoundClip-A remote microphone, the TV- A adapter, SoundLink 2 app and the SoundLink Connect app for remote fittings.
AudiologyOnline: Not to call out the “elephant in the room” but historically, it has been difficult for manufacturers to make small custom instruments with wireless technology. Is Sonic doing anything new to make smaller wireless custom devices?
Erin Reichert: Great question. We have improved our modeling and production process so that all the Radiant customs are smaller than our previous custom models, especially the ITC 2.4 GHz.
AudiologyOnline: Are there any other improvements to connectivity with this new release?
Erin Reichert: Yes, earlier this year we started offering hands-free communication for streaming in two directions, so sound can be transmitted from an iPhone or iPad to Radiant hearing aids and from Radiant hearing aids to an iPhone or iPad. The caveat was that the call still had to be answered and ended with the phone, which made it not completely hands-free. With this 2022.2 release we have improved hands-free communication by adding push-button functionality. Patients can now accept, reject, and end phone calls all with the press of a button which now makes every phone call completely hands-free. This feature is available in all Radiant behind-the-ear styles and custom styles with 2.4 GHz Bluetooth Low Energy and a push button. Please note that this feature does require the latest firmware version (1.4) which comes with Radiant custom instruments, however, Radiant miniRITE T | TR and miniBTE T | TR instruments previously released will require a firmware update to Firmware 1.4.
AudiologyOnline: Is there anything new in the EXPRESSfit Pro fitting software with this 2022.2 release?
Erin Reichert: In addition to supporting the new Radiant custom products, EXPRESSfit Pro version 2022.2 now supports the 1.3 mm thin tubes for Radiant miniBTE T | TR instruments – please note that firmware update 1.4 is also required for this option. This release also has improvements to REM capabilities including new measurement levels for Real Ear Fit, Sonic’s auto-fit feature, and the ability to transfer proprietary fitting rationales to REM modules.
AudiologyOnline: Where can I learn more about Radiant customs and the 2022.2 release?
Erin Reichert: We have several new courses available at Audiology Online, including the Radiant Customs course that will have a myriad of detail. I would encourage anyone looking to learn more about Sonic and the Radiant products to check out all our course offerings. We also have a Radiant custom product video which is a short vignette but really packs a punch! And I would be remiss if I did not mention Sonic’s website at www.sonici.com, which is an incredible resource for everything Sonic.
Erin Reichert, MS
Senior Marketing Director
Erin Reichert is the Senior Marketing Director for Sonic and is responsible for all marketing activity, globally. Her primary focus is to create materials that impact not only the hearing care professional but also the end user ensuring features, benefits and value are all clearly defined. Prior to her current position, she held various positions of increasing responsibility within the company, most recently having been Director of Professional Services. Prior to coming to Sonic in 2016, Erin worked in a private practice serving south-eastern Minnesota. She received her Master's Degree in Audiology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Go Badgers!