Question
When I am fitting a Sonic Innovations' hearing aid, how can I see product fitting ranges with my patient's audiogram to know I'm fitting the aid with enough headroom?
Answer
Answer: You can use EXPRESSfit in Simulation mode prior to ordering a product to verify that the device is a good fit for the patient's hearing loss. In the Select Hearing Aid Screen, select the product you are considering and then select the model in the top red or blue bar of the graph. By doing that, you'll reveal the HFA and Maximum values for Gain and Output as well as the battery current specifications. You also will see a shaded region depicting the fitting range of the selected aid. If you've already entered the patient's audiogram, you'll see their air conduction values in this screen.
Question: In the Sonic Innovations' EXPRESSfit Fit Hearing Aid screen, what does the Voice Manager do?
Answer: This is a great tool in our EXPRESSfit Fitting System. The Voice Manager allows you to troubleshoot problems the patient is experiencing with the sound of their own voice. You have 4 options: Volume, Position, Occlusion and Quality. When you select one of these categories, you are given more options to pinpoint the specific issue. Once you've identified the issue, simply click the corresponding button and an adjustment is automatically made to the fitting response. The adjustments may be small, but they can make a huge difference to the sound quality!
Question: In the Sonic Innovations' EXPRESSfit Fit Hearing Aid screen, how can I move multiple points on the fitting graphs?
Answer: This is a nifty tool to use when you need to adjust multiple points. Just click and drag a box with your mouse around the desired points. To adjust the selected points, you can either drag those highlighted points with your mouse or use your keyboard arrow keys for more precise adjustment.
Question: What are the 2 small circles in the top corner of the fitting graph in Sonic Innovations' EXPRESSfit software?
Answer: That button - the Program Linking button - allows you to enable and disable program linking. When you click the button, the two circles form a 'linked chain', indicating that program linking is enabled. This allows you to fine-tune multiple fitting programs at the same time. Changes made in Program 1 are automatically applied to other active fitting programs when this is enabled. Clicking the button again disables program linking (the 'linked chain' returns to two separate chain pieces).
Question: Using Sonic Innovations' EXPRESSfit software, how do I set my patient's device to have volume control reserve gain?
Answer: This is a great question because we recently relocated this feature in EXPRESSfit. This adjustment is now made within the Fit Hearing Aid Screen. In the top red or blue bar of the fitting graph, you'll see the reserve gain menu options with the drop down arrow. In most products, the default reserve gain is 3dB.
Question: Can I program the Auto Telecoil to function independently from the push button?
Answer: This is a new feature in the Sonic Innovations' EXPRESSfit Fitting System that we are thrilled to announce! If you have a Sonic Innovations device equipped with the Auto Telecoil feature, you can configure the device so that the Telephone program is not included in the listening program rotation when using the push button.
First, make sure you have a dedicated Telephone listening program listed in the Program Manager screen. Next, go to the Finish Session screen and use the scroll bar in the list of Hearing Aid Options to navigate to the bottom of the table. Set the "Auto-Engage Telephone?" option to "Yes", then set the "Isolate Telephone Program so that it is only accessible via Auto-Switching" option to "Yes".
If you return to the Program Manager screen, you'll see that the Telephone program is still in the list of programs, but is not numbered, indicating that it is no longer part of the listening program rotation.
For more information, please visit www.sonici.com or the Sonic Innovations Web Channel on AudiologyOnline.
Erin Reichert, M.S., CCC-A, is the Manager of Audiology & Technical Support at Sonic Innovations where she manages a team that provides hearing instrument product selection, fitting and software support for professionals. Prior to coming to Sonic Innovations, Erin worked in a private practice serving south eastern Minnesota. She earned her Master's degree in Audiology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.