A Clinical Investigation of the Benefit: BTE Hearing Aids Versus ITE Hearing Aids

November 29, 2019 updated by: Bernafon AG

A Clinical Investigation of the Benefit of Directionality as a Function of Microphone Location: BTE Hearing Aids Versus ITE Hearing Aids

The current study will evaluate a new in-the-ear (ITE) hearing aid hardware. The goal is to evaluate the audiological performance, usability, feature function, and to identify unexpected or unwanted behaviour from the devices. The study plans to compare the behind-the-ear (BTE) hardware style with the ITE devices regarding the benefit received from different microphone locations.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Completed

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Detailed Description

Hearing aids constantly undergo incremental improvements from already marketed devices. The new devices are expected to perform as well or better than the previous ITE devices.

The aim of the testing is to grant quality control prior to product launch according to Bernafon development requirements.

The current study will evaluate a new ITE hearing aid hardware. The firmware driving the hearing aid has already been sold on the market using the BTE hardware for almost one year and will now be launched using the ITE custom hardware. The goal is to evaluate the audiological performance, usability, feature function, and to identify unexpected or unwanted behaviour from the devices. The study plans to compare the two hardware styles regarding the benefit received from different microphone locations.

As human subjects are involved the validation falls under the definition of a clinical investigation. The validation will address the performance of the new chip using the ITE hardware, and ensure that there is no reduction in speech understanding between using the BTE and ITE hardware styles. Evaluating the overall performance of the Mermaid 9 ITE devices is important to validate that the end user is satisfied with the devices and that all user requirements are fulfilled. All features available in Mermaid 9 have been validated and are currently used on the market in Mermaid 9 BTE devices.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
17

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years and older (ADULT, OLDER_ADULT)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • All classifications of hearing loss (sensorineural, conductive, mixed)
  • If the hearing loss is conductive or mixed it must be approved for amplification by a physician
  • All shapes of hearing loss (flat, sloping, reverse slope, notch)
  • Severity ranging from mild to severe
  • German speaking
  • Current hearing aid users
  • Both genders
  • Ages 18 and older
  • Ability and willingness to sign the consent form

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Contraindications for amplification
  • Active ear disease
  • Inability to follow the procedures of the study due to language problems, psychological disorders, dementia, or other cognitive problems of the participant
  • A reduced mobility making them unable to attend weekly study appointments
  • Uncooperative so that it is not possible to record a valid pure tone audiogram
  • A strongly reduced dexterity
  • Central hearing disorders
  • Bernafon employees
  • Family members of Bernafon employees

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: TREATMENT
  • Allocation: NON_RANDOMIZED
  • Interventional Model: CROSSOVER
  • Masking: SINGLE

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
EXPERIMENTAL: ITE Hearing Aid
The subjects will wear the ITE devices in a field test for 10 +/-7 days. At the second and third visits they will perform speech testing in the lab in three randomized conditions (unaided, aided with ITE, and aided with BTE).
Device: Mermaid 9 ITE
A Hearing aid intended to amplify sounds and deliver them to the ear with a microphone and receiver housed in an in-the-ear hardware.
ACTIVE_COMPARATOR: BTE Hearing Aid
The subjects will wear the BTE devices in a field test for 10 +/-7 days. At the second and third visits they will perform speech testing in the lab in three randomized conditions (unaided, aided with ITE, and aided with BTE).
Device: Mermaid 9 BTE
A Hearing aid intended to amplify sounds and deliver them to the ear with a microphone and Receiver housed in a behind-the-ear hardware.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Speech Intelligibility Performance
Time Frame: Through study completion, an average of one month.
Speech test scores will be measured with speech reception thresholds (SRTs) of speech in noise in three conditions: unaided, aided with the BTE device, and aided with the new ITE device. The test is the Oldenburg Sentence test (OLSA) and uses nonsense sentences. The score is measured by the the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) at which 50% of words in a sentence list are correctly repeated. The speech is always presented at 65 decibels (dB) and the background noise varies to maintain the 50% correct. A lower SNR score indicates a better score. The maximum score will be 15 dB and the minimum will be -5 dB.
Through study completion, an average of one month.
Word Recognition
Time Frame: Through study completion, an average of one month.
Word recognition test scores will be measured with speech reception thresholds (SRTs) of speech in noise in three conditions: unaided, aided with the BTE device, and aided with the new ITE device. The test is called the Göttinger sentence test (GÖSA) and uses content relevant sentences that subjects repeat . The score is measured by the the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) at which 50% of words in a sentence list are correctly repeated. The speech is always presented at 65 decibels (dB) and the background noise varies to maintain the 50% correct. A lower SNR score indicates a better score. The maximum score will be 15 dB and the minimum will be -5 dB.
Through study completion, an average of one month.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Secondary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, a planned outcome measure that is not as important as the primary outcome measure for evaluating the effect of an intervention but is still of interest. Most clinical studies have more than one secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Subjective Performance of Aided Benefit
Time Frame: Through study completion, an average of one month.

The subjective performance for the new device will be measured with the APHAB questionnaire (Abbreviated Hearing Aid Benefit Profile). The questionnaire is a list of 24 statement that the subjects must agree or disagree with using a scale of units from A to G (A being Always and G being Never). Each letter has a corresponding score used for the calculation: A receives 99, B receives 87, C receives 75, D receives 50, E receives 25, F receives 12, and G receives 1.

An average for each subscale is calculated, and a global or overall score can be calculated by taking the mean of the three positive subscales (Ease of communication, Background noise, and Reverberation). For these three subscales a higher score indicates a better performance. The highest possible score is 99 and the lowest is 1. The fourth scale (Aversiveness) is a negative scale meaning that a higher score means a worse performance. The highest possible score is 99 and the lowest is 1.
Through study completion, an average of one month.

Other Outcome Measures

Other Outcome Measures

For clinical trials, a planned measurement described in the protocol that is used to determine the effect of an intervention/treatment on participants. For observational studies, a measurement or observation that is used to describe patterns of diseases or traits, or associations with exposures, risk factors, or treatment. Types of outcome measures include primary outcome measure and secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Adverse Events
Time Frame: Through study completion, an average of one month.
The number of adverse events reported including adverse events (AEs) related to the device will be used to measure the outcome. Adverse Events will be collected in an interview with the subjects during the Appointment. The minimum number of adverse Events possible is 0 and the maximum is infinite. A lower number means a better Outcome.
Through study completion, an average of one month.
Unexpected device behavior
Time Frame: Through study completion, an average of one month
Subjects will a questionnaire to report unexpected behavior. A 5-point scale is used with 0 being the lowest answer possible (never occuring) and 5 being the highest answer possible (occuring often). A lower scale is a better score.
Through study completion, an average of one month

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
Bernafon AG

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (ACTUAL)

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
July 12, 2018

Primary Completion (ACTUAL)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
August 13, 2018

Study Completion (ACTUAL)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
August 13, 2018

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
November 11, 2019

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
November 15, 2019

First Posted (ACTUAL)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
November 19, 2019

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (ACTUAL)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
December 3, 2019

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
November 29, 2019

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
November 1, 2019

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • BF003-1808

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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