Outcomes after revision of Advanced Bionics Clarion 1.2 cochlear implants

INTRODUCTION

Cochlear implant reimplantation (CIR) for external processor upgrade or device failure is becoming increasingly common as the population of cochlear implant recipients ages. Patients with Advanced Bionics (AB) Clarion 1.2 cochlear implants may undergo CIR for device age/failure or desired technology upgrade so that they may use newer external processors that have improved connectivity features. The objective of this study was to evaluate audiologic outcomes for patients who were initially implanted with an AB Clarion 1.2 internal device and underwent CIR for technology upgrade or device failure.

METHODS

Retrospective chart review was performed at a single academic medical center for patients (pediatric and adult) with an AB Clarion 1.2 internal device who underwent CIR to a later generation AB internal device and had available audiologic data.

RESULTS

Forty-eight individuals with a Clarion 1.2 implant underwent CIR. Pre- and post-CIR speech understanding did not change for AzBio (p-value = 0.11, mean change = 12.1%, 95% CI = -2.9-27.2%), CNCw (p-value = 0.74, mean change = -1%, 95% CI = -10.4-12.4%), or HINT (p-value = 0.12, mean change = 19.9%, 95% CI = -2.6-42.4%) scores. Pure-tone averages improved following CIR (p-value < 0.01, mean change = 4.3 dB, 95% CI = 1.5-7.1 dB).

CONCLUSIONS

Revision of AB Clarion 1.2 cochlear implants does not significantly worsen audiologic outcomes and may improve hearing in some individuals, but individual patient-level outcomes are variable.

Urgency of technology and equipment upgrades in e-waste dismantling base: Pollution identification and emission reduction

Recycling of electronic waste (e-waste) and inevitable pollution under current technology have always been a concern of people. Generation and release of pollutants in the recycling process of e-waste are closely related to processing technology and equipment. In this paper, the pollution characteristics of different functional areas and critical processing units in formal e-waste dismantling base have been studied systematically and comprehensively. The results showed that the overall pollutants concentration in crushing workshop and cathode ray tube (CRT) monitor disposing workshop are much higher than other functional areas. Screen-cone glass separation for CRT monitor was the processing unit with the greatest exposure risk and the hazard index (HI) of Pb was 4.60. Pollutant emission factor of the main processing units was calculated and the waste printed circuit board (WPCB) crushing was the most polluted unit. Appropriate improvements in technology and equipment can effectively reduce the generation and release of pollutants. Some reasonable prospects about intelligent equipment and special technologies were proposed for e-waste disposal. All the results provided theoretical and data support for pollution control and technology upgrade of the formal e-waste dismantling base.