Wednesday-only, in-depth, cutting-edge information on hot topic areas designed to be interactive, these 3 ½ hour learning labs will offer you hands-on exercises with appropriate clinical practices.
Presented by leaders in the field of audiology and/or associated professions, these sessions are offered at an additional cost of $100 to your conference registration. Space is limited so be sure to secure your spot as soon as registration opens on November 4 for Academy members.
Presenters: Lindsey Jorgensen, AuD, PhD
Supporting our patients' needs and concerns goes beyond our hearing evaluations and initial fittings. Our patients have specific complaints and concerns and it's the audiologist's job to address these through feature selection. We will focus on discussing the advanced features necessary to meet our patients' needs and how to verify that these features are working correctly.
Presenters: Sam Bittel, AuD
Audiologists should be well versed in cerumen removal, particularly as the entry point for vestibular/hearing health care. As autonomous practitioners, managing cerumen is a crucial skill. This two-part didactic and hands-on workshop will provide the foundation/knowledge needed to become competent in cerumen management. This lab will cover the anatomy/physiology of the ear canal, cerumen properties, technical aspects of removal, managing incidents, infection control, state regulations, and billing. The second portion includes a demonstration of removal techniques/equipment and ends with hands-on experience.
Presenters: René Gifford, PhD
Acoustic amplification via hearing aid(s) (HAs) combined with electric hearing via cochlear implant(s) (CIs) offers significant communication and sound qualitative benefits. The benefit afforded by the addition of acoustic hearing is observed for individuals utilizing bimodal hearing (CI + contralateral HA), ipsilateral EAS/Hybrid hearing (CI + ipsilateral HA), and CI(s) plus bilaterally acoustic amplification (i.e., CI(s) + bilateral HAs). Indeed approximately 77% of adult CI recipients and 40% of pediatric CI recipients have functionally aidable hearing in the non-implanted ear. Thus, the audiologic optimization and management of bimodal hearing will expectedly constitute a large proportion of an audiologist’s clinical population. In addition to bimodal hearing, acoustic hearing preservation with cochlear implantation is increasingly prevalent in both adult and pediatric cochlear implant (CI) recipients with residual low-frequency acoustic hearing. Indeed, there are two FDA approved adult-specific indications for EAS/Hybrid CI systems with Cochlear and MED-EL commercially releasing their systems in 2014 and 2016, respectively. Numerous studies have demonstrated the efficacy of acoustic hearing preservation and the benefits of EAS/Hybrid hearing for speech recognition in complex listening environments, horizontal plane localization, spatial hearing abilities, music perception, sound quality, and subjective listening difficulty across the lifespan (note that EAS/Hybrid CI systems are not FDA approved for use in children). Despite the significant benefits documented for both adults and children with EAS/Hybrid hearing, CI evaluation referrals for individuals with EAS-qualifying audiograms (i.e. steeply sloping hearing loss) constitute a relatively small proportion of our prospective candidate population, or approximately 25% and 16% of our adult and pediatric CI candidates, respectively. Furthermore, there’s gross underutilization of EAS/Hybrid technology for CI recipients with acoustic hearing preservation. Published studies have demonstrated that just 36-69% of adult CI recipients with functionally aidable acoustic hearing in the implanted ear(s) are actually using EAS/Hybrid technology; there are no published data on EAS/Hybrid utilization in children with CIs and acoustic hearing preservation. Thus, we have much to learn about identifying bimodal and EAS/Hybrid candidates, differentiating between the different acoustic & electric listening configurations, and optimizing CI and HA programming. During this Learning Lab, we will discuss EAS/Hybrid candidacy including case studies as well as data-driven guidance for EAS/Hybrid and bimodal programming as well as performance trends across the lifespan. We will also have real-time examples for creating and saving an evidence-based maps for bimodal and EAS/Hybrid patients with Advanced Bionics, Cochlear, and MED-EL using the clinical software.
Presenters: Chris Zalewski, PhD
Vestibular assessment often involves a complex integration of results obtained from a number of different testing protocols. Rotational vestibular assessment is one such test protocol that can provide a significant degree of diagnostic information regarding a patient’s peripheral and central vestibular function. Understanding the various rotational stimulus protocols and wide array of outcome measures can be overwhelming. This learning lab will discuss the various stimulus protocols often employed during routine rotational assessment as well as explore the numerous outcome measures and how they are inter-related. Diagnostic patterns will be reviewed to elucidate the diagnostic power of rotational vestibular assessment, particularly when other vestibular tests fall short in providing sufficient pathological insight. Overall, this learning lab will offer a deeper and more advanced appreciation and understanding of the complexities associated with vestibular physiology through a comprehensive discussion of how the vestibular system responds differentially to a variety stimuli.
Presenter to be announced soon.
