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Oticon intent feedback test

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I’ve been told that Oticon does not recommend feedback testing be performed for fitting the intent 1 hearing aid. Is this correct?

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either you misunderstood or whoever told you this doesn’t know what they’re doing.

they may have meant Real Ear Measurements but even then they’re incorrect or lying.

But …. Aren’t part of the features of the aids based on the feedback test?

For instance, running a feedback test with a power dome versus an open dome will alter the gain curves for the same . Am I wrong ?

No, that’s not quite accurate. Some manufacturers recommend it as a basis for their gain curves through modelling output during the feedback management set-up. It’s certainly not mandated in DeMant fittings: unless you ran into specific feedback problems.

No, you can fit and do verification/adjusts without running the FBM. Not all manufacturers use it as a basis for fitting.

As to downsides, there’s potential limiting factors in some of the ways that different FBM systems work. I understand they ran counter to some aspects of the Open fitting paradigm, audible ‘wobble’ at higher inputs.

thats interesting. do you know why in the work flow of the Target and Genie softwares, the feedback test appears at the top/start of the program if it’s not strictly mandated?

if i understand correctly if the coupling is good enough the feedback test is academic. i suspect the coupling rarely perfect in the age of domes. im willing to be wrong!

60 or 70% of the first fit new users wouldn’t need it in my experience. Don’t forget that your hearing is hundreds of times less sensitive than ‘starting’ losses of 30-40-50dB.

The amounts of gain in play are usually high single figures or low double figures. You can drive a unit to around 20dB gain, just by the physical separation and a slightly occluding dome. This is the largest consumer group by a large margin: they don’t always perceive the need for help, but when they do, they usually reap the largest rewards from the improvement in social interaction/

So, yes domes are dè riguer, they get successfully fitted to a significant (probably the majority) number of mild/moderate and partially severe losses. We apply FBM judiciously unless directed at initial fit like with Sonova.

In reply to @Um_bongo

Interesting. If there are problems, the options are to run feedback management setup again or recreate the fit from scratch and not run feedback management? I don’t recall seeing a reset feedback management toggle but perhaps that’s possible in some systems.

Oticon has discouraged (at least through our account representative) running the feedback manager right away. This has been the case since the More platform. If I recall correctly it has something to do with how Oticon’s feedback manager is supposed to be preventative rather than reactive? They still recommend running it if there is actual feedback, though, but it invites a more traditional feedback reduction that is more likely to affect sound quality. Clinically I don’t run it unless we are actually encountering feedback.

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