Unilateral hearing loss (UHL) means that hearing is normal in one ear but there is hearing loss in the other ear.
What are CROS* and BiCROS* systems? How do they work?
For patients with single-sided hearing and unequal loss, we offer CROS and BiCROS hearing solutions in both Receiver-In-Canal (RIC) and Behind-The-Ear (BTE) styles.
A CROS system consists of a single microphone and single receiver contained in two individual devices. The ear with little-to-no functional hearing is fit with the microphone-equipped device, and the ear with normal hearing is fitted with the receiver-equipped device. Sound arriving at the ear with no functional hearing transmits through a wireless connection to the receiver-equipped device to help patients hear sounds from their non-hearing side to their normal-hearing side.
A BiCROS system consists of a microphone-equipped device that is fitted to the poorer-hearing ear and a conventional hearing aid fitted to the better-hearing ear that has some hearing loss.
Who should consider a CROS or BiCROS solution?
A CROS system is appropriate for a patient with a single-sided hearing loss where the loss is such that little-to-no benefit can be provided through amplification for the poorer-hearing ear. Patients with normal hearing or a mild high-frequency loss in their better-hearing ear can benefit from a CROS system.
A BiCROS system can help patients with unequal bilateral hearing loss In such cases, the poorer-hearing ear has no functional hearing and would not benefit from amplification, while the better-hearing ear (the ear with less hearing loss) requires a traditional hearing aid. In this case, the BiCROS hearing aid will transmit audio from the poorer ear to be mixed with the amplification for the better ear.
* CROS - 'Contralateral Routing of Signal'
* BiCROS - 'Bilateral Microphones with Contralateral Routing of Signal'
Contact a local Triton Office today, have a FREE Hearing assessment, and discuss with our specialists the right solution for your unilateral hearing loss.