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BACKGROUND: This study aimed to evaluate thermal characteristics of different types of pediatric cochlear implants
METHODS: A total of 39 pediatric patients using Med-El (Synchrony®), Cochlear (Nucleus®), or Advanced Bionics (HiRes 90K®) type of cochlear implants were included. A digital infrared thermal imaging analysis was performed to measure the heating over the implant and the tissue heat- ing of the skin below and around the device, while skin thickness and visual analog scale scores were also recorded.
RESULTS: Over the implant, heating values were significantly higher in the on-mode vs. off-mode of device for each type of implant (P ranged from <.05 to <.001). The implants groups were similar in terms of skin thickness, visual analog scale scores, on-mode values for heating over the implant, and the heating of the skin (below or around the device; <36°C for each), while the off-mode values for heating over the implant were significantly higher in the Med-El (Synchrony®) implants compared to other implants (median 31.75 vs. 31.30 and 30.20°C, P = .001). Skin thick- ness was negatively correlated with the heating over the implant (off-mode, r=−0.708, P < .001) and heating of the skin (around the device, r = −0.479, P = .028) in Advanced Bionics (HiRes 90K®) implants.
CONCLUSION: Our findings emphasize that there is no hazard or discomfort from a cochlear implant in terms of heating of skin and no significant difference between 3 implant types in terms of skin thickness or tissue heating, whereas indicate the increased likelihood of thermal characteris- tics of implant to differ with respect to skin thickness in Advanced Bionics (HiRes 90K®) users.
Cite this article as: Yigit E, Ovunc O, Seden N, Ozdemir O, Yigit O. Thermal characteristics of different types of cochlear implants in pediatric cochlear implant users: A comparative digital-infrared thermal imaging analysis. J Int Adv Otol. 2022;18(4):278-284.