CROS hearing aid

A Contralateral Routing Of Signals (CROS)[1] hearing aid is a type of hearing aid that is used to treat a condition in which the patient has no usable hearing in one ear and minimal hearing loss or normal hearing in the other ear. This is referred to as Single Sided Deafness. The CROS hearing Aid takes sound from the ear with poorer hearing and transmits to the ear with better hearing. The goal of this device is to give the patient two-sided hearing when true bilateral hearing is not possible. The CROS system is an alternative to traditional unilateral hearing aid fittings in which the patient receives no information from the side with hearing loss.[2]

Most systems are now wireless and are either behind the ear or custom built in-the-ear systems. These wireless systems have replaced earlier wired units which were bulky and rather fussy. Few people found them beneficial, and by contrast the wireless are easier to use and to wear.[3] There are also systems incorporated into eyeglasses. If hearing loss exists in the better ear then a system in the good ear that combines the function of a regular hearing aid with that of a CROS aid is recommended. This configuration is called a BiCROS system.

Current CROS devices utilize wireless streaming to transmit the signal from the poor ear to the better hearing ear. This is accomplished by near field induction or radio waves.[2]

See also

• Unilateral hearing loss

Notes

1. Harford, E., Barry, J. (1965). A rehabilitative approach to the problem of unilateral hearing impairment: Contralateral routing of signals (CROS). J Speech Hear Dis, 30, 121-138.
2. Ricketts, Todd; Bentler, Ruth; Mueller, Gustav (2017). "Hearing Aid Styles and Fitting Applications". Essentials of Modern Hearing Aids: Selection, Fitting, Verification. San Diego, California: Plural Publishing. pp. 258–260. ISBN 9781597568531.
3. "CROS hearing aids". hearpeers. Retrieved 12 June 2016.

Additional references

• Fitting Options for Adult Patients with Single Sided Deafness (SSD) (2006) AudiologyOnline.com article by Maureen & Michael Valente
• Pilot study on the effectiveness of the conventional CROS, the transcranial CROS and the BAHA transcranial CROS in adults with unilateral inner ear deafness (2009) By Myrthe K. S. Hol, corresponding author Sylvia J. W. Kunst, Ad F. M. Snik, and Cor W. R. J. Cremers
• TransEar 380-HF Description of the TransEar system for SSD
• You Want to Put That CIC Where?? A Primer on CROS Fittings Using CICs CIC Transcranial CROS fittings, by Donald Hayes (2001). Update published: 2006
• You Want to Put That CIC Where?? Transcranial CROS 2006 Update Also includes info on Transcranial BiCROS

References