Piscataway, NJ — At the AAA show in Boston, Siemens Hearing Instruments introduced XCEL, its next generation of BestSound Technology, as well as Eclipse XCEL, a nearly invisible deep-fitting CIC hearing aid 
that minimizes typical occlusion effects and features a new fitting procedure.
Siemens says in its show press release that XCEL accelerates hearing aid acceptance by optimally balancing speech intelligibility and sound quality for each individual hearing aid wearer.
Commenting about XCEL, Scott Davis, CEO of Siemens Hearing, said in the press statement, “Achieving a good first fit is critical to ensuring wearer adoption and satisfaction. The best experience for hearing aid wearers requires a perfect combination of sound quality and effective audibility—what Siemens has coined Soundability. We’ve achieved this preferred balance with XCEL.”
As mentioned, one of the hearing aids that will benefit from XCEL is Siemens’ new Eclipse XCEL (pictured), a deep-fit CIC hearing aid with a custom shell. Eclipse will be available in the 701 and 301 XCEL levels.
Siemens says that Eclipse offers discreetness while also minimizing typical occlusion effects and promising a more natural hearing experience than traditional CICs. Its placement close to the eardrum will also ensure the most effective transmission of sound, according to the company. Eclipse’s flexible soft dome is designed to allow a safe, comfortable, and deep placement in the sensitive bony area of the ear canal.
The Hearing Review is publishing a Siemens paper on the new placement procedure for the Eclipse in the April 2012 issue.
In addition to Eclipse XCEL, the XCEL platform will be available with four other Siemens models. The models include the Pure XCEL, Pure XCEL Carat, Motion XCEL SX, and Motion XCEL P at the 701, 501, and 301 performance levels.
Finally, Siemens introduced VoiceLink at AAA in Boston. VoiceLink is a new companion microphone that connects and delivers sound to Siemens’s miniTek streaming device via Bluetooth. VoiceLink’s personal remote microphone may be placed on a companion speaker’s lapel, allowing the speaker’s voice to be transmitted to a Siemens hearing aid user via miniTek. For example, the hearing aid user might give the VoiceLink microphone to someone giving a presentation in a large room or to a table companion at a noisy restaurant. VoiceLink can effectively transmit speech from approximately 30 feet away from the miniTek user.
More information on these new products is available on Siemens’ website.
SOURCE: Siemens Hearing Instruments
