Cochlear Ltd., the world leader in cochlear implants, is deepening its partnership with GN Hearing, one of the world’s top five hearing aid manufacturers. The two companies said their Smart Hearing Alliance will collaborate on new wireless technologies designed to achieve “seamless connectivity” between a cochlear implant in one ear and a GN ReSound hearing aid in the other.
The alliance squares off against Sonova Group, the world’s largest hearing technology company. In recent years, Sonova has made its flagship Phonak hearing aids work with the cochlear implants from another of its subsidiaries, Advanced Bionics (AB).
The Cochlear-ReSound collaboration will focus on connectivity and wireless technology allowing closer integration between the two companies’ products. They will pool research and development investments to jointly develop firmware and software. And they will strengthen their commercial collaboration to enable clinicians to deliver a more seamless “bimodal” solution for patients.
More Collaboration for Seamless Integration
“By expanding our collaboration with GN Hearing, we’re able to bring the latest in connectivity and wireless technology to our implant recipients more quickly,” said Cochlear CEO & President Dig Howitt. “We’re also able to give bimodal recipients—those using a cochlear implant in one ear, and a hearing aid in the other—unparalleled performance and a seamless experience with both devices.”
The two companies have been working together since 2015, notably on Cochlear’s True Wireless technology that extended to users of hearing implants benefits that hearing-aid users already enjoyed. Using ReSound’s 2.4 GHz wireless communication, it provides recipients of Cochlear’s Nucleus and Baha Sound Processors the ability to stream sound directly to their ears without wires or neck-worn streamers.
The alliance is a coordinated response to Sonova Group, which acquired Advanced Bionics in 2009. Since then, Sonova has been integrating sound processing and wireless communications technologies from Phonak hearing aids with Advanced Bionics cochlear implants.