What happens after clinical eligibility expands, butaccess, testing, and counseling are still catching up?
Meet Margaret Dillon, AuD, PhD, Associate Professor andDirector of Cochlear Implant Clinical Research at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Dr. Dillon’s clinical trial work was instrumental in the 2019 FDA approval of cochlear implants for single-sided deafness (SSD) and asymmetric hearing loss (AHL), opening the door for thousands of patients who were previously told they still had “one good ear.”
As the lead author of the American Cochlear Implant Alliance task force guidelines for adult CI assessment and management in single-sided deafness, Dr. Dillon brings a practical, research-grounded perspective on how this patient population is changing cochlear implant care.
What You’ll Hear:
The Shift from Bilateral Hearing Loss to SSD/AHL: Whypatients with single-sided deafness often present with very different needs, goals, and expectations than traditional cochlear implant candidates
Why “One Good Ear” Is Not Always Enough: How loss ofbinaural hearing impacts safety, independence, spatial awareness, listening effort, tinnitus, and quality of life
From Clinical Trial to Real-World Care: How early SSD/AHL cochlear implant patients helped build the evidence base that led to expanded FDA indications
Programming and Counseling Differences: Why SSD patientsmay initially reject the sound of the implant, and how loudness levels, consistent use, and acclimation can influence outcomes
The Importance of Fusion: What it means when patients describe the cochlear implant and normal-hearing ear working together, and why this can be a major milestone in SSD care
Rethinking Outcomes: Why traditional speech testing does not fully capture benefit in SSD patients, and how quality-of-life tools, spatial hearing measures, tinnitus outcomes, and listening effort are becoming increasingly important
Practical Testing Considerations: How clinicians are adapting protocols, including direct audio input, two-speaker setups, speech-in-noise testing, and tools like the MSTB-3 and SSD testing worksheets
The Medicare Coverage Gap: Why Medicare beneficiaries still face access barriers for SSD/AHL despite FDA approval and growing evidence of benefit
Dr. Dillon offers a clear look at how cochlear implantcare has changed since the 2019 FDA approval, and why the field still needs to refine how it evaluates, counsels, programs, and measures benefit for patients with single-sided deafness and asymmetric hearing loss.
Who should listen?
Audiologists, otolaryngologists, neurotologists, hearinghealthcare professionals, cochlear implant teams, students, residents, fellows, healthcare administrators, researchers, payers, and anyone interested in improving access to cochlear implant care.
If you have ever wondered how cochlear implants became an option for patients with single-sided deafness, how SSD outcomes should be measured, or why counseling and programming look different for this population, this episode provides valuable insight from one of the researchers who helped make expanded access possible.
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This episode is sponsored by Envoy Medical.