Any pilots with cochlear implants here?

FlyGirlKHWO

FlyGirlKHWO

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FlyGirl
My pilot husband is trying to figure out the best way to work his in the cockpit. Does anyone plug his/hers into the panel directly?

Thanks for responses!

Allison
 
Does he have an implant that supports one of the wireless options? For example Cochlear-brand can use the "mini mike" that could easily be interfaced to the headphone jack.

These are the same wireless devices as Resound, perhaps one of our hearing aid wearers have experimented with a similar device.
 
I am curious to hear how using the "mini mike" works in the cockpit.
 
Deb MacKenzie said:
I am curious to hear how using the "mini mike" works in the cockpit.
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I brought up the minimike because it has (in addition to the microphone) a provision to plug directly into an audio source (just has a mini phone plug on it).
 
Do you have a photograph of how this looks in the cockpit? I thought the mini mike only streams sound. How does one transmit your responses with it?
 
My son has the common behind the ear style cochlear implant. Advanced Bionics with the T-mic.

AA42FD4D-583F-45CE-8A1D-669FE1BFF9C8.jpeg

When he flies with me he finds the LIghtSpeed Zulu 3 headset comfortable, as the Zulu has larger ear cups than the Bose.

The newest models have Bluetooth connectivity which work with BT enabled audio panels.

Simplest solution is find a headset which is comfortable for him.

My PS Audio 450A audio panel allows uninterrupted Bluetooth out and a noise canceling mike used with push to talk for transmitting.
 
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NordicDave said:
My son has the common behind the ear style cochlear implant. When he flies with me he finds the LIghtSpeed Zulu 3 headset comfortable, as the Zulu has larger ear cups than the Bose.

The newest models have Bluetooth connectivity which work with BT enabled audio panels.

Simplest solution is find a headset which is comfortable for him.

My PS Audio 450A audio panel allows uninterrupted Bluetooth out and a noise canceling mike used with push to talk for transmitting.
Click to expand...

You mean you can get Bluetooth enabled cochlear implants? My regular HAs are and they have external noise canceling too and I love it. Implants might be in my future too.
 
Rushie said:
You mean you can get Bluetooth enabled cochlear implants? My regular HAs are and they have external noise canceling too and I love it. Implants might be in my future too.
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Just updated the post above with a pic. Yes full BT in the ear piece to integrate with phone or other BT devices.

You would like the signal processing of the implants over hearing aides. Much better discrimination of foreground and background sound. People in restaurants ting-tanging dishes and glassware is no longer the same volume as speech at the table.
 
NordicDave said:
Just updated the post above with a pic. Yes full BT in the ear piece to integrate with phone or other BT devices.
Click to expand...

Wow! Is that all he has or does he have the disk on his head farther back too?

Edit: looks like the technology has changed a lot since I last looked at them.
 
Rushie said:
Wow! Is that all he has or does he have the disk on his head farther back too?

Edit: looks like the technology has changed a lot since I last looked at them.
Click to expand...

Yes, he still has the wire and magnetic disc from the ear piece to the implant. They now have many more colors, and he picked a snap on over to the disc which is exact same as his hair color. Really hard to see he has one, and many never realize he was born deaf.

He hears and communicates well in the Cessna. The stunning clarity of the PS Audio panel helps, and it really helps everyone hear better actually.

A board member with implants at this childhood oral deaf school has his Commercial license and owns/flies a twin.
 
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If he is using AB implants with the T mike they work just fine with a good noise canceling headset. The latest marvel version has excellent built in blue tooth integration if you want to go that route.
 
Deb MacKenzie said:
Do you have a photograph of how this looks in the cockpit? I thought the mini mike only streams sound. How does one transmit your responses with it?
Click to expand...
That's what I'm talking about. We were talking about getting audio into the implants. Presumably, you'd use whatever mic you like (either a boom mike on headsets or a handmic).
 
It should be added the FAA approval process to fly with the implants is a pain and requires a flight check and SODA.
 
flyingron said:
That's what I'm talking about. We were talking about getting audio into the implants. Presumably, you'd use whatever mic you like (either a boom mike on headsets or a handmic).
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Thank you. I think I may have a workaround. I have the new Kansos that don't have the behind the ear processor. However I can still wear my old headsets and just not use the ear phone jack and only plug in the mic jack and I'll put in the headphone jack on the plane the mini mic or a bluetooth transmitter. Thanks for your tips. I have not been flying for 12 years and want to get back into it but the technology has sure come a long way since then! Bluetooth audio panels! Ipads in cockpit, etc. Wow!

Now I gotta find a way to test this out...I'll be back with a report.
 
I hope this is taken as a welcome suggestion, but there is a concentration of information to be found within the Deaf Pilots Association and its membership. I had the pleasure of meeting a number of their members when we owned a flight school, and they're a very impressive group. I know of at least one member who flies with cochlear implants, but I suspect it's quite common within their group. I imagine they know what works and what doesn't and can be a quick source of information. :)

https://www.deafpilots.org/
 
schmookeeg said:
I hope this is taken as a welcome suggestion, but there is a concentration of information to be found within the Deaf Pilots Association and its membership. I had the pleasure of meeting a number of their members when we owned a flight school, and they're a very impressive group. I know of at least one member who flies with cochlear implants, but I suspect it's quite common within their group. I imagine they know what works and what doesn't and can be a quick source of information. :)

https://www.deafpilots.org/
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I did pitch similar questions there and did not really get much help but I'll keep trying. I got the impression that most pilots on their site did not use communications and flew only non-controlled airports. Thank you for the tip. I'm getting closer to a resolution and am very excited to see if what assistive set up I come up with!
 
Update -- managed a test flight with my old instructor. Seems that my theory worked. I was happy to see that I could hear via the mini-mic when it streamed to my Kansos. The only thing we both noticed after awhile was there was this backgound hissing noise and we thought it was the squelch but figured it was not that. We narrowed it down to my headsets. After some trial and error, when I unplugged the microphone plug (the one that runs my headset) the background hissing stopped. We did not have a spare headset to further tests to difinitively say that it was my headset. But a thought just came to me, would there be such a hiss if the headset audio plug wasn't plugged in at the same time? Hmmm.
 
An update -- It's been a while, but I managed to join a club and have been using the Cochlear "mini-mic" which has been a great asset for funneling sound from the radios to my ears. (I have Kanso 2 cochlear implant processors that are NOT on my ears so I cannot hear with regular headsets.) (See above post) I realized after further troubleshooting the reason for the "hissing" noise I experienced last year, is to turn off the microphone that's on the "mini-mic" itself. Now I just simply wear my headsets and use the microphone from the headset and plug the mini-mic into the audio plug to hear. Been back in the air flying since October and loving it!
 
FlyGirlKHWO said:
My pilot husband is trying to figure out the best way to work his in the cockpit. Does anyone plug his/hers into the panel directly?

Thanks for responses!

Allison
Click to expand...
I know your post is a little old but thought I'd share anyway....I have been using the Cochlear "mini-mic" which has been a great asset for funneling sound from the radios to my ears. (I have Kanso 2 cochlear implant processors that are NOT on my ears so I cannot hear with regular headsets.) (See above post) I realized after further troubleshooting the reason for the "hissing" noise I experienced last year, is to turn off the microphone that's on the "mini-mic" itself. Now I just simply wear my headset and use the microphone from the headset and plug the mini-mic into the audio plug to hear. Been back in the air flying since October and loving it!
 
Hello, I'm new here. I have a Cochlear Nucleus 8 implant, fitted last month. Its position on my head is not great for headsets but I could use bluetooth. Is there any device that can connect the VHF to bluetooth into the implant.
 
Good morning! If you scroll to the above posts of mine, you can see my experience .... but to sum it up...If you have the Cochlear mini-mic (or Resound SM-2M 2.4GHz Micro Mic -- Same thing), you can get the an 1x 3.5mm 1/8"Male to 6.35mm 1/4" Male Adapter Aux Cable For Mixer Amplifier Plug to plug into the cockpit audio and the other end to the mini-mic. Just make sure the external microphone is turned off so you can block out the outside/engine noise. I found the mini-mic on ebay for way less than if you bought directly from Cochlear.
 
Hi Deb. Thanks for your quick reply. I have a mini mic (came with the implant) and I will try your recommendation. Have a good day!
 
You will love it. Again, just make sure you turn the outside microphone off. Also a quirk, if it doesn't seem to want to connect properly with the plug after plane starts, simply unplug the adapter from the cord and then plug back in. This will force it to change to the plug mode. Let me know if you have any questions! Keep on flyin'!
 
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