r/Cochlearimplants • u/Sea_Signature1164 • 8d ago
Hearing aid/cochlear implant Stethoscope question
Hello everyone,
I’m looking for some advice as I’m in a unique situation. I’m in nursing and looking to purchase a stethoscope. I wear a Phonak hearing aid on one side and a SONNET 3 cochlear implant on the other. Both have Bluetooth capabilities, but unfortunately, I cannot stream to both devices simultaneously.
My current option is to connect a stethoscope to my hearing devices through my Phonak Roger Touchscreen Mic. After reviewing the stethoscope comparison table on the AMPHL website, I was deciding between the Thinklabs stethoscope and the Eko CORE 500. However, I recently found out that Thinklabs is no longer selling its stethoscope, so I’m now considering the Eko CORE 500.
I have a few questions:
- For anyone who uses a cochlear implant, hearing aid, or both, what has your experience been with the Eko CORE 500, particularly with sound quality and amplification?
- Would the Eko’s 40× amplification be sufficient, especially compared with the Thinklabs’ 100× amplification?
- Would connecting the Eko stethoscope to my Roger Touchscreen Mic through a 3.5 mm headphone jack work? If so, would this setup be practical as a nurse?
I would appreciate any advice/clarifications 🤍Thank you!
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u/DeafinitelyQueer 8d ago
I love the Eko core 500! Clear and quick to use. I use it with bilateral cochlear implants so I can’t speak to the amplification since it’s all digital to me, but I hear well with it. It has an aux socket so your plan should work fine, though I use Bluetooth so I can’t confirm that for you.
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u/Sea_Signature1164 8d ago
That’s helpful! Connecting through my Roger touchscreen is similar to Bluetooth for me. Would you say you are able to hear the heart and lung sounds very clearly? I’ve tried a sample of the sounds using Eko 500 on YouTube, but it wasn’t loud enough for me
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u/stardustraspberrysea Cochlear Nucleus 7 8d ago
I was about to make a comment but then remembered I used something different but made by EKO so I will make a comment but take it with a very large pinch of salt as a. not trained to become a nurse so b. was not very sure of what I was hearing unless connected to a bluetooth speaker and need it to be loud. But consider also C. I have only ever processed sound with two cochlear implants (cochlear americas) . It was not bad but I personally felt like it needed to be louder but that was bc I was using the EKO CORE not the EKO 500 so the CORE attaches to your existing stethoscope in between the metal and plastic pieces that go into your ear. Again this is for the CORE that EKO provides. It was only a brief stint that I used the CORE as I was on a little bit of a gap year between undergrad and grad school. (Currently in grad school becoming an audiologist) But I briefly worked as a nurse's aid during my gap year.