Somerset, NJ — Oticon has released the Intiga, a new hearing aid line for the United States market that targets first-time users through features that enable hearing professionals to fit users quickly and accurately while achieving more customer satisfaction.

Intiga is designed to address first-time users’ desire for discreetness, natural sound quality, and rapid acclimatization. Oticon’s goal with Intiga is to help hearing care professionals achieve what it calls the “Now Effect,” which it defines as “the quick acceptance of hearing solutions by people new to amplified sound.”

Intiga features an ultra-small size, sleek, ergonomic design, Oticon’s RISE 2 sound processing, and a fast adaptation strategy that Oticon has tested to facilitate rapid acclimatization for first-time users.

Results from an Oticon-sponsored study of first-time users conducted by researchers at Towson University in Maryland and The Hörzentrum in Oldenburg, Germany, suggest that Intiga delivered immediate and obvious benefits to study participants.

Although it is widely accepted that people new to hearing devices usually take longer to accept amplification, Intiga reportedly met the expectations of the study participants in a variety of key performance areas, including speech in noise, comfort in ear, comfort with loud sounds, and one-on-one conversation in quiet.

Oticon said these attributes resulted in immediate acceptance by the first-time users. Within the first week of the study, the majority of participants indicated that they intended to wear their new hearing instruments long term.

“Our research tells us that first-time users are interested in a ‘quick fix’ of their hearing problem,” says Oticon president Peer Lauritsen in the press statement. “They expect to experience comfort, natural sound quality, and discreetness instantly. Intiga is designed to meet high expectations for benefits ‘now’ by providing immediate benefits in performance areas that positively impact quality of life.”

Oticon said that Intiga is designed with user acceptance in mind. As a result, the line includes reportedly the world’s smallest wireless hearing device and Oticon’s smallest RITE hearing solution, 33% smaller than the miniRITE. In addition, the hearing instrument’s surface is smooth and unbroken with invisible microphone openings and no push buttons to attract attention. Intiga’s ultra-small, organic shape hides well behind the ear and the new soft receiver wire and ergonomically shaped speaker ensure fitting comfort and retention throughout the day.

To aid hearing care professionals for the fitting process, Oticon introduced Readiness Management, a collection of evidence-based counseling techniques and tools enabling hearing care professionals to guide first-time users to a point at which they can accept their need for hearing devices and are committed to trying hearing solutions and are successfully prepared for their fitting.

Readiness Management was created to help practitioners gain trust and help people new to hearing instruments acknowledge the impact of their hearing loss and facilitate patient ownership of the hearing rehabilitation process.

Oticon has also optimized its Adaptation Manager to facilitate more immediate speech understanding and thus more immediate, obvious benefits for first-time user acceptance.

Intiga is available in 13 colors, ranging from subtle colors that Oticon says will blend to complement natural skin and hair tones to more vibrant contemporary colors, including terra-cotta, vivid lilac, and natural henna.

More details are available at oticonusa.com.

SOURCE: Oticon