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Orginal Article

Benefits of bilateral cochlear implants and/or hearing aids in children

Beneficios de los implantes cocleares bilaterales y/o auxiliares auditivos en niños

, PhD, &
Pages 78-91 | Published online: 07 Jul 2009
 

Abstract

This study evaluated functional benefits from bilateral stimulation in 20 children ages 4–14, 10 use two CIs and 10 use one CI and one HA. Localization acuity was measured with the minimum audible angle (MAA). Speech intelligibility was measured in quiet, and in the presence of 2-talker competing speech using the CRISP forced-choice test. Results show that both groups perform similarly when speech reception thresholds are evaluated. However, there appears to be benefit (improved MAA and speech thresholds) from wearing two devices compared with a single device that is significantly greater in the group with two CI than in the bimodal group. Individual variability also suggests that some children perform similarly to normal-hearing children, while others clearly do not. Future advances in binaural fitting strategies and improved speech processing schemes that maximize binaural sensitivity will no doubt contribute to increasing the binaurally-driven advantages in persons with bilateral CIs.

Acronyms
CI=

Cochlear implant

HA=

Hearing aid

MAA=

Minimum audible angle

SRM=

Spatial release from masking

SRT=

Speech reception threshold

CI-CI=

Bilateral cochlear implants group

CI-HA=

Bimodal group

Acronyms
CI=

Cochlear implant

HA=

Hearing aid

MAA=

Minimum audible angle

SRM=

Spatial release from masking

SRT=

Speech reception threshold

CI-CI=

Bilateral cochlear implants group

CI-HA=

Bimodal group

Sumario

Este estudio evalúa los beneficios funcionales de la estimulación bilateral en 20 niños de 4/14 años, de los cuales 10 usan dos implantes cocleares (IC) y 10 usan un IC y un auxiliar auditivo (AA) Se midió la precisión para la localización con el mínimo ángulo audible (MAA). y la inteligibilidad del lenguaje en silencio y en presencia de lenguaje competitivo de dos hablantes, usando la prueba CRISP de elección forzada. Los resultados muestran que los dos grupos responden de manera similar al evaluar los umbrales de recepción del lenguaje. No obstante parece existir beneficio (mejor MAA y umbrales del lenguaje) al usar dos instrumentos en vez de uno, que es significativamente mayor en el grupo con dos IC que en el grupo bimodal. La variabilidad individual sugiere también que algunos niños rinden igual que los niños normo-oyentes mientras que en otros casos claramente no es así. Los avances futuros en las estrategias de la adaptación binaural y mejores esquemas de procesamiento del lenguaje que incrementen al máximo la sensibilidad binaural, contribuirán sin duda a aumentar las ventajas de la estimulación binaural en personas con IC bilaterales.

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