Optimizing maps for electric acoustic stimulation users

Abstract

Objectives: To optimize patient’s maps in Electric Acoustic Stimulation (EAS) users based on the degree of post-operative aided hearing thresholds.

Methods: Twenty-one adult EAS patients participated in this study. Patients were subdivided into three groups, based on their unaided hearing threshold: (1) electric complementary (EC, n = 6) patients with ≤30 dB HL at 125–500 Hz with severe to profound hearing loss at higher frequencies who only use electric stimulation, (2) EAS (n = 8) patients with 30–70 dB HL from 125 to 250 Hz and profound hearing loss in high frequencies who use combined EAS, and (3) Marginal-EAS (M-EAS, n = 7) patients with 70–95 dB HL at frequencies ≤250 Hz who use combined EAS. Sentence perception in noise, melodic contour identification, and subjective preference were measured using Full Overlap, Narrow Overlap, Gap, and Meet maps.

Result: Of the 21 patients that participated, 12 subjects were classified as complete hearing preservation and 9 subjects were classified as partial hearing preservation. The highest performing maps in sentence-in-noise perception and melodic contour identification were Gap, Meet, and Full Overlap for the EC, EAS, and the M-EAS groups, respectively. These results are consistently across different test materials and align with subject preference as well.

Conclusion: These results suggest that clinical fitting in EAS listening should be individually tailored. EAS performance can be enhanced by optimizing maps between acoustic and electric stimulation based on the degree of aided hearing thresholds.

Keywords:

• Cochlear implant
• Electric acoustic stimulation
• EAS frequency maps
• Speech perception in EAS
• EAS subject grouping

Acknowledgements

We thank our participants for their patience and continuous support. We also want to thank Sarah Powell and Shannan Bloomstrand for their editorial help.

Disclaimer statements

Contributors

Yang-soo Yoon is an assistant professor at Baylor University in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders. He earned his PhD from the University of Illinois – Urbana/Champaign in Speech and Hearing Sciences.

You-Ree Shin is currently a director of Soree Ear Clinic East Center. She received her M.D. and PhD in otolaryngology from Ewha Women’s University, Seoul, South Korea. She was a visiting scholar at House Ear Institute, where she studies psychoacoustics in bilateral and bimodal cochlear implant users.

Ji-Min Kim is a certified audiologist and currently works as clinical audiologist at Soree Ear Clinic, Seoul, South Korea. She received her master of audiology from Hallym University, South Korea.

Allison Coltisor is a certified audiologist and currently works as clinical audiologist at Bloom Hearing Aid Center, Sacramento, CA. She received her doctor of Audiology from Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center.

Young-Myoung Chun received his M.D. and PhD in otolaryngology from Yonsei University, Seoul, South Korea. He took two-year research leave and did his Postdoctoral Associate at House Ear Institute. After that, he opened the first ear-specialized hospital in South Korea, Soree Ear Clinic. He currently serves as a representative director of the Clinic.

Funding None.

Conflicts of interest The authors report no conflict of interest.

Ethics approval None.

ORCID

Yang-soo Yoon http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1009-9318