Combining current focusing and steering in a cochlear implant processing strategy

Abstract

Objective

To evaluate the benefit of combined current focusing and steering to speech recognition in noise with cochlear implants (CIs).

Design

Combined current focusing and steering was implemented using focused partial tripolar (pTP) mode with two current steering ranges. The two pTPsteering strategies were compared to a monopolar (MP) strategy without current focusing or steering and a pTP strategy with only current focusing using the Hearing in Noise Test. The strategies differed only in stimulation mode.

Study sample

Ten post-lingually deafened adult CI users participated in this study.

Results

Compared to the MP strategy, both pTPsteering strategies produced significantly better speech reception thresholds, while the pTP strategy did not. Subjects with better baseline MP performance had less improvements with the pTPsteering strategies. All four strategies were experimental low-rate strategies and none of them outperformed subjects’ clinical strategies.

Conclusions

Speech recognition in noise was better with the pTPsteering strategies than with the MP strategy, but the effect of pTP-mode current steering on spectral resolution is yet to be tested.

Keywords:

• Cochlear implant
• current focusing
• current steering
• speech recognition

Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to all subjects for their participation in this study.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work is supported by National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders. Research was supported in part by the NIH Grant R21-DC-011844.