Cochlear Implantation Improves Spatial Release From Masking and Restores Localization Abilities in Single-sided Deaf Patients.

Hypothesis: Adult patients with acquired single-sided deafness (SSD) benefit from binaural hearing after cochlear implantation (CI).

Background: To spatially separate the signal of interest from noise is of utmost importance for the speech understanding in challenging listening situations. This ability, however, largely depends on binaural hearing.

Clinical trial results with the MED-EL fine structure processing coding strategy in experienced cochlear implant users.

Objectives: To assess the subjective and objective performance of the new fine structure processing strategy (FSP) compared to the previous generation coding strategies CIS+ and HDCIS.

Methods: Forty-six adults with a minimum of 6 months of cochlear implant experience were included. CIS+, HDCIS and FSP were compared in speech perception tests in noise, pitch scaling and questionnaires.