Enhanced hearing in noise for cochlear implant recipients: clinical trial results for a commercially available speech-enhancement strategy.

Objective: To demonstrate benefits for speech perception and everyday listening in quiet and in noise with a speech-enhancement strategy called ClearVoice, which was designed to improve listening in complex acoustic environments without compromising hearing in quiet.

Study Design: A 2-week randomized crossover design was used to evaluate ClearVoice in 46 adults unilaterally implanted with a CII/HiRes 90K cochlear implant who had at least 6 months experience with HiRes Fidelity 120 sound processing. Speech perception was assessed using the AzBio sentences presented in quiet, in speech-spectrum noise and in multitalker babble.

Simultaneous bilateral cochlear implantation: prospective study in adults.

Normal-hearing listeners gain important everyday benefits from having two ears, particularly for determining where sounds come from and for understanding speech in noisy environments. Users of two cochlear implants may have the opportunity to experience some of these bilateral advantages. The primary aim of this study was to document bilateral versus unilateral listening benefit in 15 postlinguistically deafened adults implanted simultaneously with two Harmony(®) (HiRes 90K(®)) cochlear implants.

Current steering creates additional pitch percepts in adult cochlear implant recipients.

Objective: The number of spectral channels is the number of discriminable pitches heard as current is delivered to distinct locations along the cochlea. This study aimed to determine whether cochlear implant users could hear additional spectral channels using current "steering." Current steering involves the simultaneous delivery of current to adjacent electrodes, where stimulation can be steered to sites between the contacts by varying the proportion of current delivered to each electrode in an electrode pair.

Standard cochlear implantation of adults with residual low-frequency hearing: implications for combined electro-acoustic stimulation.

Objective: This study compared preoperative and postoperative cochlear implant benefit in subjects with steeply sloping high-frequency hearing losses (HLs) who were implanted with standard long cochlear implant electrodes to: 1) determine the effect of etiology, 2) compare outcomes in studies exploring the use of combined electrical and acoustic stimulation, and 3) compare outcomes in patients implanted using standard criteria.

Study Design: Retrospective case review.

Setting: Tertiary referral center.

Using current steering to increase spectral resolution in CII and HiRes 90K users.

Objectives: The HiResolution Bionic Ear has the capability of creating virtual spectral channels using current steering. Through simultaneous delivery of current to pairs of adjacent electrodes, it is hypothesized that the effective locus of stimulation can be steered to sites between the contacts by varying the proportion of current delivered to each electrode of the pair. Thus, theoretically, many intermediate regions of stimulation can be created with fine control over the proportion and amplitude of current delivered to each electrode.

Bioengineering solutions for hearing loss and related disorders.

Advances in digital signal processing, microelectronics, and power technology have produced devices that have contributed significantly to the quality of life and communication abilities of individuals with hearing impairment and tinnitus. Future technological developments will expand the benefits of current devices and offer new treatments for otologic disorders.

HiResolution and conventional sound processing in the HiResolution bionic ear: using appropriate outcome measures to assess speech recognition ability.

Objective: This study compared speech perception benefits in adults implanted with the HiResolution (HiRes) Bionic Ear who used both conventional and HiRes sound processing. A battery of speech tests was used to determine which formats were most appropriate for documenting the wide range of benefit experienced by cochlear-implant users.

Study Design: A repeated-measures design was used to assess postimplantation speech perception in adults who received the HiResolution Bionic Ear in a recent clinical trial.

Effect of age at cochlear implantation on auditory skill development in infants and toddlers.

Objectives: To investigate the effect of age at cochlear implantation on the auditory development of children younger than 3 years and to compare these children's auditory development with that of peers with normal hearing.

Design: Using a repeated-measures paradigm, auditory skill development was evaluated before and 3, 6, and 12 months after implantation. Data were compared with previously published data from cohorts with normal hearing.

Cochlear implant candidacy and performance trends in children.

Data from Clarion cochlear implant pediatric clinical trials were examined retrospectively to uncover trends in candidacy and postimplant benefit over time. In particular, age at implantation, educational setting, and communication mode were examined with respect to speech perception performance after implantation. The results showed that 1) age at implantation is decreasing, 2) children in oral education programs obtain more benefit from a cochlear implant than children in total communication programs, 3) children who undergo implantation before 2 years of age show greater benefit than children who undergo implantation between 2 and 3 years of age, 4) more younger children are using oral communication than older children, and 5) more children with good auditory skills before implantation and more residual hearing are undergoing implantation.