A Case Series Suggests Peaking Transimpedance as a Possible Marker for Scalar Dislocations in Cochlear Implantation.

Introduction: During postoperative implant control, we observed extraordinary peaks in transimpedance measurements. While searching for a possible reason, it appeared that they might correlate with scalar dislocations.

Methods: In this retrospective case series, six adult CI patients who underwent transimpedance measurements and postoperative imaging were analyzed.

Enhancing Cochlear Implant Outcomes across Age Groups: The Interplay of Forward Focus and Advanced Combination Encoder Coding Strategies in Noisy Conditions.

Hearing in noise is challenging for cochlear implant users and requires significant listening effort. This study investigated the influence of ForwardFocus and number of maxima of the Advanced Combination Encoder (ACE) strategy, as well as age, on speech recognition threshold and listening effort in noise. A total of 33 cochlear implant recipients were included (age ≤ 40 years: = 15, >40 years: = 18).

Influence of the Spread of the Electric Field on Speech Recognition in Cochlear Implant Users.

Objective: To investigate the correlation of word recognition with cochlear implant (CI) and spread of the electric field.

Study Design: Prospective, noninterventional, experimental study.

Setting: A tertiary referral center.

Influence of Age on Speech Recognition in Noise and Hearing Effort in Listeners with Age-Related Hearing Loss.

The aim of this study was to measure how age affects the speech recognition threshold (SRT) of the Oldenburg Sentence Test (OLSA) and the listening effort at the corresponding signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). The study also investigated the effect of the spatial configuration of sound sources and noise signals on SRT and SNR. To achieve this goal, the study used olnoise and icra5 noise presented from one or more spatial locations from the front and back.

Is there an influence of perceptual or cognitive impairment on complex sentence processing in hearing aid users?

Background: Hearing-impaired listeners often have difficulty understanding complex sentences. It is not clear if perceptual or cognitive deficits have more impact on reduced language processing abilities, and how a hearing aid might compensate for that.

Methods: In a prospective study with 5 hearing aid users and 5 normal hearing, age-matched participants, processing of complex sentences was investigated.

An analysis of the spread of electric field within the cochlea for different devices including custom-made electrodes for subtotal cochleoectomy.

Objective: Cochlear implants (CIs) can restore hearing not only in patients with profound hearing loss and deafness, but also in patients following tumour removal of intra-cochlear schwannomas. In such cases, design and placement differ from conventional electrode insertion, in which the cochlea remains filled with fluid. Despite these technical and surgical differences, previous studies have tended to show positive results in speech perception in tumour patients.

Electrically evoked mismatch negativity responses to loudness and pitch cues in cochlear implant users.

Objective measurements could improve cochlear implant (CI) fitting, especially for CI users who have difficulty assessing their hearing impressions. In this study, we investigated the electrically evoked mismatch negativity (eMMN) brain potential as a mainly preattentive response to pitch and loudness changes. In an electrophysiological exploratory study with 21 CI users, pitch and loudness cues were presented in controlled oddball paradigms that directly electrically stimulated the CI via software.

Influence of the spread of electric field on neural excitation in cochlear implant users: Transimpedance and spread of excitation measurements.

Channel interactions caused by spread of the intracochlear electric field and, thus, the spread of neural excitation constrain frequency selectivity and speech recognition in cochlear implant (CI) users. Studying the influence of the spread of electric field (SEF) on the spread of excitation (SOE) can help us better understand the electrical-neural interface. The primary aim of this study was to examine the influence of the SEF on the SOE.

[Objective Audiological Test Procedures: Indications and Differential Diagnostics].

Diagnostics of hearing loss comprises subjective and objective methods and is successfully applied since many decades. This article introduces into the methods of impedance audiometry, otoacoustic emissions, auditory evoked potentials and electrically evoked potentials and describes the respective methodologies. Using an exemplary case, in this article we guide through all stages of objective audiological diagnostics and introduce the scientific and technical background, the application and evaluation of the findings of the objective test procedures.

Speech perception and hearing effort using a new active middle ear implant audio processor.

Purpose: The Vibrant Soundbridge (VSB) was introduced in 1996, and the fourth generation of the audio processor recently released. This clinical study evaluates the audiological performance and subjective satisfaction of the new SAMBA 2 audio processor compared to its predecessor, SAMBA.

Method: Fifteen VSB users tested both audio processors for approximately 3 weeks.

Pure tone discrimination with cochlear implants and filter-band spread.

For many cochlear implant (CI) users, frequency discrimination is still challenging. We studied the effect of frequency differences relative to the electrode frequency bands on pure tone discrimination. A single-center, prospective, controlled, psychoacoustic exploratory study was conducted in a tertiary university referral center.

Influence of surgical and N95 face masks on speech perception and listening effort in noise.

Daily-life conversation relies on speech perception in quiet and noise. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, face masks have become mandatory in many situations. Acoustic attenuation of sound pressure by the mask tissue reduces speech perception ability, especially in noisy situations.

Reduced Spread of Electric Field After Surgical Removal of Intracochlear Schwannoma and Cochlear Implantation.

Objective: The primary aim of the study was to explore whether reduced spread of electrical field is observed after partial or subtotal cochleoectomy and cochlear implantation compared with standard cochlear implantation. Secondarily, the influence on speech perception was explored comparing both groups.

Study Design: Nonconcurrent cohort study.

Optimizing stimulation parameters to record electrically evoked cortical auditory potentials in cochlear implant users.

To measure the effect of burst duration, stimulated electrode position, and stimulation level on the P1-N1-P2 electrically evoked cortical auditory potentials (eCAEPs) elicited via the direct stimulation of selected electrode contacts on a cochlear implant (CI) electrode array. Prospective observational study of 20 adult cochlear implant users with a MED-EL CI system. eCAEPs were recorded simultaneously with the (Interacoustics) and the (Nihon Kohden) recording systems.

Improved binaural speech reception thresholds through small symmetrical separation of speech and noise.

Speech perception in noise is challenging and is improved by binaural hearing. Since signal processing of assistive hearing devices often modifies or masks the peripheral binaural head-shadow or better-ear effects, central binaural processing should be measured separately. In a prospective study, 10 listeners with normal hearing were tested with the German matrix sentence test in a set-up with two loudspeakers located at opposite angles in the horizontal plane with respect to S0N0.

How Much Cochlea Do You Need for Cochlear Implantation?

Objective: To assess the efficacy of cochlear implantation (CI) after surgical removal of sporadic intracochlear or intravestibulocochlear schwannomas.

Study Design: Nonconcurrent cohort study.

Setting: Monocentric study at a tertiary referral center.

Optimal Retention Force of Audio Processor Magnets.

Hypothesis: Audio processor magnets used in transcutaneous active hearing implants vary in retention force. We hypothesized that a range of optimal magnetic retention forces could be derived, based on objective in-situ measurements of individual retention forces.

Background: The magnetic force required to retain the proper placement of transcutaneous active hearing implants varies among patients.

Mismatch negativity reflects asymmetric pre-attentive harmonic interval discrimination.

Objective: Western music is based on intervals; thus, interval discrimination is important for distinguishing the character of melodies or tracking melodies in polyphonic music. In this study the encoding of intervals in simultaneously presented sound is studied.

Study Design: In an electrophysiological experiment in 15 normal-hearing non-musicians, major thirds or fifths were presented in a controlled oddball paradigm.

The Cochlear Implant EEG Artifact Recorded From an Artificial Brain for Complex Acoustic Stimuli.

Unlabelled: Electroencephalographic (EEG) recordings provide objective estimates of listeners' cortical processing of sounds and of the status of their speech perception system. For profoundly deaf listeners with cochlear implants (CIs), the applications of EEG are limited because the device adds electric artifacts to the recordings. This restricts the possibilities for the neural-based metrics of speech processing by CI users, for instance to gauge cortical reorganization due to individual's hearing loss history.

Perception of Iterated Rippled Noise Periodicity in Cochlear Implant Users.

Pitch perception is more challenging for individuals with cochlear implants (CIs) than normal-hearing subjects because the signal processing by CIs is restricted. Processing and perceiving the periodicity of signals may contribute to pitch perception. Whether individuals with CIs can discern pitch within an iterated rippled noise (IRN) signal is still unclear.

Herbal Medicine for Cough: a Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Background: The aim of this review was to systematically assess the literature on herbal medicine for cough as a symptom of upper respiratory tract infections and common cold.

Methods: The Cochrane Library, Scopus, MEDLINE/PubMed, and Embase were searched through March 2012 for RCTs testing the effects of herbal medicine for cough. Risk of bias was assessed using the Cochrane tool.

Mismatch negativity (MMN) objectively reflects timbre discrimination thresholds in normal-hearing listeners and cochlear implant users.

Timbre perception is poor in cochlear implant (CI) users. Most behavioral studies assess timbre discrimination with real instrumental sounds differing in more than one timbre dimension. This study focuses on objective measures of individual discrimination of single timbre dimensions.