Perception of Mandarin Chinese with cochlear implants using enhanced temporal pitch cues.

A cochlear implant (CI) signal processing strategy named F0 modulation (F0mod) was compared with the advanced combination encoder (ACE) strategy in a group of four post-lingually deafened Mandarin Chinese speaking CI listeners. F0 provides an enhanced temporal pitch cue by amplitude modulating the multichannel electrical stimulation pattern at the fundamental frequency (F0) of the incoming speech signal. Word and sentence recognition tests were carried out in quiet and in noise.

Improved fundamental frequency coding in cochlear implant signal processing.

A new signal processing algorithm for improved pitch perception in cochlear implants is proposed. The algorithm realizes fundamental frequency (F0) coding by explicitly modulating the amplitude of the electrical stimulus. The proposed processing scheme is compared with the standard advanced combination encoder strategy in psychophysical music perception related tasks.