Bimodal cochlear implants: the role of acoustic signal level in determining speech perception benefit

Document Type

Article

Abstract

The aim of this project was to determine for bimodal cochlear implant (CI) patients, i.e. patients with low-frequency hearing in the ear contralateral to the implant, how speech understanding varies as a function of the difference in level between the CI signal and the acoustic signal. The data suggest that (1) acoustic signals perceived as significantly softer than a CI signal can contribute to speech understanding in the bimodal condition, (2) acoustic signals that are slightly softer than, or balanced with, a CI signal provide the largest benefit to speech understanding, and (3) acoustic signals presented at maximum comfortable loudness levels provide nearly as much benefit as signals that have been balanced with a CI signal.

Medical Subject Headings

Acoustic Stimulation; Aged; Cochlear Implantation; Cochlear Implants; Deafness (rehabilitation); Humans; Middle Aged; Noise; Signal Detection, Psychological; Speech Perception

Publication Date

1-1-2014

Publication Title

Audiology & neuro-otology

E-ISSN

1421-9700

Volume

19

Issue

4

First Page

234

Last Page

8

PubMed ID

24992987

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

10.1159/000360070

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