Overview

Better Hearing with Cochlear Implants provides a comprehensive account of a decades-long research effort to improve cochlear implants (CIs). The research was conducted primarily at the Research Triangle Institute (RTI) in North Carolina, USA, and the results provided key pillars in the foundation for the present-day devices. Although many of these results were reported in journal articles and other publications, many others were only reported in Quarterly and Final Progress Reports for the National Institutes of Health, which supported the RTI effort. In addition, the Progress Reports provided details that could not be included in the publications. The book is an annotated compilation of the most important sections from the most important reports that gives readers access to previously unpublished data and also a broad and logically organized overview of the research. Four main sections are included to describe the major lines of investigation: design and evaluation of novel processing strategies; electrical stimulation on both sides with CIs; combined electric and acoustic stimulation of the auditory system; and representations of temporal information with CIs. Large advances were made in each of these areas, and readers will appreciate the significance of the research and how the different areas related to each other. Each main section includes an introduction by the authors followed by two or more chapters, and the first chapter in the book describes the work conducted at the RTI in the context of the multiple other efforts worldwide.

The book may be used as a primary text on CIs, and it can serve as a multifaceted reference for physicians, audiologists, neuroscientists, designers of neural prostheses, and scientists and other specialists whose work is aimed at the remediation of hearing loss.

In all, a fascinating history is presented, which began with little or no speech recognition with CIs for any user and ended with high levels of speech recognition for the great majority of users, including the ability to converse with ease via cell phones. This is a long trip in a short time, and historians of science and technological developments will be interested in knowing how such a rapid development was possible, and about the twists and turns on the way to the destination.

Audience

Primary Subject: Audiology / General
Secondary Subject: Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery / Otology
Audience Level: Professional

Acknowledgments
Dedication

Chapter 1
Overview

PART I
Design and Evaluation of Novel Processing Strategies
Introduction

Chapter 2
Comparison of Analog and Pulsatile Coding Strategies for Multichannel Cochlear Prostheses

Chapter 3
New Levels of Speech Reception with Cochlear Implants

Chapter 4
Evaluation of Alternative Implementations of the Continuous Interleaved Sampling (CIS), Interleaved Pulses (IP), and Peak Picker (PP) Processing Strategies

Chapter 5
Comparison of Compressed Analog (CA) and Continuous Interleaved Sampling (CIS) Processors in Tests with Seven Ineraid Subjects

Chapter 6
Evaluation of Other Promising Strategies

Chapter 7
Completion of “Poor Performance” Series

Chapter 8
Auditory Brainstem Implant (ABI) Studies

Chapter 9
Virtual Channel Interleaved Sampling (VCIS) Processors: Initial Studies With Subject SR2

Chapter 10
Identification of Virtual Channels on the Basis of Pitch

Chapter 11
Further Evaluation of VCIS Processors

Chapter 12
Design for an Inexpensive but Nonetheless Highly Effective Cochlear Implant System

Chapter 13
22-Electrode Percutaneous Study: Results for the First Five Subjects

PART II
Electrical Stimulation on Both Sides With Cochlear Implants
Introduction

Chapter 14
Speech Reception With Bilateral Cochlear Implants

Chapter 15
Sensitivities to Interaural Timing Differences

Chapter 16
Pitch Ranking of Electrodes for 22 Subjects With Bilateral Cochlear Implants

PART III
Combined Electric and Acoustic Stimulation (EAS) of the Auditory System
Introduction

Chapter 17
Psychophysical Studies Relating to Combined EAS

Chapter 18
Speech Reception With Combined EAS

PART IV
Representations of Temporal Information With Cochlear Implants
Introduction

Chapter 19
Temporal Representations With Cochlear Implants

Chapter 20
Strategies for the Repair of Deficits in Temporal Representations With Cochlear Implants

Chapter 21
High Rate Studies, Subject SR2

Appendix A. Partners in Research
Appendix B. Topics and Authors for the RTI Progress Reports
Appendix C. Publications Resulting from the RTI Projects
Appendix D. Contents of the RTI Progress Reports Sorted by Topic
References
Index

About The Authors

Blake Wilson

Blake S. Wilson is the co-director (with Debara L. Tucci, MD) of the Duke Hearing Center and is an adjunct professor in two departments at Duke, Surgery and Electrical Engineering. He is also the chief strategy advisor for MED-EL GmbH in Innsbruck, Austria, and a senior fellow emeritus of the Research Triangle Institute in the Research Triangle Park, NC, USA. He has been involved in the development of the cochlear implant for the past three decades, and is the inventor of many of the signal processing strategies used with the present-day devices. He has served as the principal investigator for 25 projects, including 13 projects for the NIH. Professor Wilson has been the guest of honor at 12 international conferences and a keynote or invited speaker at more than 180 conferences.

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Michael Dorman

Michael F. Dorman is a professor in the Department of Speech and Hearing Science and in the Program Linguistics at Arizona State University. He is a Fellow of the Acoustical Society of America and is the author of over 150 publications in areas including: (i) speech perception by infants, adults, hearing-impaired listeners, and listeners fit with cochlear implants; (ii) cortical lateralization of function; and (iii) neural plasticity. His work on cochlear implants has been supported continuously by the NIH since 1989.

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