Electric-acoustic stimulation in cochlear-implant subjects

Authors

  • Andreas Buechner Department of Otolaryngology, Medical University of Hannover, Germany
  • Anke Lesinski-Schiedat Department of Otolaryngology, Medical University of Hannover, Germany
  • Theo Harpel Department of Otolaryngology, Medical University of Hannover, Germany
  • Mark Schüssler Department of Otolaryngology, Medical University of Hannover, Germany
  • Nicole Neben Cochlear GmbH, Hannover
  • Thomas Lennarz Department of Otolaryngology, Medical University of Hannover, Germany

Abstract

Today, cochlear implantation is the treatment of choice in cases of severe to profound hearing loss, but the speech understanding of many recipients in noisy conditions is still poor and the overall sound quality and ease of listening requires improvement. Residual low-frequency hearing has been shown to improve hearing performance in cochlear implant patients, especially in difficult listening environments (i.e. cocktail parties). It seems that low frequency information can enhance the segregation of competing voices which leads to better speech understanding in noise. For this reason, more and more subjects with low frequency residual hearing are being implanted with so called Hybrid or Electric-Acoustic-Stimulation (EAS) cochlear implant systems to preserve the residual hearing in the ear to be implanted. Results from more than 100 subjects with hybrid cochlear implant systems will be presented. Additionally, a group of more than 80 subjects with conventional cochlear implant systems on one side and residual acoustic hearing on the contralateral side will be demonstrated. Both groups show highly significant improvements in adverse listening environments when using the hearing aid additionally to the cochlear implant system. In this context, indication criteria for the use of acoustic amplification in cochlear implant subjects will be discussed.

References

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Additional Files

Published

2011-12-15

How to Cite

Buechner, A., Lesinski-Schiedat, A., Harpel, T., Schüssler, M., Neben, N., & Lennarz, T. (2011). Electric-acoustic stimulation in cochlear-implant subjects. Proceedings of the International Symposium on Auditory and Audiological Research, 3, 383–391. Retrieved from https://proceedings.isaar.eu/index.php/isaarproc/article/view/2011-44

Issue

Section

2011/4. Recent concepts in hearing-instrument processing and fitting