Application of Vibratometry in Evaluation of Frequency Detection and Signal Intensity in Patients with Unilateral Cochlear Implants - Preliminary Results

Vibratometry is a unique audiological test used in patients with bilateral profound sensori-neural hearing loss. An acoustic stimulus is presented using the bone conduction. The study comprised 15 patients with bilateral profound hearing loss with unilaterally implanted cochlear implant. Vibration detection thresholds were noted. Measurements were done at the implanted side with speech processor either switched on or switched off, as well as at the contralateral side with speech processor switched on. All the patients have perceived stimulus used for testing. The average detection thresholds of vibration stimulus and average thresholds in bone conduction using tonal stimulus have shown better perception of vibration delivered by bone conduction than tonal stimulus. The average detection threshold of vibration stimulus in the implanted ear showed significantly better results in case of speech processor switched on. Patients perceived high frequency stimuli during vibratometry testing despite of no reaction to tonal stimulation during bone conduction test. Vibration could be a supplementary stimulation in patients with bilateral perceptive profound hearing loss

a study of people with good hearing from various age groups

Introduction: Evaluation of the objective results in the clinical examination of central auditory disorders requires the use of reliable language tests which provide the means for the estimation of patients' audio-verbal communicative skills. Materials and methods: The authors present a new set of more difficult language tests in Polish, including a filtered speech test, numeral and verbal dichotic tests and a Calearo test. The tests were evaluated on a group of people with good hearing from various age groups.Conclusions: The presented tests are the only existing ones created for the Polish language, which expand the diagnostic possibilities in the case of central auditory processing disorders.It was found out that there is a right ear predominance in dichotic tests, which grows together with the patient's age. This observation can be very beneficial in practice, allowing for hearing aids to be better fitted

Cochlear implantation through the middle fossa approach.

The inner part of cochlear implant is inserted into inner ear during surgery through mastoid and middle ear. It is a classical method, used in the majority cochlear centers in the world. This is not a suitable method in case of chronic otitis media and middle ear malformation. In these cases Colletti proposed the middle fossa approach and cochlear implant insertion omitting middle ear structures. In patient with bilateral chronic otitis media underwent a few ears operations without obtaining dry postoperative cavity. Cochlear implantation through the middle fossa approach was performed in this patient. The bone fenster was cut, temporal lobe was bent and petrosus pyramid upper surface was exposed. When the superficial petrosal greater nerve, facial nerve and arcuate eminence were localised, the cochlear was open in the basal turn and electrode were inserted. The patient achieves good results in the postoperative speech rehabilitation. It confirmed Colletti tesis that deeper electrode insertion in the cochlear implantation through the middle fossa approach enable use of low and middle frequencies, which are very important in speech understanding