Effects of Electrode Array Length on Frequency-Place Mismatch and Speech Perception with Cochlear Implants

International audienceFrequency-place mismatch often occurs after cochlear implantation, yet its effect on speech perception outcome remains unclear. In this article, we propose a method, based on cochlea imaging, to determine the cochlear place-frequency map. We evaluated the effect of frequency-place mismatch on speech perception outcome in subjects implanted with 3 different lengths of electrode arrays. A deeper insertion was responsible for a larger frequency-place mismatch and a decreased and delayed speech perception improvement by comparison with a shallower insertion, for which a similar but slighter effect was noticed. Our results support the notion that selecting an electrode array length adapted to each individual's cochlear anatomy may reduce frequency-place mismatch and thus improve speech perception outcome

Modeling of Auditory Neuron Response Thresholds with Cochlear Implants

International audienceThe quality of the prosthetic-neural interface is a critical point for cochlear implant efficiency. It depends not only on technical and anatomical factors such as electrode position into the cochlea (depth and scalar placement), electrode impedance, and distance between the electrode and the stimulated auditory neurons, but also on the number of functional auditory neurons. The efficiency of electrical stimulation can be assessed by the measurement of e-CAP in cochlear implant users. In the present study, we modeled the activation of auditory neurons in cochlear implant recipients (nucleus device). The electrical response, measured using auto-NRT (neural responses telemetry) algorithm, has been analyzed using multivariate regression with cubic splines in order to take into account the variations of insertion depth of electrodes amongst subjects as well as the other technical and anatomical factors listed above. NRT thresholds depend on the electrode squared impedance (β = -0.11 ± 0.02, P < 0.01), the scalar placement of the electrodes (β = -8.50 ± 1.97, P < 0.01), and the depth of insertion calculated as the characteristic frequency of auditory neurons (CNF). Distribution of NRT residues according to CNF could provide a proxy of auditory neurons functioning in implanted cochleas