Bimodal Cochlear Implants: The Role of Acoustic Signal Level in Determining Speech Perception Benefit
Bimodal Cochlear Implants: The Role of Acoustic Signal Level in Determining Speech Perception Benefit
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.
Cochlear implant · Acoustic signal level · Speech perception · Bimodal benefit
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.
Cochlear implant · Acoustic signal level · Speech perception · Bimodal benefit