Effects of subject adjustment of cochlear implant comfort in adult Nucleus 24 users

Abstract

Objectives Cochlear implant comfort level measurements are crucial to the hearing of the cochlear implant user. They influence speech perception and sound quality. Various techniques are currently used to arrive at comfort level. The purpose of this research is to examine the word recognition scores of Nucleus 24 cochlear implant users as a function of the procedure used to obtain maximum acceptable loudness levels. Study design Subjects: □ Adults between ages of 21–65 years, □ Postlingually deaf, □ At least 6 months experience using the Advanced Combination Encoders (ACE) processing strategy. Methods Comfort levels were measured using an Experimenter-adjusted Method and Subject-adjusted (or self-MAPping) Method. Two programs were created, with the measurements obtained using both programming techniques, and downloaded into their speech processor. Word recognition was evaluated at varied signal levels using these two programs. A sound quality questionnaire was then completed by each subject. Results Data is currently being collected to satisfy our hypothesis that subjects' self-MAPping will result in more accurate comfort level settings, and subsequently optimal cochlear implant programs. Therefore, patients will have better speech perception skills and report improved sound quality. Conclusion If this hypothesis is correct, we can continue to more confidently apply this technique to the pediatric and adolescent population. It may also give rise to more automated, audiologist-supervised cochlear implant programming.