Post‐operative fitting of the Nucleus cochlear implant: Bandwidth considerations

Abstract

Two different Nucleus F0F1F2 processor maps were compared, one in which equally spaced bandwidths were used and one in which bandwidths were based on each individual's psychophysical judgments. The aim of the study was to see whether the use of processor maps with individually tailored bandwidth specifications would result in improved consonant, vowel, and word recognition scores. Four subjects listened to various pairs of loudness‐balanced stimuli and made judgments about the dissimilarity of each pair. Each stimulus pair consisted of sequential stimulation of adjacent electrodes in the individual's electrode array. The judgments were used to set the bandwidths associated with each electrode in the subject's active electrode array. Subjects had at least 1‐month experience with each map before the speech tests were administered. The bandwidth changes made in the present study did not have a significant effect on speech perception scores. However, the two better users preferred the map with the altered bandwidths over their original maps. [Work supported by NIH.]