Psychoacoustic tests for perceptual assessment of processor fitting in patients with cochlear implants

Abstract

Was to study the possibility of using a battery of psychoacoustic tests to assess the tuning of the cochlear implant processor (CI) in deaf patients. The study involved 60 prellingually deaf patients aged 10 to 23 years with oral speech skills. To assess the quality of the CI processor tuning, in addition to traditional methods, a special battery of psychoacoustic tests was used. The first block of tests assessed the perception of the basic characteristics of sound signals (duration, temporal structure, spectrum, timbre) and was used to assess the initial setting. The second block of tests, intended for patients with experience using CI, included tasks to distinguish acoustically similar and dynamically changing signals, etc. At the end of the initial CI setup session, patients with short signal perception problems were identified. Adjusting the frequency of electrical stimulation in patients has increased their ability to distinguish between sounds. During the second tuning session of the CI processor, 6 months later, a group of patients with difficulties in perceiving acoustic information in the low-frequency range was identified - distinguishing melodic intervals, changing the pitch of sounds, highlighting the voice of the target speaker. The «problem» patients underwent additional correction of the CI processor setting and the corresponding auditory training, which improved the test performance and subjective perception of sounds. The use of psychoacoustic tests expands the possibilities of fine tuning the CI processor, taking into account the individual characteristics of the patient's auditory perception at different stages of CI use, especially in «problem» patients.