ABSTRACT
From April 1984 to May 1991, 49 profoundly deaf patients received implantation of the Ineraid multichannel cochlear implant at the University of Utah. The auditory results of 48 patients indicated improvement in mean pure-tone performance to 500 Hz (32.9 +/- 10.1 dB), 1000 Hz (27.1 +/- 10.0 dB), and 2000 Hz (30.1 +/- 9.8 dB). This group of patients had mean performances of 61.2% on auditory-only environmental sounds (Minimum Auditory Capabilities [MAC] battery), 48.8% on auditory-only CID sentences, and 95.5% on auditory-plus-visual CID sentences. The percutaneous pedestal has been well-tolerated. Changes in the surgical skin incisions have been made. A home use speech therapy program has been developed on VHS tapes.
Subject(s)
Cochlear Implants , Deafness/rehabilitation , Adult , Audiometry, Pure-Tone , Deafness/physiopathology , Humans , Prosthesis Design , Speech Reception Threshold TestABSTRACT
Different sound processing strategies are used in the various cochlear implant designs. This report presents auditory data on 35 patients implanted at the University of Utah from April 1984 to April 1989. A multichannel monopolar electrode system is inserted intracochlearly. During daily use and auditory performance testing, four electrodes receive simultaneous input. The incoming acoustic signal is amplified and routed to the different electrodes through a band-pass filter system. Mean pure-tone performances were: 500 Hz-29.6 +/- 9.4 dB; 1000 Hz-23.5 +/- 13.2 dB; 2000 Hz-25.4 +/- 9.6 dB; 4000 Hz-32.1 +/- 11.5 dB; and 6000 Hz-42.2 +/- 7.7 dB. Audio-only CID sentence testing showed 51.4% of patients scoring better than 60% and 40% scoring better than 80%. The percutaneous pedestal is well tolerated; patients have had the systems in place for 13 and 15 years.
Subject(s)
Auditory Threshold , Cochlear Implants , Deafness/surgery , Speech Perception , Adolescent , Adult , Audiometry, Pure-Tone , Deafness/rehabilitation , Humans , Prosthesis Design , Speech Discrimination TestsABSTRACT
In a sample of 80 persons in the 60-79-year age range, threshold shifts suggestive of collapsible ear canals were found in over one third of the subjects. A very conservative interpretation of the data suggests that at least 10-16% of these 60-79-year old elderly subjects have collapsible ear canals. Neither sex nor age was related significantly to prevalence. Results of this study indicate that in testing elderly persons there are threshold inaccuracies, relating possibly to collapsible ear canals, which, if not taken into account, may cause unacceptably large errors in both clinical and research applications.