Results of a preliminary clinical trial on a multiple channel cochlear prosthesis

Abstract

Speech discrimination testing was carried out under clinical trial conditions for eight profoundly postlingually deaf adults to assess the efficacy of a newly developed 22-channel cochlear prosthesis and speech processor. Three months postoperatively, these patients showed significantly better results with the cochlear prosthesis than for preoperative testing with a conventional hearing aid or vibrotactile aid (following a 6-month trial with the aid) on each of a series of tests from the Minimal Auditory Capabilities battery. Assessment of lipreading enhancement using standard speech tests, consonant recognition studies, and speech tracking showed significant improvements for each patient wh..