Open AccessBinaural Optimization of Cochlear Implants: Discarding Frequency Content Without Sacrificing Head-Shadow Benefit
Author(s) -
Sheffield Sw,
Matthew J. Goupell,
N Spencer,
Stakhovskaya Oa,
Bernstein Jgw
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
ear and hearing
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.577
H-Index - 109
eISSN - 1538-4667
pISSN - 0196-0202
DOI - 10.1097/aud.0000000000000784
Subject(s) - monaural , binaural recording , audiology , cochlear implant , hearing aid , sound localization , speech perception , hearing loss , medicine , computer science , speech recognition , acoustics , psychology , perception , physics , neuroscience
Single-sided deafness cochlear-implant (SSD-CI) listeners and bilateral cochlear-implant (BI-CI) listeners gain near-normal levels of head-shadow benefit but limited binaural benefits. One possible reason for these limited binaural benefits is that cochlear places of stimulation tend to be mismatched between the ears. SSD-CI and BI-CI patients might benefit from a binaural fitting that reallocates frequencies to reduce interaural place mismatch. However, this approach could reduce monaural speech recognition and head-shadow benefit by excluding low- or high-frequency information from one ear. This study examined how much frequency information can be excluded from a CI signal in the poorer-hearing ear without reducing head-shadow benefits and how these outcomes are influenced by interaural asymmetry in monaural speech recognition.