title: [Auditory prosthesis (author's transl)].
abstract: 1. Replacement of a non-functioning cochlea by a prosthetic device appears to be quite feasible. 2. In their current form, such prostheses provide only a rudimentary auditory perception, permitting discrimination of some simple noises, but providing substantial aid in lip reading. Speech perception is limited to a few words. 3. Further improvements of the prosthesis must take the patho-physiological situation into account: (a) It will be necessary to establish connections between individual electrodes and limited groups of cochlear nerve fibers so as to achieve a correct space/time/amplitude distribution of the applied signals; (b) signal components which are to be transmitted to selected nerve-fiber groups have to be encoded in such a way that they can be correctly processed by those fibers. 4. Only the future will show if the current prosthesis can still be improved. Even if one assumes that substantial improvements can be made, it is doubtful that "normal" speech perception can be restored.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001489:Basilar Membrane / Q000502:physiology; D002415:Cats; D003051:Cochlea; D006309:Hearing; D006801:Humans; D019736:Prostheses and Implants / Q000592:standards*; D011474:Prosthesis Design; D013067:Speech Perception; D000159:Vestibulocochlear Nerve / Q000502:physiology
vernacular_title: Zur Frage der Hörprothese.