Preliminary results with the Clarion cochlear implant in postlingually deaf adults.
A clinical trial of three different multichannel cochlear implants is in progress at The University of Iowa. Fifty postlingually deaf adults participated in a prospective randomized study of the Nucleus implant and the Ineraid device. Subsequently, 23 consecutive postlingually deaf adults have been implanted with the Clarion system. The speech perception performance obtained after 9 months of implant use with all devices was compared. In addition, Clarion patient results at 9 months were compared with long-term (36 months) results from subjects using the other two multichannel implants. Preliminary speech perception scores on the Iowa sentence test (sound-only) and NU-6 words (sound-only) demonstrate that the Clarion subjects, as a group, perform at higher levels than subjects using the other two systems. A wide range of performance is observed with all devices. The continuous interleaved pulsatile strategy of the Clarion device appears to be advantageous for this group of subjects.
Gantz
B J
BJ
Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, University of Iowa, Iowa City, USA.
Tyler
R S
RS
Woodworth
G
G
D000328:Adult; D003054:Cochlear Implants; D003638:Deafness / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D006801:Humans; D013067:Speech Perception