title: Real-time automatic switching between noise suppression algorithms for deployment in cochlear implants.
abstract: Cochlear implant patients often complain about their difficulty in understanding speech in noisy environments. Currently a fixed noise suppression algorithm is used in cochlear implants regardless of the characteristics of the speech or noise environment. Access to an intelligent mechanism to determine the noise environment on-the-fly in order to automatically switch between different noise suppression algorithms in real-time can enhance patients experience with cochlear implants. In this paper, we report the first prototype system implementing such a real-time switching mechanism for automatic selection between two noise suppression algorithms designed for two commonly encountered noisy environments. The results obtained indicate the feasibility of this on-the-fly switching for actual deployment in cochlear implants.
authors.affiliation: Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, TX 75080, USA. kehtar@utdallas.edu
authors.forename: Vanishree
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Gopalakrishna
authors.forename: Nasser
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kehtarnavaz
authors.forename: Philipos C
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Loizou
authors.forename: Issa
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Panahi
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D016477:Artifacts; D003054:Cochlear Implants; D003199:Computer Systems; D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D009622:Noise / Q000517:prevention & control*; D012815:Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted / Q000295:instrumentation*; D013018:Sound Spectrography / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods*