Clinical trial results with the MED-EL fine structure processing coding strategy in experienced cochlear implant users.
OBJECTIVE
To assess the subjective and objective performance of the new fine structure processing strategy (FSP) compared to the previous generation coding strategies CIS+ and HDCIS.


METHODS
Forty-six adults with a minimum of 6 months of cochlear implant experience were included. CIS+, HDCIS and FSP were compared in speech perception tests in noise, pitch scaling and questionnaires. The randomized tests were performed acutely (interval 1) and again after 3 months of FSP experience (interval 3). The subjective evaluation included questionnaire 1 at intervals 1 and 3, and questionnaire 2 at interval 2, 1 month after interval 1.


RESULTS
Comparison between FSP and CIS+ showed that FSP performed at least as well as CIS+ in all speech perception tests, and outperformed CIS+ in vowel and monosyllabic word discrimination. Comparison between FSP and HDCIS showed that both performed equally well in all speech perception tests. Pitch scaling showed that FSP performed at least as well as HDCIS. With FSP, sound quality was at least as good and often better than with HDCIS.


CONCLUSIONS
Results indicate that FSP performs better than CIS+ in vowel and monosyllabic word understanding. Subjective evaluation demonstrates strong user preferences for FSP when listening to speech and music.
Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Klinik und Poliklinik für Hals-Nasen-Ohren-Heilkunde, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Munich, Germany. joachim.mueller@med.uni-muenchen.de
Joachim
J
Müller
Stefan
S
Brill
Rudolf
R
Hagen
Alexander
A
Moeltner
Steffi-Johanna
SJ
Brockmeier
Thomas
T
Stark
Silke
S
Helbig
Jan
J
Maurer
Thomas
T
Zahnert
Clemens
C
Zierhofer
Peter
P
Nopp
Ilona
I
Anderson
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001307:Auditory Perception; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D059019:Clinical Coding; D003054:Cochlear Implants; D005260:Female; D034381:Hearing Loss / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013063:Speech Discrimination Tests; D013067:Speech Perception; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D055815:Young Adult