title: Bimodal cochlear implants: the role of acoustic signal level in determining speech perception benefit.
abstract: The aim of this project was to determine for bimodal cochlear implant (CI) patients, i.e. patients with low-frequency hearing in the ear contralateral to the implant, how speech understanding varies as a function of the difference in level between the CI signal and the acoustic signal. The data suggest that (1) acoustic signals perceived as significantly softer than a CI signal can contribute to speech understanding in the bimodal condition, (2) acoustic signals that are slightly softer than, or balanced with, a CI signal provide the largest benefit to speech understanding, and (3) acoustic signals presented at maximum comfortable loudness levels provide nearly as much benefit as signals that have been balanced with a CI signal.
authors.affiliation: Department of Speech and Hearing Science, Arizona State University, Tempe, Ariz., USA.
authors.forename: Michael F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Dorman
authors.forename: Philip
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Loizou
authors.forename: Shuai
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Ting
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Anthony
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Spahr
authors.forename: Louise
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Loiselle
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cook
mesh_terms: D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D000368:Aged; D019929:Cochlear Implantation; D003054:Cochlear Implants; D003638:Deafness / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009622:Noise; D017603:Signal Detection, Psychological; D013067:Speech Perception