Changes in psychophysical parameters during the first month of programming the Nucleus Contour and Contour Advance cochlear implants

Abstract

This retrospective study evaluated the psychophysical parameters of 29 postlingually deafened adults who had received a Nucleus Contour or Contour Advance implant during the first month of fitting in order to determine how many sessions were required to obtain a stable implant MAP. The T‐levels did not differ significantly across the five fitting sessions, but the C‐levels as well as the dynamic range showed an increase up to the fourth session. For all psychophysical parameters the basal, medial and apical portion of the electrode array differed significantly across sessions. Subjects with a Nucleus Contour implant had higher comfortable levels than subjects with a Contour Advance implant. The duration of deafness, presence of preoperative tinnitus, aetiology, frequency of fitting, stimulus rate and number of active channels did not significantly influence the psychophysical levels. These results suggested that four fitting sessions within the first three weeks after switch on should initially suffice and the fifth session could be planned beyond one month. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Evaluation of simplified programs using the MED-EL C40+ cochlear implant

“…However, several reports are available that present data from older children and adults, and most of these suggest generally similar characteristics. For example, data are available from several studies which have investigated the development of threshold and dynamic range over time following initial activation in adults (Walravens et al, 2006) and in children (Hughes et al, 2001;Henkin et al, 2003Henkin et al, , 2006. These show similar patterns, the main feature being an increase in comfort (C) levels (and, hence, dynamic range) over the initial few months.…”

“…Even in the case of post-lingually deafened adults, revision programming is usually required, primarily to accommodate the initial increase in electri-cal dynamic range that occurs in the fi rst few weeks post-fi tting (Walravens et al, 2006). The clinical fi tting process is usually relatively straightforward in the majority of post-lingually deafened adults but can be very diffi cult in young prelingually deaf children.…”

Measures of the electrically evoked compound action potential threshold and slope in HiRes 90KTMusers

“…However, it is notable that there is no evidence that the pereept eUeited by a given stimulus increases over time. Rather, the pereept produced by a given supra-threshold stimulus reduces over the inidal few months, presumably due to central adaptive processes (Hughes et al, 2001;Walravens et al, 2006), such that psyehophysical loudness comfort levels increase over the initial few months. A more likely explanation for the increase in eCAP amplitude, therefore, appears to relate to maturation of firing synchronization, which results in reduced lateney and increased amplitude (and hence, growth function) of the neural response.…”

Experiences of the use of FOX, an intelligent agent, for programming cochlear implant sound processors in new users

“…However, a process of adaptation to the electrical signal usually occurs over the fi rst few weeks or months of device use, such that initially loud sounds become perceptibly quieter as the user becomes accustomed to the new signal (Walravens et al, 2006). As a result, the current limits usually have to be increased gradually in order to accommodate to this change.…”