Early UCSF contributions to the development of multiple-channel cochlear implants

Abstract

The early contributions of the UCSF cochlear implant (CI) research team to the development of multiple-channel cochlear implants from about 1971 through the mid-1980s are briefly summarized. Scientists at UCSF conducted fundamental studies related to device safety, the control of patterned electrical stimulation, and the designs of intracochlear electrode arrays, coders, and implanted multiple-channel electrode drivers. They conducted many original studies documenting parameters of hearing with cochlear implants relevant to next-generation CI designs. On these bases, the UCSF team constructed early models of multichannel devices that were progenitors of the Advanced Bionics' Clarion CI. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled <Lasker Award>.

Structural neuroimaging of the altered brain stemming from pediatric and adolescent hearing loss—Scientific and clinical challenges

“…The advent of cochlear implants has dramatically changed the landscape of auditory habilitation and rehabilitation for more than 350,000 children and adults with hearing loss worldwide (Zeng & Canlon, 2015). This achievement was recognized by the 2013 Lasker-DeBakey Clinical Research Award (Hampton, 2013;Holmes, 2013;Niparko, 2013;Roland & Tobey, 2013;Williams, 2013), the 2015 National Academy of Engineering Russ Prize (Clark, 2014;Hochmair, Hochmair, Nopp, Waller, & Jolly, 2014;Merzenich, 2015;Wilson, 2014), and the 2018 Shambough Prize for the developers of the multichannel cochlear implant.…”

The history and future of neural modeling for cochlear implants

“…The initial development of cochlear implants (CIs) in the late 1950s to early 1980s was spearheaded by several different otolaryngologists around the world, leading interdisciplinary groups of researchers including physiologists, engineers, speech scientists, psychophysicists, audiologists, and more. For some historical perspectives on and by the early innovators, see Chouard (2015), Clark (2015), Eisenberg (2015), and Merzenich (2015). While computational models specifically of CI stimulation only started to appear in the literature toward the end of this period, conceptual models based on electrophysiological recordings and mathematical neural models from other domains played a crucial role in the earlier stages of development.…”