Graeme Clark Collection
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ItemDevelopment of safe and effective electrodes: a risk management approach [Abstract]( 1999)Results from studies on experimental animals, computer modelling and preliminary psychophysical studies with three patients, have confirmed the potential for subjective improvement with electrode arrays which lie closer to the modiolus than does the Nucleus straight array. Results of psychophysical studies with three cochlear implant patients, using developmental pre-curved arrays, confirm the feasibility of improving patients' performance through improvements in electrode design. In particular, it was found in psychophysical tests, with patients using a developmental pre-curved electrode array, that both maximum comfortable level and threshold reduced with decreasing distance of a stimulated electrode from the modiolus, and that the dynamic range increased. More intense neural excitation patterns were obtained with the closer electrodes. From this it is inferred that the development of more sophisticated electrode arrays, positioned closer to the modiolus than is currently the case with the Nucleus standard array, will enable the development of improved speech processing strategies. There are technical constraints in the design of a peri-modiolar array, and currently a number of approaches to this problem have been investigated. Whilst the goal of the design is that it be effective for sophisticated and variable manners of stimulus delivery, a primary constraint is safety.
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ItemInsertion study using new peri-modiolar electrode array designs [Abstract]( 1999)Intracochlear multi-channel cochlear implants have been shown to successfully provide auditory information for profoundly deaf patients by electrically stimulating discrete populations of auditory nerve fibers via a scala tympani (ST) electrode array. Histological and radiological examination of implanted human temporal bones showed that the current straight Nucleus® array is usually positioned against the outer wall of the ST. An electrode array close to the modiolus could be expected to reduce stimulation thresholds and result in a more localized neural excitation pattern.
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ItemObjective hearing level estimation in infants with severe to profound impairment: role of Steady State Evoked Potential threshold testing [Abstract]( 1998)Accurate determination of hearing levels in potential cochlear implant candidates is an important part of pre-operative investigation. This is particularly the case for children younger than two years of age in whom speech perception testing is not possible. We have found the Steady-State Evoked Potential (SSEP) technique to be a reliable and accurate objective measure of residual hearing. Threshold estimation using the click-evoked auditory brainstem response cannot quantify hearing loss in the severe to profound range because of the presentation level restriction (? 100 dBnHL) and the broadband stimulus. The SSEP technique employs modulated tones at levels as high as 120 dBHL and can be used to estimate the audiograms of subjects with little or no residual hearing and absent click-auditory brainstem responses. We have demonstrated a strong relationship between behavioural and SSEP thresholds and believe that the procedure provides an important safeguard in the paediatric selection process. The possible exception is in children with retrocochlear abnormalities such as �Auditory Neuropathy�. In these subjects we have found poorer correlation between SSEP and behavioural thresholds.