Graeme Clark Collection
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ItemSpeech perception benefits for implanted children with preoperative residual hearing [Abstract]( 1995)Since the implantation of the first children with the Nucleus 22-channel cochlear prosthesis in Melbourne in 1985, there has been rapid expansion in the number of implanted children world-wide. Improved surgical technique and experience in paediatric assessment and management have contributed to a trend to implant very young children. At the same time there has also been continuing development of improved speech processing strategies resulting in greater speech perception benefits. In the Melbourne program, over 60% of children obtain significant scores on open-set word and sentence tests using their cochlear implant alone without the aid of lipreading. As parents and professionals have become aware of these improved benefits to speech perception benefits in profoundly deaf children, there have been requests to consider implanting severely-to-profoundly deaf children. In these children with higher levels of residual hearing, only those children with poorer-than-expected performance on speech perception tests using hearing aids have been considered for surgery. A number of such cases have now been implanted in the Melbourne program. The speech perception benefits for this group are reported and are being compared with benefits for the profoundly deaf group of children.
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ItemLatest results and future directions in speech processing for the Nucleus multichannel cochlear prosthesis [Abstract]( 1995)The past two years has seen the introduction of the Speak speech encoding scheme for most patients using the Nucleus 22-channel cochlear prosthesis. This scheme, based on the Spectral Maxima Speech Processor (SMSP) developed at the University of Melbourne, uses a bank of 20 band-pass filters to present detailed spectral information to the intracochlear electrode array. Clinical trials of this speech processor have shown highly significant improvements over the previous Multipeak scheme in English, German, French and Japanese speaking patients. The largest improvements were evident for open-set testing in background noise, which represents a more realistic measure of everyday benefit than testing in quiet. The latest results for adults who have changed from Multipeak to Speak will be presented, along with results over time for newly-implanted patients using the Speak scheme. New research aimed at improving the speech processing in both the spectral and temporal domains will also be discussed.
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ItemResults of multichannel cochlear implantation in very young children [Abstract]( 1995)Most researchers and clinicians working in the cochlear implant field have assumed that profoundly deaf children will have a better prognosis in terms of speech perception, speech production and language development. if implanted at as young an age as possible. However, it has been difficult to gather direct evidence for this hypothesis due to the problems in assessing children under the age of five years with formal tests. Recent results with older children have supported the view that early implantation may provide the optimal outcome in most cases. The implantation of very young children raises two areas of concern that do not apply in adults and older children: accurate assessment of degree of hearing loss and auditory potential; and postoperative assessment of outcomes. This paper will describe research results from the University of Melbourne which address these issues and present results for children implanted as young as eighteen months of age.