Bailey, Quentin R.; Seligman, Peter M.; Tong, Yit. C.; Clark, Graeme M.; Dowell, R. C.; Brown, Alison M.; Luscombe, Susan M.; Pyman, Brian C.; Webb, Robert L.
(
1983)
The clinical trial of a multiple-channel cochlear prosthesis was undertaken in four patients with postlingual deafness and profound total hearing loss. The results of open-set speech tests confirmed that, using electrical stimulation alone, one patient could have a meaningful conversation with resorting to lipreading (for example, this patient uses the prosthesis to converse with her husband on the telephone). The results of closed-set speech tests also suggested that a multiple-channel stimulator is more effective than a single-channel one in conveying speech information. The cochlear prosthesis was especially effective in all four patients when it was used in conjunction with lipreading, and speech-tracking tests showed that the patients could combine the information obtained from both electrical stimulation and lipreading.