Graeme Clark Collection

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    Multichannel cochlear implantation in children: a summary of current work at The University of Melbourne
    Dowell, Richard C. ; Dawson, Pam W. ; Dettman, Shani J. ; Shepherd, Robert K. ; Whitford, Lesley A. ; Seligman, Peter M. ; Clark, Graeme M. ( 1991)
    This paper summarizes research work relating to multichannel cochlear implantation in children at the University of Melbourne. Ongoing safety studies relating to the implantation of young children are discussed. Results of these studies suggest that special design considerations are necessary for a prosthesis to be implanted in children under the age of 2 years. Results of clinical assessment of implanted children and adolescents are also discussed in terms of speech perception, speech production, and language development, and some possible predictive factors are suggested. Preliminary data suggests that a high proportion of young children can achieve open-set speech perception with the cochlear implant given appropriate training and support. Initial results with adults using new speech processing hardware and a new coding scheme are also presented. These suggest that improved speech perception in quiet and competing noise is possible with the new system.
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    The University of Melbourne/Nucleus cochlear prosthesis
    Clark, Graeme M. ; Blamey, P. J. ; Brown, A. M. ; Busby, P. A. ; Dowell, R. C. ; Franz, B. K-H. ; Millar, J. B. ; Pyman, B. C. ; Shepherd, R. K. ; Tong, Y. C. ; Webb, R. L. ; Brimacombe, J. A. ; Hirshorn, M. S. ; Kuzma, J. ; Mecklenburg, D. J. ; Money, D. K. ; Patrick, J. F. ; Seligman, P. M. ( 1988)
    This is a review of research to develop the University of Melbourne/Nucleus cochlear prosthesis for patients with a profound-total hearing loss. A more complete review can be obtained in Clark et al. A prototype receiver-stimulator and multiple-electrode array developed at the University of Melbourne was first implanted in a postlingually deaf adult patient with a profound-total hearing loss on 1 August 1978. A speech processing strategy which could help this patient understand running speech, especially when combined with lipreading was developed in 1978 following initial psychophysical studies. A prototype wearable speech processor was fabricated in 1979, that could provide significant help for the first two patients in understanding running speech when used in combination with lipreading compared with lipreading alone, and it also enabled them to understand some running speech when using electrical stimulation alone. An implantable receiver-stimulator and wearable speech processor embodying the principles of the prototype devices were then produced for clinical trial by the Australian biomedical firm, Nucleus Ltd, and its subsidiaries, Cochlear Pty Ltd and Cochlear Corporation. This cochlear implant was initially clinically trialled on six patients at The Royal Victorian Eye & Ear Hospital in 1982, and shown to give similar results to those obtained with the prototype device. In view of these findings a clinical trial was carried out for a Premarket Approval Application to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and extended to a number of centres in the US, Canada, and West Germany. This clinical trial confirmed that patients could understand running speech when electrical stimulation was combined with lipreading, and that some patients could also understand running speech when using electrical stimulation alone. Today, more than 600 patients world-wide are using cochlear implants developed from the research described in this paper.
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    Telephone use by a multi-channel cochlear implant patient: an evaluation using open-set CID sentences
    Brown, A. M. ; Clark, Graeme M. ; Dowell, R. C. ; Martin, L. F. ; Seligman, P. M. (Cambridge University Press, 1985)
    A totally deaf person with a multiple-channel cochlear prosthesis obtained open-set speech discrimination using the telephone. CID Everyday Sentences were presented by telephone to the patient, who repeated an average of 21 per cent of key words correctly on the first presentation, and 47 per cent when a repeat of the sentences was permitted. This result is consistent with the patient's reports of telephone usage.