Graeme Clark Collection

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    Psychophysical and speech perception studies: a case report on a binaural cochlear implant subject
    van Hoesel, R. J. M. ; Tong, Y. C. ; Hollow, R. D. ; Clark, Graeme M. ( 1993)
    Abstract not available due to copyright.
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    Speech processing for cochlear implants
    Tong, Y. C. ; Millar, J. B. ; Blamey, P. J. ; Clark, Graeme M. ; Dowell, R. C. ; Patrick, J. F. ; Seligman, P. M. (JAI Press Ltd, 1992)
    The cochlear implant is a hearing prosthesis designed to replace the function of the ear. The operation of the prosthesis can be described as a sequence of four functions: the processing of the acoustic signal received by a microphone; the transfer of the processed signal through the skin; the creation of neural activity in the auditory nerve; and the integration of the experience of this neural activity into the perceptual and cognitive processing of the implantee.
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    Cochlear implants in children, adolescents, and prelinguistically deafened adults: speech perception
    Dawson, Pam. W ; Blamey, Peter J. ; Rowland, Louise C. ; Dettman, Shani J. ; Clark, Graeme M. ; Busby, Peter A. ; Brown, Alison M. ; Dowell, Richard C. ; Rickards, Field W. ( 1992)
    A group of 10 children, adolescents, and prelinguistically deafened adults were implanted with the 22-electrode cochlear implant (Cochlear Pty Ltd) at the University of Melbourne Cochlear Implant Clinic and have used the prosthesis for periods from 12 to 65 months. Postoperative performance on the majority of closed-set speech perception tests was significantly greater than chance, and significantly better than preoperative performance for all of the patients. Five of the children have achieved substantial scores on open-set speech tests using hearing without lipreading. Phoneme scores in monosyllabic words ranged from 30% to 72%; word scores in sentences ranged from 26% to 74%. Four of these 5 children were implanted during preadolescence (aged 5:5 to 10:2 years) and the fifth, who had a progressive loss, was implanted during adolescence (aged 14:8 years). The duration of profound deafness before implantation varied from 2 to 8 years. Improvements were also noted over postoperative data collection times for the younger children. The remaining 5 patients who did not demonstrate open-set recognition were implanted after a longer duration of profound deafness (aged 13:11 to 20:1 years). The results are discussed with reference to variables that may affect implant performance, such as age at onset of loss, duration of profound loss, age at implantation, and duration of implantation. They are compared with results for similar groups of children using hearing aids and cochlear implants.
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    The development of speech processing strategies for the University of Melbourne/cochlear multiple channel implantable hearing prosthesis.
    Clark, Graeme M. ( 1992)
    The speech processing strategies that have been used with the University of Melbourne/Cochlear multiple channel implantable hearing prosthesis have been developed systematically from the inaugural one that extracted the second formant and presented this on a place coding basis and the voicing frequency which determined the rate of stimulation. Speech processing has also depended heavily on biological research to ensure that the stimulus parameters used or the operative approach did not damage the spiral ganglion cells it was hoped to stimulate. The advances in speech processing from Melbourne primarily have been to extract more features and spectral information and present this on a place coding basis. This has led to a progressive improvement in speech perception, and a small number of patients can achieve nearly 100% correct scores for open sets of phonetically-balanced words using electrical stimulation alone.
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    Speech perception, production and language results in a group of children using the 22-electrode cochlear implant
    Blamey, P. J. ; Dawson, P. W. ; Dettman, S. J. ; Rowland, L. C. ; Brown, A. M. ; Busby, P. A. ; Dowell, R. C. ; Rickards, F. W. ; Clark, Graeme M. ( 1992)
    Five children out of a group of nine (aged 5.5 to 19.9 years) implanted with the 22-electrode cochlear implant (Cochlear Ply. Ltd.) have achieved substantial scores on open-set speech tests using hearing without lipreading. Phoneme scores for monosyllabic words ranged from 40% to 72%. Word scores in sentences ranged from 26% to 74%. Four of these five children were implanted during preadolescence. The fifth child, who had a progressive loss and was implanted during adolescence after a short period of very profound deafness, scored highest on all speech perception tests. The remaining four children who did not demonstrate open-set recognition were implanted during adolescence after a long duration of profound deafness. Post-operative performance on closed-set speech perception tests was better than pre-operative performance for all children. Improvements in speech and language assessments were also noted. These improvements tended to be greater for the younger children. The results are discussed with reference to variables which may contribute to successful implant use: such as age at onset, duration of profound hearing loss, age at implantation, aetiology, educational program, and the type of training provided.
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    Comparison of current speech coding strategies
    Whitford, L. A. ; Seligman, P. M. ; Blamey, Peter J. ; McDermott, H. J. ; Patrick, J. F. ( 1993)
    This paper reports on two studies carried out at the University of Melbourne jointly with Cochlear Pty Ltd. The studies demonstrated substantial speech perception improvements over the current Multipeak strategy in background noise.
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    The effect of handedness in tactile speech perception
    Sarant, Julia Z. ; Cowan, Robert S.C. ; Blamey, Peter J. ; GALVIN, KARYN ; Clark, Graeme M. ( 1993)
    This study examined differential performance of normally hearing subjects using a tactile device on the dominant versus non-dominant hand. The study evaluated whether tactual sensitivity for non-speech stimuli was greater for the dominant hand as compared with the non-dominant hand, and secondly, whether there was an advantage for speech presented tactually to the dominant hand, resulting from a preferential pathway to the language processing area in the left cerebral hemisphere. Evaluations of threshold pulse width, dynamic ranges, paired electrode identification, and a closed-set tactual pattern discrimination test battery showed no difference in tactual sensitivity measures between the two hands. Speech perception was assessed with closed sets of vowels and consonants and with open-set Harvey Gardner (HG) words and Arthur Boothroyd (AB) words. Group mean scores were higher in each of the tactually aided conditions as compared with the unaided conditions for speech tests, with the exception of AB words in the tactile plus lip-reading plus audition/lip-reading plus audition condition on the right hand. Overall mean scores on the closed-set vowel test and on open-set HG and AB words were significantly higher for the tactually aided condition as compared with the unaided condition. Comparison of performance between the dominant and non-dominant hand showed a significant advantage for the dominant hand on the closed-set vowel test only. No significant differences between hands in either tactually aided or unaided conditions were evident for any of the other speech perception tests. Factors influencing this result could have been variations in degree of difficulty of the tests, the amount of training subjects received, or the training strategy employed. Although an advantage to presenting speech through the dominant hand may exist, it is unlikely to be great enough to outweigh possible restrictions on everyday use.
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    A new portable sound processor for the University of Melbourne/ Nucleus Limited multielectrode cochlear implant
    McDermott, Hugh J. ; McKay, Colette M. ; Vandali, Andrew E. ( 1992)
    Abstract not available due to copyright.
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    Cochlear implants in children, adolescents, and prelinguistically deafened adults: speech perception
    Dawson, Pam W. ; Blamey, Peter J. ; Rowland, Louise C. ; Dettman, Shani J. ; Clark, Graeme M. ; Busby, Peter A. ; Brown, Alison M. ; Dowell, Richard C. ; Rickards, Field W. ( 1992)
    A group of 10 children, adolescents, and prelinguistically deafened adults were implanted with the 22-electrode cochlear implant (Cochlear Ply Ltd) at the University of Melbourne Cochlear Implant Clinic and have used the prosthesis for periods from 12 to 65 months. Postoperative performance on the majority of closed-set speech perception tests was significantly greater than chance, and significantly better than preoperative performance for all of the patients. Five of the children have achieved substantial scores on open-set speech tests using hearing without lipreading. Phoneme scores in monosyllabic words ranged from 30% to 72%; word scores in sentences ranged from 26% to 74%. Four of these 5 children were implanted during preadolescence (aged 5:5 to 10:2 years) and the fifth, who had a progressive loss, was implanted during adolescence (aged 14:8 years). The duration of profound deafness before implantation varied from 2 to 8 years. Improvements were also noted over postoperative data collection times for the younger children. The remaining 5 patients who did not demonstrate open-set recognition were implanted after a longer duration of profound deafness (aged 13:11to 20:1 years). The results are discussed with reference to variables that may affect implant performance, such as age at onset of loss, duration of profound loss, age at implantation, and duration of implantation. They are compared with results for similar groups of children using hearing aids and cochlear implants.
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    Preliminary speech perception results for children with the 22-electrode Melbourne/ cochlear hearing prosthesis
    Cowan, R. S. C. ; Dowell, R. C. ; Pyman, B. C. ; Dettman, S. J. ; Dawson, P. W. ; Rance, G. ; Barker, E. J. ; Sarant, J. Z. ; Clark, Graeme M. ( 1993)
    The 22-electroce cochlear prosthesis developed by the University of Melbourne and Cochlear Pty. Ltd. has been shown to provide significant speech perception benefits to profoundly deafened adults. More recently, use of an improved Multipeak encoding strategy has significantly improved speech perception performance both in quiet and in noise. Benefits to speech perception in children have not as yet been fully documented, in part due to the shorter history of implant use in children and the smaller overall number of children implanted as compared with adults. The first implantation of the 22-electrode cochlear prosthesis in a child was carried out in Melbourne in January of 1985. In Melbourne, a 5-year-old child was operated on in April 1986, and a first congenitally deaf child in April 1987. The age of implantation has been progressively reduced, with the first 2-year-old child implanted in Melbourne in 1990. As at January 1992, approximately 1,200 children (under 18 years of age inclusive) have been implanted worldwide with the 22-electrode cochlear prosthesis. Of this number, approximately 50% are under the age of 6 years. The age of the child, aetiology of the hearing loss, age at onset and duration of the hearing loss, education program attended both prior to and subsequent to implantation, and parental motivation to assist in habilitation are all factors which may affect an individual child's development and progress with the device. Evaluation of performance in children is complicated by a number of issues, including the effects of delayed speech and language development, and the ability of individual children to perform auditory tests. The measure of performance chosen for any evaluation will also reflect the interests of the particular clinician. For example, effects of device use on speech production may be of interest to the speech therapist, whereas educational progress will be of primary importance to the teacher of an implanted child. However, in choosing an appropriate evaluation test to measure progress woth the cochlear prosthesis, it is vital to realize that all measures such as effects of device use on speech production, educational progress, development of language, and effects on social and communication skills depend on the child being able to accurately perceive speech information through her/his device.