Graeme Clark Collection

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    What factors contribute to successful outcomes for children using cochlear implants
    Cowan, Robert C. ; Clark, Graeme M. ; Dowell, Richard C. ; Dettman, Shani J ; Barker, Elizabeth ; Latus, Katie ; Hollow, Rod ; Blamey, Peter J. ( 2000)
    Long term speech perception data has been collected for 100 children using the Nucleus multichannel cochlear prosthesis in Melbourne. Scores on a number of different assessments are available at approximately six month intervals following implantation for these children. The group represents an unselected sample of cochlear implant users, as all children were included if they had sufficient developmental skills to perform formal speech perception tests. Information was also collected on each child regarding type of hearing loss, age of onset of profound hearing loss, duration of profound hearing loss, age at implantation, pre and post-implant communication mode, developmental delay, speech processing strategy and length of experience with implant use.
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    Latest results for adults & children using cochlear implants & future implications
    Cowan, Robert C. ; Clark, Graeme M. ; Dowell, Richard C. ; Dettman, Shani J ; Barker, Elizabeth ; Latus, Katie ; Hollow, Rod ; Blamey, Peter J. ( 2000)
    The overall success of a cochlear implant procedure is most often quantified by assessing how well implantees can understand speech. This is because a primary aim of the application of cochlear implants is to improve communication, and it is relatively straightforward to obtain accurate measures of speech recognition. The quality of cochlear implant hearing is not well described by measuring an audiogram, as the detection of sound is similar across all implantees if the device is functioning correctly. A commonly used measure of speech understanding is the CID everyday sentence test where the number of correctly identified words within sentences is assessed. In the early days of cochlear implants, subjects could only recognize a few words without lipreading but the most recent results show average scores of 80% without lipreading for this sentence test, after 6 months of experience with the device.
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    Hearing levels and speech perception prior to cochlear implantation - are they predictive of outcomes for adult implant users?
    Dowell, Richard C. ; Winton, Elizabeth ; Ling, Caroline ; Hollow, Rod ; COWAN, ROBERT ; Clark, Graeme M. ( 2000)
    As the speech perception results obtained for adults using multichannel cochlear implants have improved, people with a wider range of hearing losses are now considering implantation. In the mid-1980s, most adults undergoing cochlear implantation had little or no residual hearing. This made selection and counselling relatively straightforward as any level of hearing obtained through use of the cochlear implant could be considered as a benefit in such cases. Most patients evaluated for implantation today have some degree of useful residual hearing, and may be reliant on this hearing to varying degrees in their everyday life. In essence, they have something to lose if their postoperative performance is poor. In counselling these patients, it would be most helpful to have reliable predictors of postoperative performance. A number of factors such as duration of profound hearing loss, congenital profound hearing loss, and certain aetiologies (eg, head injury) have shown significant links with outcomes in previous studies.
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    Where to now? - Impact of New Technologies on use of cochlear implants
    Van Hoesel, R. ; Zhang, A. ; Tykocinski, M. ; Dham, M. ; Patrick, J. ; Parker, J. ; Clark, Graeme M. ; Cowan, R. S. C. ; Saunders, E. ; Vandali, A. E. ; Dowell, R. C. ; Treaba, C. ; Harrison, J. M. ( 2000)
    The history of cochlear implant use by adults and children with profound hearing loss although relatively short (20 some years), has been characterised by continual technological innovations which have enhanced the performance, packaging, and clinical use of these devices. In particular, the development of the Nucleus multiple channel cochlear implant has included a series of speech processing hardware and speech processing strategy, implemented by Cochlear Limited, and based on research findings that have resulted in an increase in mean speech perception benefits for adults and children.
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    How much residual hearing is too much?
    Cowan, R. S. C. ; Dowell, R. C. ; Psarros, C. ; Dettman, S. J. ; Rance, G. ; Clark, Graeme M. ( 2000)
    The value of cochlear implants as an established clinical option for profoundly hearing-impaired adults and children has been supported by significant research results over a number of years (U.S. National Institutes of Health Consensus Statement 1995). As a direct consequence of the level of benefits shown for cochlear implant users on measures of speech perception, research has focused on investigating whether severely hearing impaired adults and children would be suitable candidates for cochlear implantation. I n considering the candidature of any individual, both medical and audiological suitability are investigated. The primary concern is to establish to what degree the patient would benefit from use of the cochlear implant.