Steven C. Marcrum Au. D., Regensburg
Video 18
“An evaluation of telephone options for patients with cochlear implants”
The primary aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of coupling method on telephone-based speech recognition and perceived listening difficulty in noise for cochlear implant users. A secondary aim was to evaluate impacts of additional processing modifications within coupling conditions. HSM sentences were bandpass-filtered (300–3400 Hz) and presented unilaterally either via telephone handset or an advanced wireless streaming device in a background of cafeteria babble (SNR = 15 dB). Sentence recognition was scored at the word level and perceived listening difficulty was assessed via a visual-analogue scale for each of five test conditions. Twenty native German-speaking cochlear implant users participated.
Coupling via advanced wireless streaming
resulted in significantly improved sentence recognition and reduced listening difficulty, when compared to either telecoil or acoustic coupling configurations. Modifications within coupling methods further increased benefit. Finally, those patients who exhibited the most difficulty during basic acoustic coupling were most likely to benefit from advanced wireless streaming.