Department of Otolaryngology, New York University School of Medicine, New York, New York 10016, USA.
Otol Neurotol. 2010 Oct;31(8):1242-7. doi: 10.1097/MAO.0b013e3181f2063e.
When cochlear implant (CI) users are allowed to self-select the "most intelligible" frequency-to-electrode table, some of them choose one that differs from the default frequency table that is normally used in clinical practice.
CIs reproduce the tonotopicity of normal cochleas using frequency-to-electrode tables that assign stimulation of more basal electrodes to higher frequencies and more apical electrodes to lower frequency sounds. Current audiologic practice uses a default frequency-to-electrode table for most patients. However, individual differences in cochlear size, neural survival, and electrode positioning may result in different tables sounding most intelligible to different patients. No clinical tools currently exist to facilitate this fitting.
A software tool was designed that enables CI users to self-select a most intelligible frequency table. Users explore a 2-dimensional space that represents a range of different frequency tables. Unlike existing tools, this software enables users to interactively audition speech processed by different frequency tables and quickly identify a preferred one. Pilot testing was performed in 11 long-term, postlingually deaf CI users.
The software tool was designed, developed, tested, and debugged. Patients successfully used the tool to sample frequency tables and to self-select tables deemed most intelligible, which for approximately half of the users differed from the clinical default.
A software tool allowing CI users to self-select frequency-to-electrode tables may help in fitting postlingually deaf users. This novel approach may transform current methods of CI fitting.
当人工耳蜗（CI）使用者可以自行选择“最清晰”的频率-电极表时，他们中的一些人会选择与临床实践中通常使用的默认频率表不同的表。
CI 使用频率-电极表来再现正常耳蜗的音调特性，将更多基底电极的刺激分配给更高的频率，将更多顶电极的刺激分配给更低的频率声音。目前的听力学实践为大多数患者使用默认的频率-电极表。然而，耳蜗大小、神经存活和电极定位的个体差异可能导致不同的表对不同的患者听起来最清晰。目前没有临床工具来促进这种适配。
设计了一种软件工具，使 CI 用户能够自行选择最清晰的频率表。用户探索一个代表不同频率表的二维空间。与现有的工具不同，该软件允许用户交互试听由不同频率表处理的语音，并快速识别出首选的频率表。在 11 名长期、后天失聪的 CI 用户中进行了试点测试。
设计、开发、测试和调试了软件工具。患者成功地使用该工具对频率表进行采样，并自行选择被认为最清晰的表，大约一半的患者选择的表与临床默认表不同。
一种允许 CI 用户自行选择频率-电极表的软件工具可能有助于后天失聪患者的适配。这种新颖的方法可能会改变当前的 CI 适配方法。
