Cochlear implant versus vestibular stimulation. Communication.

Results obtained with cochlear electrode implants in totally deaf patients indicate that this means of transmitting auditory information can be of great help in lipreading and remote sound contact. However, using an alternate approach involving fenestration of the labyrinth and acoustical stimulation of the vestibular nerve, we generated a signal in an animal model superior in quality to that generated by electrical stimulation of the cochlea of the cat. This communication raises the question of whether a vestibular signal could be processed so that a deaf person could hear and identify sounds.