Reducing Channel Interaction Through Cochlear Implant Programming May Improve Speech Perception: Current Focusing and Channel Deactivation

Speech perception among cochlear implant (CI) listeners is highly variable. High degrees of channel interaction are associated with poorer speech understanding. Two methods for reducing channel interaction, focusing electrical fields, and deactivating subsets of channels were assessed by the change in vowel and consonant identification scores with different program settings. The main hypotheses were that (a) focused stimulation will improve phoneme recognition and (b) speech perception will improve when channels with high thresholds are deactivated. To select high-threshold channels for deactivation, subjects’ threshold profiles were processed to enhance the peaks and troughs, and then an exclusion or inclusion criterion based on the mean and standard deviation was used. Low-threshold channels were selected manually and matched in number and apex-to-base distribution. Nine ears in eight adult CI listeners with Advanced Bionics HiRes90k devices were tested with six experimental programs. Two, all-channel programs, (a) 14-channel partial tripolar (pTP) and (b) 14-channel monopolar (MP), and four variable-channel programs, derived from these two base programs, (c) pTP with high- and (d) low-threshold channels deactivated, and (e) MP with high- and (f) low-threshold channels deactivated, were created. Across subjects, performance was similar with pTP and MP programs. However, poorer performing subjects (scoring < 62% correct on vowel identification) tended to perform better with the all-channel pTP than with the MP program (1 > 2). These same subjects showed slightly more benefit with the reduced channel MP programs (5 and 6). Subjective ratings were consistent with performance. These finding suggest that reducing channel interaction may benefit poorer performing CI listeners.