Cochlear implants and spatial hearing: Enabling access to the next dimension of hearing (Cherish)

耳蜗内毛细胞的丢失导致耳聋。自1957年首次人工耳蜗试验以来，人工耳蜗已经发展到可以（重新）恢复大部分患者的听力和语言理解的程度。尽管空间听力对于控制和引导注意力以及在嘈杂环境中理解语言至关重要，但它在很大程度上被忽视了。在目前的植入物中，尚未实现双耳信息的匹配，这是空间听力的基本前提。此外，缺乏强化的康复计划。本文提出了由医师、心理学家和工程师合作的跨学科博士网络，旨在改善人工耳蜗使用者的空间听力。在十个不同的相互关联的项目中，空间听力将通过以下方式得到改善：(1)应用机器学习算法识别声源，并通过视觉或触觉空间线索向CI用户提供信息；(2)检查CI用户的空间听力生理障碍，并匹配双耳输入的不平衡；(3)利用虚拟环境以患者为中心的培训计划。博士培训网络将提供下一代研究人员和工程师，他们将对空间听力的多方面问题有很好的理解，并将具备在该领域提出创新解决方案的专业知识和技能。学术界和私营部门之间的合作使ci空间听力的新解决方案得以实现，从而使失聪患者的听力得到实质性改善。

The loss of inner hair cells in the cochlea causes deafness. Since the first trial of a cochlear implant in 1957, cochlear implants have been developed to the point where they can (re-)restore hearing and speech understanding in a large proportion of patients. Although spatial hearing is central to controlling and directing attention and to enabling speech understanding in noisy environments it has been largely neglected. In current implants, matching of binaural information, a basic prerequisite for spatial hearing, is not yet implemented. Furthermore, intensive rehabilitation programs are lacking. The here proposed interdisciplinary doctoral network in which physicians, psychologists and engineers collaborate, aims at the improvement of spatial hearing in cochlear implant users. In ten different interconnected projects spatial hearing will be improved by (1) applying machine learning algorithms to identify sounds sources and to provide the information to CI users through visual or tactile spatial cues, (2) examining physiological impairments of spatial hearing in CI users and matching the imbalance of the binaural inputs, and by (3) patient centered training programs that make use of virtual environments. The doctoral training network will provide the next generation of researchers and engineers that will have a good understanding of the multifaceted problems of spatial hearing and that will be equipped with expertise and skills to come up with innovative solutions in this field. The collaboration between academia and the private sector enables the realisation of new solutions for spatial hearing with CIs, thus enabling deaf patients to substantially improve their hearing.