Understanding the benefits of electric-acoustic stimulation

了解电声刺激的好处

• 批准号: 7740166
• 负责人: SID P BACON
• 金额: $ 37.61万
• 依托单位: ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY-TEMPE CAMPUS
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 财政年份: 2008
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2008-01-15 至 2011-06-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/7740166
• 关键词: Acoustic Nerve; Acoustic Stimulation; Acoustics; Area; Auditory; Clinical; Cochlear Implants; Cues; Ear; Electric Stimulation; Electrodes; Frequencies; Goals; Hearing; Implant; Individual; Lead; Noise; Patients; Principal Investigator; Process; Rehabilitation therapy; Research; Residual state; Right-On; Simulate; Speech; Speech Intelligibility; Technology; United States; hearing impairment; improved; insight; novel strategies; programs; simulation

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Individuals with hearing restricted to the frequency region below about 500-750 Hz may benefit significantly from a combination of acoustic stimulation in the low-frequency region and electric stimulation in the higher frequency region. The advantage of electric-acoustic stimulation (EAS) is particularly apparent when listening to speech in the presence of competing speech, one of the most difficult listening situations for individuals with hearing loss. The often dramatic improvement in speech intelligibility when adding acoustic to electric stimulation occurs even though the acoustic stimulation alone often provides little or no intelligibility. The broad, long-term goal of the proposed research is to gain a better understanding of the acoustic cues and auditory processing underlying the benefits of EAS. In particular, the specific aims include identifying the acoustic cues in speech that are responsible for the benefits gained from low-frequency acoustic stimulation; determining the frequency extent and magnitude of low-frequency hearing that can support successful EAS; determining whether benefits similar to those seen with EAS can be observed in acoustic simulations of EAS by increasing the number of channels of stimulation in the low-frequency region; determining whether low-frequency acoustic stimulation helps the processing of interrupted speech; and determining whether low-frequency hearing in the implanted ear preserves important cues for understanding speech in the presence of spatially separated backgrounds. The research proposed here will include normal-hearing subjects listening to simulations of implant processing and cochlear implant patients with residual low-frequency hearing. This research should lead to a better understanding of EAS and could lead to improved speech reception for many current and potential patients and an increase in the number of individuals who might benefit from this relatively new and extremely promising technology. There are approximately 28 million individuals who suffer from hearing loss in the United States. A promising new approach to auditory rehabilitation for some of these includes a combination of acoustic stimulation and direct electrical stimulation of the auditory nerve. Additional research in this important new area is needed to broaden our theoretical understanding of electric-acoustic stimulation and to enhance its clinical efficacy.Recently, individuals fitted with cochlear implants have received a relatively short electrode array, intended to preserve their residual low-frequency hearing in the implanted ear. The addition of this low-frequency acoustic stimulation has been shown to dramatically improve speech reception both in real and simulated implant listening, particularly in background noise. The goal of this project is to gain a better understanding of the cues present in the low-frequency region that provide this benefit.

描述（由申请人提供）：听力仅限于低于约500-750Hz的频率区域的个体可以从低频区域中的声刺激和较高频率区域中的电刺激的组合中显着受益。在存在竞争性语音的情况下聆听语音时，电声刺激 (EAS) 的优势尤其明显，这对于听力损失者来说是最困难的听力情况之一。当将声刺激与电刺激相结合时，语音清晰度通常会得到显着改善，即使单独的声刺激通常提供很少或根本没有清晰度。拟议研究的广泛、长期目标是更好地了解 EAS 优势背后的声学线索和听觉处理。特别是，具体目标包括识别语音中的声学线索，这些线索负责从低频声学刺激中获得的益处；确定可支持成功 EAS 的低频听力的频率范围和幅度；确定是否可以通过增加低频区域的刺激通道数量，在 EAS 声学模拟中观察到与 EAS 类似的益处；确定低频声刺激是否有助于处理中断的语音；确定植入耳朵的低频听力是否保留了在空间分离的背景下理解语音的重要线索。这里提出的研究将包括听力正常的受试者聆听植入加工的模拟以及具有残余低频听力的人工耳蜗植入患者。这项研究应该会让人们更好地了解 EAS，并可能改善许多当前和潜在患者的语音接收能力，并增加可能从这项相对较新且极具前景的技术中受益的人数。 美国大约有 2800 万人患有听力损失。对于其中一些听力康复来说，一种有前途的新方法包括对听觉神经进行声刺激和直接电刺激的结合。需要在这一重要的新领域进行更多研究，以拓宽我们对电声刺激的理论理解并提高其临床疗效。最近，装有人工耳蜗的个体接受了相对较短的电极阵列，旨在保留植入耳中残留的低频听力。事实证明，添加这种低频声刺激可以显着改善真实和模拟植入听力中的语音接收，特别是在背景噪声中。该项目的目标是更好地理解低频区域中存在的提供这种好处的线索。