Thesis (M.S.)--University of Texas at Dallas, 2008. / Includes vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 80-81)

Cochlear implants are devices, which are implanted into the cochlea to aid hearing via stimulation of the cochlear nerve. For this study, we were interested in understanding the age-related changes in the impedances of the electrodes implanted with a cochlear implant system. The impedances of the electrodes reflect the integrity of the implanted system in the inner ear, and the efficiency of transmission of information from the externally worn device to the implanted system. Thus, monitoring cochlear impedances is important for the patient's rehabilitation. Our hypothesis was that cochlear implant impedances would decrease as an effect of age. Current systems record the impedances via a telemetry system when the patient’s cochlear implant is connected to the programming software. This data is saved within the system and can be retrieved and de-identified within the software. In our investigation, we collected the de-identified impedance data from this system to understand the effects of age. This data was collected from the ETSU Audiology Clinic at the Nave Center. The de-identified data was reviewed and sorted between 3 different age brackets. Data was averaged and compared between age brackets and electrodes. Overall, we found in this study that there are no significant differences between age brackets when comparing cochlear implant impedances across the different electrodes. The slight differences between impedances across electrodes and age brackets could be due to many contributing factors, however, the differences were not considered statistically significant. This study could indicate future directions for further research including, comparing impedance differences between male and female subjects, longitudinal case studies, and comparing across implant manufacturers and device type.

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Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Sydney, 2006. / Title from title screen (viewed 19 Dec. 2006). Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy to the School of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Faculty of Health Sciences. Includes bibliographical references. Also issued in print.

Thesis (MAud (Interdisciplinary Health Sciences. Speech-Language and Hearing Therapy)--Stellenbosch University, 2008. / Individuals are increasingly undergoing bilateral cochlear implantation in an attempt to benefit from binaural hearing. The main aim of the present study was to compare the speech recognition of children fitted with bilateral cochlear implants, under binaural and monaural listening conditions, in quiet and in noise. Ten children, ranging in age from 5 years 7 months to 15 years 4 months, were tested using the Children’s Realistic Index for Speech Perception (CRISP). All the children were implanted with Nucleus multi-channel cochlear implant systems in sequential operations and used the ACE coding strategy bilaterally. The duration of cochlear implant use ranged from 4 years to 8 years 11 months for the first implant and 7 months to 3 years 5 months for the second implant. Each child was tested in eight listening conditions, which included testing in the presence and absence of competing speech. Performance with bilateral cochlear implants was not statistically better than performance with the first cochlear implant, for both quiet and noisy listening conditions. A ceiling effect may have resulted in the lack of a significant finding as the scores obtained during unilateral conditions were already close to maximum. A positive correlation between the length of use of the second cochlear implant and speech recognition performance was established. The results of the present study strongly indicated the need for testing paradigms to be devised which are more sensitive and representative of the complex auditory environments in which cochlear implant users communicate.

The cochlear implant represents a radical intervention in the hearing-impaired child's life, which has a profound influence on the feelings and emotions of the child's family. In this study it is endeavoured to identify and to describe this influence. A literature study was done. Families of implanted children in Scotland and in South Africa filled in questionnaires and interviews were held. This study illuminates the fact that parents suffer stress and have various concerns before as well as after the implant. Different reasons why parents decide to give their child a cochlear implant are described. The researcher came to the conclusion that the implanted child functions in a more balanced way and that parents are very satisfied after the implantation. The effect of the implant is described under the following categories: communication, feelings of parents, effect on the deaf child, normality, effect on parents, effect on siblings. / Education / M.Ed.(Guidance and Counselling)

The communicative interchanges of a congenitally deaf child who received a cochlear implant at 24 months of age were videotaped in fifteen hourly sessions over a nine month period while she participated in auditory-verbal therapy prior to and following implantation. The present study examined selected early communicative behaviors. Using Tait's (1993) protocol for charting communicative adult-child interaction, gestures, eye-gaze, and sound uttered either by the child or an adult during communicative interchanges were transcribed from the videotapes. Results corresponded with Tait's, revealing growth in the child's communicative interaction across sessions. In less than three months following implantation phonemic measures rose dramatically. Almost all phonemic measure correlations were significant, high, and positive.

Yu, Shing. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2011. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 87-93). / Abstracts in English and Chinese; includes Chinese. / Abstract --- p.i / Acknowledgement --- p.vi / Chapter 1 --- Introduction --- p.1 / Chapter 1.1 --- Hearing impairment --- p.1 / Chapter 1.2 --- Limitations of existing CI --- p.2 / Chapter 1.3 --- Objectives --- p.3 / Chapter 1.4 --- Thesis Outline --- p.4 / Chapter 2 --- Background --- p.6 / Chapter 2.1 --- Signal Processing in CI --- p.6 / Chapter 2.1.1 --- Continuous Interleaved Sampler (CIS) --- p.7 / Chapter 2.1.2 --- Advanced Combination Encoder (ACE) --- p.12 / Chapter 2.2 --- Tone perception by cochlear implantees --- p.15 / Chapter 2.2.1 --- Pitch and Tone --- p.15 / Chapter 2.2.2 --- Mechanisms of pitch perception by cochlear im- plantees --- p.20 / Chapter 3 --- Tone-enhanced ACE Strategy for CI --- p.23 / Chapter 3.1 --- Basic principles --- p.23 / Chapter 3.2 --- Acoustical simulation with noise excited vocoder --- p.26 / Chapter 3.3 --- Implementation in a real CI system --- p.29 / Chapter 3.3.1 --- Technical details --- p.30 / Chapter 3.3.2 --- Visual comparison --- p.31 / Chapter 4 --- Robust Generation of F0 Trajectory --- p.33 / Chapter 4.1 --- Requirement on the F0 contour --- p.33 / Chapter 4.2 --- Extraction of F0 contour --- p.34 / Chapter 4.3 --- Post-processing of F0 contour --- p.36 / Chapter 4.3.1 --- Removal of octave-jump --- p.36 / Chapter 4.3.2 --- Interpolation --- p.36 / Chapter 4.3.3 --- Prediction --- p.36 / Chapter 4.3.4 --- Smoothing --- p.38 / Chapter 4.4 --- Performance evaluation --- p.38 / Chapter 5 --- Design of Listening Tests --- p.41 / Chapter 5.1 --- Speech Materials --- p.41 / Chapter 5.2 --- Testing modes --- p.43 / Chapter 5.2.1 --- Sound field mode --- p.45 / Chapter 5.2.2 --- Direct stimulation mode --- p.46 / Chapter 5.3 --- Test Interface --- p.47 / Chapter 6 --- Sound-field Tests --- p.49 / Chapter 6.1 --- Materials and Methods --- p.50 / Chapter 6.1.1 --- Subjects --- p.50 / Chapter 6.1.2 --- Signal processing and test stimuli --- p.52 / Chapter 6.1.3 --- Procedures --- p.52 / Chapter 6.2 --- Results --- p.54 / Chapter 6.3 --- Discussion --- p.57 / Chapter 7 --- Evaluation of Tone-enhanced Strategy --- p.59 / Chapter 7.1 --- Materials and Methods --- p.60 / Chapter 7.1.1 --- Subjects --- p.60 / Chapter 7.1.2 --- Signal processing and test stimuli --- p.60 / Chapter 7.1.3 --- Procedures --- p.62 / Chapter 7.2 --- Results --- p.63 / Chapter 7.3 --- Discussion --- p.66 / Chapter 8 --- Use of Automatically Generated F0 Contour --- p.72 / Chapter 8.1 --- Materials and Methods --- p.73 / Chapter 8.2 --- Results --- p.74 / Chapter 8.3 --- Discussion --- p.76 / Chapter 9 --- Conclusions --- p.80 / Chapter A --- LSHK Cantonese Romanization Scheme --- p.85 / Bibliography --- p.87

Objective. As a result of newborn hearing screenings, an increasing number of infants are being identified with a hearing loss at birth or within a few months of life. The literature supports that early identification in conjunction with early intervention services have led to drastic improvements in speech and language outcomes for children who have a received a cochlear implant (CI). The purpose of this study was to investigate the amount, type, and quality of services that young children with CI(s) are receiving. Methods. Participants in this study included 22 teachers of the deaf/hard of hearing (TD/HH), 7 speech-language pathologists (SLP), and 4 early childhood interventionists (ECI). All of the service providers were serving at least one child with a CI(s) at the time of the study. Three on-line service provider surveys were modified from the National Early Intervention Longitudinal Study (NEILS) in order to specifically address the concerns and interests of service provision for children with CIs. The three surveys addressed the birth-3, preschool, and school-age populations. Results. Results from the birth-3 and preschool populations with CIs were analyzed. The school-age population was not analyzed due to the low response rate from that age group. Findings from this study revealed that the TD/HH is the primary service provider for the birth-5 population with CIs. In addition, other service providers (i.e. SLP, ECI) reported that they do not feel completely comfortable working with the CI device (i.e. troubleshooting, utilizing the Ling Six Sound test). Another area of concern was the child's compliance in wearing the CI on a full-time, daily basis. Collaboration and education among professionals and the families of children with CIs must be stressed in order for early intervention services to effectively facilitate the child's speech, language, and educational development. Conclusion. The results revealed characteristics specific to both the child (i.e. services the child has received in the past 6 months as part of his/her intervention program) and the service provider (i.e. amount of professional education concerning children with CIs). More research is needed to assess the relationship between the amount and quality of service provision and the child's speech and language performance to ensure that this population is receiving appropriate early intervention services.