Chronic electrical stimulation of the auditory nerve in normal hearing kittens [Abstract]

Multichannel cochlear prostheses selectively stimulate discrete populations of residual auditory nerve fibres in order to provide profoundly deaf patients with pitch and temporal cues for speech discrimination. An important requirement for the success of these devices is that long-term intracochlear electrical stimulation must not have adverse effects on the spiral ganglion cell population or the cochlea in general. We have previously shown that chronic stimulation using charge balanced biphasic current pulses is safe in normal hearing adult animals (Shepherd et al., 1983). The present study was designed to examine the effects of chronic stimulation in the cochleas of young animals.30 September - 2 Octobe