Multiple-channel cochlear implant

Abstract of a paper presented at the Proceedings of the XIIth World Congress of Otorhinolaryngological SocietiesReceiver-stimulator units and multiple electrode arrays were implanted in the scala tympani of one totally deaf patient on 1 August 1978, and one profoundly deaf patient on 17 July 1979. The first patient, a 46 year old male, lost all hearing following a head injury 18 months prior to surgery. Pure tone and speech audiometry showed no hearing in either ear at the maximum output levels of the audiometer, and no vibro tactile responses were elicited. The second patient, a 63 year old male, had a progressive sensorineural hearing loss extended over 30 years due to bomb blast and chronic infection, and had no help from a hearing aide for 13 years prior to surgery. Pure tone audiometry under headphones showed no hearing in the left or operated ear, and in the right he had the following thresholds: 0.125 kHz � 125 db SPL; 0.25 kHz � 115 db SPL and 0.5 kHz � 117 db SPL. There was no speech discrimination in either ear under headphones or in a monitored sound field.198