Electrical Impulse Parameters and Neuronal Population in the Cochlear Implanted Patient-PULSE

PULSE - Paramètres de l'Impulsion électrique et Population Neuronale Chez le Patient implanté cochléaire - Etude en Ouvert, Non contrôlé, Non randomisée

The cochlear implant provides good auditory performance despite high inter-individual variability, but performance in noise remains limited. Modification of the coding strategies could improve these performances. A better characterization of the remaining neuronal population by looking for the charge integration efficiency (which depends on the duration and the amplitude of the electrical pulse) would allow an optimization of the settings by adapting either the duration or the amplitude of the pulse according to the quality of the remaining neuronal population.

The cochlear implant provides good auditory performance despite high inter-individual variability, but performance in noise remains limited. Modification of the coding strategies could improve these performances. Currently, the intensity perceived by the patient is coded by the duration and the amplitude of the electrical impulse but companies have different approaches and fix one of the two parameters for the setting of the processors. A better characterization of the remaining neuronal population by looking for the charge integration efficiency (which depends on the duration and the amplitude of the electrical pulse) would allow an optimization of the settings by adapting either the duration or the amplitude of the pulse according to the quality of the remaining neuronal population.

Inclusion Criteria:

• post-lingually deaf adults with at least one year of cochlear implant experience
• unilateral and bilateral cochlear implant recipients
• Oticon device with Neuro Zti array
• Patient affiliated to french social security
• Consent signed

Exclusion Criteria:

• Patients under court protection, guardianship or curatorship