Article
Minimal audible angle of bilaterally provided cochlear implant users
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Published: | September 22, 2005 |
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Outline
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Some studies at the MHH showed clear advantages of bilateral CI implantation in comparison to monaural use in speech understanding in noise and localization. In a full circle with 12 loudspeakers the patients were able to discriminate sources with an error of 40°. However the minimal audible angle could not be measured in this test setup due to the resolution of 30°.
Therefore some bilaterally implanted adults suffering from similar bilateral hearing loss participated in an experiment. They were provided with Nucleus Contour or Clarion CII electrodes. The test setup consisted of three speakers; one fixed directly in front of the subject at 0°, the others moveable between ±5° and ±24°. A 3AFC test with anchor at 0° was used for presentation of the stimuli (white noise).
First results of two subjects showed a minimal audible angle of 13,5°. The test setup as well as the exact results of more than two patients will be presented and discussed.