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Updated: May 31, 2026
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Systematic Hearing Performance Evaluation Process for Adolescents with Cochlear Implantation at Early Ages
Published on: March 24, 2023
Speech detection in noise and spatial unmasking in children with simultaneous versus sequential bilateral cochlear
Neil K Chadha1, Blake C Papsin, Salima Jiwani
1Division of Pediatric Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, BC Children's Hospital, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada. nchadha@cw.bc.ca
Summary
Children with simultaneous bilateral cochlear implants (BiCI) show better speech detection in noise by using spatial cues compared to those with sequential BiCI.
Area of Science:
- Audiology
- Neuroscience
- Biomedical Engineering
Background:
- Bilateral cochlear implants (BiCI) aim to restore hearing in deaf children.
- Understanding speech in noisy environments is a significant challenge for individuals with BiCI.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate speech detection in noise for children with BiCI.
- To compare performance between simultaneous and sequential BiCI implantation.
- To benchmark performance against normal-hearing children.
Main Methods:
- A prospective cohort study was conducted at a tertiary academic pediatric center.
- Participants included children with early-onset bilateral deafness and 2-year BiCI experience: sequential (n=12), simultaneous (n=10), and normal-hearing controls (n=8).
- Speech detection thresholds were measured with varying noise conditions to assess spatial unmasking (SU) and binaural summation advantage (BSA).
Main Results:
- Both BiCI groups performed significantly worse in speech detection in noise than controls.
- The simultaneous BiCI group demonstrated SU performance comparable to normal-hearing controls and significantly better than the sequential group.
- Spatial unmasking in the simultaneous group was unaffected by noise location, unlike the sequential group.
Conclusions:
- Simultaneously implanted BiCI offers an advantage in utilizing spatial cues for improved speech detection in noise.
- Children with simultaneous BiCI outperform those with sequential BiCI in complex listening situations.
