Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 22, 2026
Systematic Hearing Performance Evaluation Process for Adolescents with Cochlear Implantation at Early Ages
Published on: March 24, 2023
Benefit of a commercially available cochlear implant processor with dual-microphone beamforming: a multi-center study
Jace Wolfe1, Aaron Parkinson, Erin C Schafer
1Hearts for Hearing, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA. jace.wolfe@heartsforhearing.org
Objective:
Previous research shows that cochlear implant users experience significant difficulty with speech perception in noisy listening situations. There is a paucity of research evaluating the potential improvement in speech recognition in noise provided by a dual-microphone directional system in a commercial implant sound processor. The primary objective of this study was to compare speech recognition in quiet and in noise for the Nucleus Freedom and Nucleus 5 CP810 sound processors set to the manufacturer's default user programs for quiet and noisy environments.
Research Design:
Crossover with repeated-measures design.
Setting:
This multi-center study was conducted across four cochlear implant clinics in the United States.
Patients:
Thirty-five adults with unilateral Nucleus Freedom cochlear implants. All subjects had used their cochlear implant for at least 6 months and had substantial open-set word recognition as evidenced by a score of at least 40% correct on the Consonant-Nucleus-Consonant (CNC) monosyllabic word recognition test in quiet.
Intervention:
All subjects (previous users of the Nucleus Freedom sound processor) were fitted with the Nucleus 5 sound processor. Performance was assessed while these subjects used each sound processor in the default user program the manufacturer recommends for quiet and noisy conditions.
Main Outcome Measures:
Speech recognition was assessed with CNC monosyllabic words in quiet and sentences in noise from the BKB-SIN (Bamford-Kowal-Bench Sentences in Noise) test. The data were analyzed with descriptive statistics and performance with each processor in each listening condition was compared using a repeated-measures analysis of variance.
Results:
Word recognition in quiet was significantly better with the Nucleus 5 sound processor when compared to performance with the Nucleus Freedom processor. In noise, the Nucleus 5 sound processor also provided a significant improvement in speech recognition relative to the performance with the Nucleus Freedom.
Conclusion:
The results of the study suggest that the Nucleus 5 sound processor provides significantly better speech recognition in quiet and in noise when compared with performance with the Nucleus Freedom processor.
