Comparison of Speech Recognition in Cochlear Implant Users with Different Speech Processors

Area of Science:

• Audiology
• Biomedical Engineering
• Speech and Hearing Sciences

Background:

• Speech recognition in noisy environments presents a significant challenge for cochlear implant (CI) users and manufacturers.
• CI manufacturers are actively developing innovative processors and signal processing strategies to enhance user experience and device efficacy.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare the speech recognition capabilities of CI users employing off-the-ear (OTE) and behind-the-ear (BTE) sound processors.
• To evaluate the performance differences between OTE and BTE processors in various auditory conditions.

Main Methods:

• A cross-sectional study involving 51 CI recipients using the Nucleus 5 (N5) BTE processor.
• Speech perception was assessed using the Hearing In Noise Test (HINT) in quiet and noisy conditions with both the N5 BTE and Kanso OTE processors.
• Paired comparison analyses were conducted across three conditions: quiet, fixed speech and noise levels, and adaptive speech levels with fixed noise.

Main Results:

• No significant difference in speech recognition was observed between the N5 and Kanso processors in quiet conditions.
• The OTE (Kanso) processor demonstrated superior performance compared to the BTE (N5) processor in all tested noisy conditions.
• A statistically significant mean difference of 8.1 percentage points favored the Kanso OTE processor in sentence recognition scores under fixed speech and noise levels.

Conclusions:

• Cochlear implant users achieved a better signal-to-noise ratio with the OTE processor.
• The OTE processor resulted in a higher percentage of sentence recognition compared to the BTE processor.
• These findings indicate that OTE processors may offer an advantage for CI users in challenging listening environments.