Speech perception by four single-channel cochlear implant users

Four profoundly deaf adults, each a recent recipient of a scala tympani implant, underwent auditory and auditory-visual speech comprehension evaluations. Two subjects had multiple-electrode auditory prostheses, and 2 had single-electrode implants. All subjects were tested preoperatively with a high-power hearing aid, and postoperatively with a single-channel wearable sound processor. Reported here are the results of the first formal speech recognition tests which were conducted during the 8 months after the sound processor fitting. Three subjects had used the single-channel processor on a daily basis for up to 8 months at the time of postoperative testing. The 4th subject was a nonuser. On listening tests, a comparison between pre- and post-implant scores revealed little difference for any subject. On postoperative speechreading tasks, all subjects identified medial consonant phonemes and 2-digit numerals better with stimulation than without. The 3 frequent users of the device experienced significant improvement on connected-discourse tracking, and their speechreading of videotaped and live voice CID Everyday Sentences (Davis & Silverman, 1978) was enhanced with the addition of stimulation. The nonuser was a very proficient speechreader at the outset and exhibited no significant difference on connected-discourse tracking with and without stimulation. Moreover her ability to speechread Everyday Sentences was hampered slightly by the addition of stimulation. This single-channel sound processor functioned as a sensory supplement for the 3 frequent users, but no subject was able to use the processor as a sensory substitute.