Multichannel cochlear implants. Current status and future developments

The University of California, San Francisco has been active in the development of the multichannel cochlear implants for rehabilitation of total sensory deafness for the past 8 years. Patients implanted with experimental prototypes of the devices now in use have demonstrated that speech discrimination of 40% to 50% is possible for common everyday words and sentence material. These devices provide the same stimulation to each of the 8 bipolar pairs in the cochlea. They have an internal disconnect device which allows for replacement and upgrading of implanted receiver-drivers without disturbing the scala tympani electrodes. Application of these devices in a larger deaf population is currently underway. The present report discusses the current status of implants and the future developments we fell are necessary to achieve improved speech discrimination.