Effects of microphone placement and directionality on hearing-in-noise abilities in school-aged cochlear implant recipients

Article in CI Journal

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Research article in CI International Journal:

Effects of microphone placement and directionality on hearing-in-noise abilities in school-aged cochlear implant recipients

Amanda Griffin, David Faller, Lauralyn Chetwynd, Jennifer Harris, Elizabeth Erikson O'Neill, Hae-Young Kim, Greg Licameli

Abstract

Objectives:
The current study investigated the effects of processor microphone placement, microphone directionality, and remote microphone (RM) use on hearing-in-noise abilities in pediatric cochlear implant (CI) users and interactions among those technologies.

Methods:
The signal-to-noise ratio required for 50%-correct recognition (SNR-50) was measured in twenty-five bilateral CI recipients using the R-SPACE in a repeated-measures design.

Results:
For Cochlear users, behind-the-ear (BTE) microphone placement with directional settings produced better SNR-50 scores than BTE in an omnidirectional setting (Omni), but performance with an off-the-ear (OTE) placement with directional settings was not different from OTE Omni. For Advanced Bionics users, performance was better with BTE and in-the-ear (ITE) placements than OTE, and performance was better with directional microphones than without. For both manufacturers, best performance was achieved with RM.

Discussion:
Microphone placement can have an effect on hearing-in-noise abilities, but it is moderated by microphone directionality and RM usage. SNR-50 can be improved through optimizing microphone placement and directionality, but the largest gains were obtained through use of RM.

Conclusion:
The impact of microphone placement depends on manufacturer and the use of directional and remote microphones. Findings support continued use of RM for pediatric CI users to improve hearing-in-noise.

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