Cochlear Implantation

Characterization of low frequency hearing and vestibular funktion in patients undergoing cochlear implantation

People without functional hearing may, in many instances, benefit from implantation with a cohclear implant (CI). With this procedure an electrode is inserted directly into the cochlea within the inner ear. With this electrode in situ the auditory nerve is stimulated directly by signals bypassing the damaged sensory hair cells within the cochlea. For these people who are either deaf or with severe bilateral hearing disabilities a useful acoustic sensory system may be instated. 

After the increasingly overwhelmingly positive results of CIs the indication has broadened to include adults with residual hearin gin the low frequency spectrum, where traditional hearing aids still can't provide satsifactory speech intelligibility. However, the actual insertion of the electrode may damage this residual hearing, and thus great efforts have been made to optimise hearing preserving surgery and minimise adverse effects on the vestibular system which are also part of the inner ear and directly connected to the cochlea. CI-users with residual hearing may, with a hybrid CI (combinded CI and hearing aid (HA)), utilise both their inborn hearing and CI for even better results. In order to improve patient selection and counselling, increased aftercare knowledge is needed in terms of both audiological and vestibular outcomes. 

This study will therefore follow a group of patients over a two-years period before and after their CI surgery, with the aim of examining their benefits of the treatment and to determine if their residual hearing may be preserved and subsequent utilised. The vestibular funktion of these patients will be evaluated in the same manner. The patients will additionally fill out questionnaires specifically developed to take the patient's perspective into account.