IEEE transactions on bio-medical engineering
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IEEE Trans Biomed Eng · Apr 2001
The effects of interpulse interval on stochastic properties of electrical stimulation: models and measurements.
It is known that some cochlear implant users have improved speech perception using higher rates of interleaved pulsatile stimulation. There are, however, significant limitations on their performance presumably due in part to temporal and spatial interactions. To address these limitations, we have examined refractory characteristics of the auditory nerve using experimental animal models and computational simulations. ⋯ Although it is not fully understood how the electrically evoked compound action potential (EAP) data are related to single fiber data, the RS of single fibers is a partial contributor [19]. We have measured the EAP using a monopolar intracochlear stimulating electrode and a recording electrode placed directly on the nerve and have observed changes in slope of EAP growth functions consistent with the theoretical RS values. These results have significant implications for speech coding in a cochlear implant since they suggest an increased membrane noise for pulse trains of specific rates.