Re: Cochlear implants and pitch. (Bob Masta )

Subject: Re: Cochlear implants and pitch.
From:    Bob Masta  <masta(at)UMICH.EDU>
Date:    Tue, 27 Nov 2001 08:43:53 -0500

Al:

I'm no particular expert on implants, but I do know that there is a
substantial amount of current spread.  There are two basic ways
that stimulation is given, either between (typically adjacent) implant
electrodes or between an implant electrode and a reference (usually on the
mastoid, I think).  Your experiment seems to require this latter type,
but either way I think that the current spread would stimulate such
a wide region that you won't get a satisfying answer.  And you can't
just use electrodes that are farther apart, since they tend to be rather
big steps in terms of the frequency span of the cochlea.  (Note also
that even though there may be a lot of electrodes on the implant, they
are rarely all in proper position to stimulate... maybe 8 or so if you are
lucky, as I recall.  And they tend to be at the high-frequency basal end,
since that's where the implant is inserted... the rest don't make it in.)



Robert Masta
tech(at)daqarta.com

         D A Q A R T A
Data AcQuisition And Real-Time Analysis
 Shareware from Interstellar Research
        www.daqarta.com