Search

ObjectiveDesignResultsConclusionsThe cochlear implant is a commonly used implantable device for the auditory rehabilitation of severe bilateral sensorineural hearing loss. The effectiveness of the implant, depends on many factors, including intensive auditory training, which is crucial. Intelligibility in a noisy environment is a current issue and poses a major difficulty for implanted patients. The aim of this study is to evaluate the improvement in auditory performance in noise among cochlear implant patients who underwent personalized auditory-cognitive training for speech understanding tasks in noise.This was a prospective study involving cochlear implanted patients divided into two groups. One group underwent auditory training in a noisy environment at home for 2 months (G1) while the other group served as a control (G0). A test of intelligibility performance in noise was conducted at inclusion and two months later.52 patients were included in the study. The trained group, G1, showed a significant improvement with an increase of 4.8 dB in signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) between the two tests (P < 0.01). There was no significant improvement in the control group (G0) (P = 0.756).This study demonstrated a significantly positive impact of personalized auditory training in a noisy environment for cochlear implant patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Assessing cochlear implantation's impact on cell loss and preventing post-implant cochlear damage are key areas of focus for hearing preservation research. The preservation of auditory neuronal and sensory neural hearing cells has a positive impact on auditory perception after implantation. This study aimed to provide details on a semi-automated spiral ganglion neuronal cell counting method, developed using whole implanted gerbil cochlea acquisitions with light-sheet microscopy. Methods: Mongolian gerbils underwent right cochlear implantation with an electrode array whose silicone was loaded with dexamethasone or not and were euthanized 10 weeks after implantation. The cochleae were prepared according to a 29-day protocol, with the electrode array in place. Light-sheet microscopy was used for acquisition, and Imaris software was employed for three-dimensional analysis of the cochleas and semi-automatic quantification of spiral ganglion cells. The imaJ software was used for the manual quantification of these cells. Results: Six cochleae were acquired by light-sheet microscopy, allowing good identification of cells. There was no significant difference between the mean number of spiral ganglion cells obtained by manual and semi-automatic counting (p = 0.25). Conclusion: Light-sheet microscopy provided complete visualization of the spiral ganglion and cell identification. The semi-automated counting method developed using Imaris software tools proved reliable and efficient and could be applied to a larger sample to assess post-cochlear implant cell damage and the efficacy of protective drugs delivered to the inner ear. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: For cochlear implant users, the ability to use the telephone is often seen as an important landmark during rehabilitation and an indicator of cochlear implant benefit. The goal of this study was to develop a short questionnaire exploring the ability to use the telephone in cochlear implant users, named Telislife, and test it in a group of experienced users. Method: This prospective multicenter study was based on the completion of self-administrated questionnaires. The Telislife includes 20 items using a 5-point Likert scale for answers. Speech recognition scores were obtained with monosyllabic word lists at 70 dB HL. Quality of life was evaluated with the Nijmegen Cochlear Implant Questionnaire. This study included 55 adult patients wearing a cochlear implant for over 1 year. Results: The Telislife questionnaire showed excellent reliability (Cronbach's [alpha] = 0.91). A significant correlation was found between Telislife scores and Nijmegen Cochlear Implant Questionnaire scores (r = 0.69, p < 0.001) and speech recognition scores (r = 0.35, p = 0.007). Conclusion: Given significant correlations between Telislife scores and both speech recognition and quality of life and given its short form, the Telislife questionnaire appears to be a reliable tool to evaluate cochlear implant outcomes in clinical practice.

Introduction: Difficulty in understanding speech in noise is the most common complaint of people with hearing impairment. Thus, there is a need for tests of speech-in-noise ability in clinical settings, which have to be evaluated for each language. Here, a reference dataset is presented for a quick speech-in-noise test in the French language (Vocale Rapide dans le Bruit, VRB; Leclercq, Renard, & Vincent, 2018). Methods: A large cohort (N = 641) was tested in a nationwide multicentric study. The cohort comprised normal-hearing individuals and individuals with a broad range of symmetrical hearing losses. Short everyday sentences embedded in babble noise were presented over a spatial array of loudspeakers. Speech level was kept constant, while noise level was progressively increased over a range of signal-to-noise ratios. The signal-to-noise ratio for which 50% of keywords could be correctly reported (speech reception threshold, SRT) was derived from psychometric functions. Other audiometric measures were collected for the cohort, such as audiograms and speech-in-quiet performance. Results: The VRB test was both sensitive and reliable, as shown by the steep slope of the psychometric functions and by the high test-retest consistency across sentence lists. Correlation analyses showed that pure tone averages derived from the audiograms explained 74% of the SRT variance over the whole cohort, but only 29% for individuals with clinically normal audiograms. SRTs were then compared to recent guidelines from the French Society of Audiology [Eur Ann Otorhinolaryngol Head Neck Dis. 2022;139(1):21–7]. Among individuals who would not have qualified for hearing aid prescription based on their audiogram or speech intelligibility in quiet, 18.4% were now eligible as they displayed SRTs in noise impaired by 3 dB or more. For individuals with borderline audiograms, between 20 dB HL and 30 dB HL, the prevalence of impaired SRTs increased to 71.4%. Finally, even though five lists are recommended for clinical use, a minute-long screening using only one VRB list detected 98.6% of impaired SRTs. Conclusion: The reference data suggest that VRB testing can be used to identify individuals with speech-in-noise impairment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a technique that uses a planar calibration object and projective constraints to calibrate parametric and nonparametric distortions. An iterative surface fitting is first used to constrain a B-spline distortion model by fusing the corrective distortion maps obtained from multiple views. The model is then refined within the whole camera-calibration process. Index Terms--Camera calibration, geometric modeling, image distortion, splines, surface fitting.

The algorithm proposed in this paper enables the registration of two three-dimensional surfaces of an object when recording with a fringe-projection technique from two different viewpoints. Based on the redundancy and a distance minimization between the views, it leads iteratively to the absolute positioning of the surfaces without fringe coding. The robustness of the algorithm is demonstrated on natural shapes reconstructed from a four-head system. OCIS codes: 100.3010, 110.6880.