Study Of Laboratory Cochlear Implant

Cochlear implant is an electronic device that could restore partial hearing ability of people with profoundly binaural deaf. The cochlear implant converts an acoustic signal to an electrical signal which is delivered to electrodes implanted in the cochlea, effectively causing direct stimulation of the spiral ganglion cell. This study investigated the laboratory cochlear implant and introduced the equipment used for electrophysiological experimentation of cochlea implant, and mainly introduced the principle and capability of laboratory cochlea implant stimulator which was designed by ourselves. Computer is the only equipment to obtain and process exterior sound information. It acts both as microphone and speech processor which were part of cochlear implants. Stimulator is capable of forming random wave which could operate with various strategies depending on the program compiled beforehand on the computer. The capability of high rate electrical stimulation, great range of current and flexible output of wave meet not only the requirement of existing strategies, but also the requirement of exploring new strategies. This study built a platform for the investigation of cochlear implants strategy and transmission of auditory nerve signal, and provided a research project for this field.We completed the electrophysiological experimentation of cochlea implant, and did a recording of single auditory nerve signal. The result is inspiring.