Search

A new cochlear implant has become available. This device, called the Clarion Multichannel Cochlear Implant, is the result of collaborative efforts between the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), the Research Triangle Institute (RTI), Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, and the device manufacturer and sponsor, MiniMed Technologies of Sylmar, California. The Clarion represents a new generation of multi-programmable cochlear implant systems. Options in waveform, the stimulation mode, and the temporal distribution of the signal permit the device to be optimally customized for each individual patient. The speech coding scheme offering the greatest opportunity for speech recognition can be selected. The first Clarion recipient has recently been implanted at UCSF, initiating the Clarion's investigational clinical trials. A description of the device and preliminary patient results are presented.

Using the four channel cochlear implant system with a vocoder-based processor developed at UCSF over an extensive period of research, clinical trials of the UCSF/Storz device were initiated in February 1985, under the sponsorship of Storz Instrument Company. To date, 13 patients have been implanted with this device, nine of whom have been fitted with their external processor and transmitter and have received at least their initial postoperative evaluation. Patient results have been extremely promising, with eight of the nine patients obtaining some open-set auditory only speech understanding. Most patients have demonstrated improvement over time and all patients have attained an enhancement in lipreading ability with the use of the UCSF/Storz device.

Sixteen patients have been implanted with the UCSF/Storz multichannel implant, 11 of whom have been fitted with their external speech processors and transmitters and administered postoperative audiological evaluations. Both the surgical procedures used and the hearing results for these patients are presented. The potential medical/surgical complications of implant surgery and the future direction of research and development within the UCSF/Storz implant program are discussed.