Importance of patient and processor variables in determining outcomes with cochlear implants.

Within-subjects comparisons of processing strategies for cochlear implants are reviewed. Compressed analog strategies were compared to interleaved pulses strategies in tests with one group of 8 subjects, and to continuous interleaved sampling strategies in tests with another group of 11 subjects. The tests included open-set recognition of words and sentences. The results show that, while different strategies may produce quite different outcomes across subjects, individual performances with one processing strategy are significantly correlated with those of alternative strategies. These findings emphasize the importance of patient variables in determining outcomes across a variety of prosthesis designs.