Audio Signal Processing for Cochlear Implants

TNT members involved in this project:
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Jörn Ostermann
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Cochlear implants are widely accepted as the most effective means of improving the auditory receptive abilities of people with profound hearing loss. Some cochlear implant recipients can now communicate without lip-reading or signing, and some can communicate over the telephone. Generally, these devices consist of a microphone, a speech processor, a transmitter, a receiver, and an electrode array which is positioned inside the cochlea. The speech processor is responsible for decomposing the input audio signal into different frequency bands or channels and delivering the most appropriate stimulation pattern to the electrodes. Electrodes near to the base of the cochlea transmit high-frequency information, whereas those near to the apex transmit low-frequency information.

The main goals of the project are to improve speech intelligibility in noise situations and to improve music perception with cochlear implants.

Although understanding in quiet situations is no longer a major problem for most cochlear implants recipients, hearing in noisy conditions is still severely limitied. Nevertheless, thechnical progress in signal processing for cochlear implants in recent past led to remarkable performance enhancements in device users. Therefore, we design new signal processing strategies for cochear implants. The new algorithms are tested with cochlear implant patients in the Hoerzentrum of the Medical University of Hannover.

[1] W. Nogueira, A. Buechner, Th. Lenarz, B. Edler,
"A Psychoacoustic NofM type speech coding strategy for cochlear implants", Eurasip Journal on Applied Signal Processing special issue on DSP in Hearing Aids and Cochlear Implants, Vol. 18, 3044-3059, November, 2005.
[2] W. Nogueira, A. Giese, B. Edler, A. Buechner,
"Wavelet Packet Filterbank for Speech Processing Strategies in Cochlear Implants", 2006 IEEE International Conference on Acoustics, Speech, and Signal Processing 14-19 Mai 2006, Toulouse, France.
[3] W. Nogueira, B. Edler, C. Frohne-Büchner, M. Brendel, A. Buechner,
"Sinusoidal Analysis of Audio for Current Steering Strategies in Cochlear Implants", CI-2006 - 9th International Conference on Cochlear Implants, June, 2006, Vienna, Austria.
[4] W. Nogueira, A. Buechner, B. Edler,
"Fundamental Frequency Coding in NofM Strategies for Cochlear Implants", Preprint 6515, 118th AES Convention, Barcelona, Spain, 2005.
[5] http://www.tnt.uni-hannover.de/~nogueira/cochlearimplants.php

Show recent publications only
  • Conference Contributions
    • Reemt Hinrichs, Tom Gajecki, Jörn Ostermann, Waldo Nogueira
      Coding of Electrical Stimulation Patterns for Binaural Sound Coding Strategies for Cochlear Implants
      41st International Engineering in Medicine and Biology Conference, July 2019
    • T Harczos, W Nogueira, G Szepannek, F Klefenz
      Comparative evaluation of successive cochlear modeling stages as possible frontends for automatic speech recognition
      19th Int. Congress on Acoustics ICA, Madrid, Spain, September 2007
    • Waldo Nogueira, Tamás Harczos, Bernd Edler, Joern Ostermann, Andreas Büchner
      Automatic Speech Recognition with a Cochlear Implant Front-End
      Interspeech, August 2007
    • W Nogueira, A Kátai, T Harczos, F Klefenz, A Büchner, B Edler
      An Auditory Model based Strategy for Cochlear Implants
      Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society EMBC , Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society EMBC, Lyon, August 2007
    • Waldo Nogueira, Martina Brendel, Bernd Edler, Andreas Buechner
      A Novel Signal Processing Strategy for Current Steering in Cochlear Implants
      2007 Conference on Implantable Auditory Prostheses, Granlibakken, USA, July 2007
    • Waldo Nogueira, Bernd Edler, Caroline Frohne-Büchner, Martina Brendel, Andreas Büchner
      Sinusoidal Analysis of Audio for Current Steering Strategies in Cochlear Implants
      CI-2006 - 9th International Conference on Cochlear Implants, Vienna, Austria, June 2006
    • Waldo Nogueira, Andreas Giese, Bernd Edler, Andreas Büchner
      Wavelet Packet Filterbank for Speech Processing Strategies in Cochlear Implants
      Int. Conf. on Acoustics, Speech, and Signal Processing, IEEE, Toulouse, France, May 2006
    • Amparo Albalate, Waldo Nogueira, Bernd Edler, Andreas Büchner
      Signal Analysis by using Adaptive Filterbanks in Cochlear Implants
      IEEE Biomedical Circuits and Systems Conference (BIOCAS 2006), London, G.B, 2006
    • Waldo Nogueira, Andreas Büchner, Bernd Edler
      Fundamental Frequency Coding in NofM Strategies for Cochlear Implants
      118th AES Convention, Audio Engineering Society, p. Preprint 6515, Barcelona, May 2005
    • Frank Baumgarte, Bernd Edler
      Ein Psychophysiologisches Gehörmodell zur Nachbildung von Wahrnehmungsschwellen für die Audiocodierung
      DFG-Abschlußkolloquium, München, October 2000
  • Journals
    • Reemt Hinrichs, Tom Gajecki, Jörn Ostermann, Waldo Nogueira
      A subjective and objective evaluation of a codec for the electrical stimulation patterns of cochlear implants
      Journal of the Acoustic Society of America, March 2021
    • Waldo Nogueira, Andreas Büchner, Thomas Lenarz, Bernd Edler
      A Psychoacoustic "NofM"-type Speech Coding Strategy for Cochlear Implants
      Journal on Applied Signal Processing, Special Issue on DSP in Hearing Aids and Cochlear Implants, Eurasip, Vol. 127, No. 18, pp. 3044-3059, November 2005
  • Technical Report
    • Jörn Ostermann, Reemt Hinrichs
      Links und rechts verbinden
      Unimagazin, Leibniz Universität Hannover, No. 1, June 2020
    • Jörn Ostermann Reemt Hinrichs
      Signal Coding for Binaural Signal Processing in Cochlear Implants
      Binaire, October 2019
    • Waldo Nogueira, Bernd Edler
      Audiosignalverarbeitung für Cochlea-Implantate
      Technologie-Informationen, Technologietransfer aus Hochschulen Innovation Niedersachsen, Vol. 4, p. 6, 2006