Cranky Joshua, 120 channels

Josh was cranky when he woke up this morning. I don't care if he just turned three, that boy needs coffee in the morning!

Anyway, Matt was a HUGE help getting Josh pointed in the right direction. Josh watched Matt put on his CI, Josh put his own on (with my help). No complaining this time. Josh watched Matt dress, Josh got dressed. Thanks for the help, cool big brother! :)

Okay, next topic. There's been some recent discussion on forums about AB's future 120 channel programming. I'm not a techy-type person, more of a mommy. But there were some amazing posts that described the technology very well. As well as some vague descriptions of users in the testing of the product. I guess they can't be very specific about how things are until the testing is done. I'm waiting to hear back from them, with their permission to put their posts on this blog, too. I'm very excited about this kind of upgrades for my boys' CIs.

Well, I responded to the posts, too. Here are my responses:

Date: Thu Dec 15, 2005 5:56 am

I'm not an electrical engineer, but as a mom I have to ask: Why would we only need "roving channels" to select which electrodes to use for sound when more could be activated? How do my ears hear? Is only a small part of the cochlea and auditory nerve used with each sound? Sound is a very broadly defined sensation. If two (or more)vastly different sounds were played at once, how would the implant/ear choose which to process, which to stimulate? I would prefer a broad window of input, high signal processing and fast overall stimulation (over all 16 electrodes), as close to that of the human ear as possible.

It is very true that some folks very strongly prefer one processing strategy over another. Especially if they're used to one or another. The 90K implant offers a variety of stimulation strategies: simultaneous, partially simultaneous, and non-simultaneous options including HiRes (HiRes-P and HiRes-S) and emulation of MPS and CIS with current software. If I were implanted, as my sons were, I would want to have this range of strategies to choose from.

The 120 channel programming is not "unrealistic", it's being tested right now. One adult in the testing has blogged a little about her experience with it at: http://debrah.blog.com/ . She also comments on Michael Chorost's book "Rebuilt" where he talks briefly about his experience with testing "121-channel software". I don't know the stimulation specifics, HiRes vs. 120 channel programming, but I am very excited by the advances and anxious to read the results of testing.

I remember when my family bought its first home computer, how strange and new it was. Now my boys have "little computers" in their heads to help them hear! The technology is wonderful, the products ALL keep improving. We feel very blessed to have access to this technology right here and now. :)

Date: Thu Dec 15, 2005 4:48 pm

Okay, again, I'm not an expert, just a concerned mom. And for this I understand why we non-pros may not fully understand the technology of "current steering". With this technology, all electrodes are stimulated in each cycle, not only a few. But at the same time "virtual channels" are created through ICCE technology (I know, I know, another acronym) between the actual 16 channels. These are created through the simultaneous stimulation of two adjacent electrodes. The actual programming that creates this is way over my head, I'm just summing up the basics. But the virtual channels have the ability to provide over 5 times more pitch information at onetime--from 16 to 120 points of stimulation! Pretty easy to understand this is a great benefit!

Here are a couple of more resources to better explain/describe the 120 channel technology:

http://www.healthyhearing.com/library/interview_content.asp?interview_id=72
08/1/2005
Interview with Mary Jo Osberger Ph.D, Director of Auditory Clinical Research Advanced Bionics
Topic: Completely Implantable Cochlear Implants, Current Steering,HyBrids and miscellaneous CI issues.

http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/13.11/bolero_pr.html
My Bionic Quest for Boléro
He's been haunted by Ravel's masterpiece since he lost his hearing.
A deaf man's pursuit of the perfect audio upgrade.
By Michael Chorost (re: second half of long article)

Happy reading! :)