Place-based Cochlear Implant Mapping

The current standard of care approach for programming cochlear implants uses a generalized pitch-map for all patients. This approach fails to account for individualized inner ear anatomy. As a result, many cochlear implant recipients experience place-pitch mismatch. We have recently developed an automated mathematical tool to produce patient-specific, customized cochlear implant pitch-maps (Helpard et al., 2021). In this study, cochlear implant recipients will be randomized to receive either the clinical default pitch-map (the control group) or a place-based pitch-map (the intervention group). Assessments will be conducted at multiple time-intervals to account for patient acclimation and plasticity to both the generalized and individualized pitch-maps. Audiological assessments will be tuned to identify patients' ability to discern pitch scaling and variation in sounds, as well as to understand complexities in speech such as mood and tone. Audiological testing will be conducted in collaboration with the National Centre for Audiology (London, ON) to ensure that the most accurate and relevant metrics are applied.

NCT Number	NCT05558514
Lead Sponsor	Western University, Canada Collaborators: Academic Medical Organization of Southwestern Ontario, University of North Carolina, London Health Sciences Centre Research Institute OR Lawson Research Institute of St. Joseph's
Conditions	Hearing Loss, Sensorineural, Cochlear Implants
Enrollment	30 participants
Start Date	2023-06-07
Primary Completion	2026-05 (estimated)
Study Completion	2026-05 (estimated)
Updated on ClinicalTrials.gov	2025-03-28