Cochlear implants: Technical and clinical implications

Recent investigations using animal models and human subjects have helped to define the limits which are achievable in terms of information transfer with single-channel electrical stimulation of the auditory nerve. These studies are reviewed, and presented as a context for a description of the development of an implantable multiple-electrode multiplexing system which may provide control for several stimulus channels. While such a device may enable the stimulation of small segments of the auditory nerve independently, it does not contain any means of complex stimulus analysis and recording. This latter aspect of prosthesis development remains as the most formidable problem, from a technical viewpoint, that stands in the way of any significant progress.