Comparison of speech perception benefits with SPEAK and ACE coding strategies in pediatric Nucleus CI24M cochlear implant recipients

Nine congenitally deaf children who received a Nucleus CI24M cochlear implant and who were fitted with the SPrint speech processor participated in this study. All subjects were initially programmed with the SPEAK coding strategy and then converted to the ACE strategy. Speech perception was evaluated before and after conversion to the new coding strategy using word and Common Phrase speech recognition tests in both the presence and absence of noise. In quiet conditions, the mean percent correct scores for words were 68.8% with SPEAK and 91% with ACE; for phrases the percentage was 66.6% with SPEAK and 85.5% with ACE. In the presence of noise (at +10 dB signal-to-noise ratio), the mean percent correct scores for words were 43.3% with SPEAK compared to 84.4% with ACE; for phrases the percentage was 41.1% with SPEAK and 82.2% with ACE. Statistical analysis revealed significant improvement in open-set speech recognition with ACE compared to SPEAK. Preliminary data suggest that converting children from SPEAK to the ACE strategy improves their performance. Subjects showed significant improvements for open-set word and sentence recognition in quiet as well as in noise when ACE was used in comparison with SPEAK. The greatest improvements were obtained when tests were presented in the presence of noise.