Skip to main content
EURASIP Journal on Advances in Signal Processing
Download PDF

A Two-Microphone Noise Reduction System for Cochlear Implant Users with Nearby Microphones—Part I: Signal Processing Algorithm Design and Development

EURASIP Journal on Advances in Signal Processing volume 2008, Article number: 647502 (2008) Cite this article

Abstract

Users of cochlear implant systems, that is, of auditory aids which stimulate the auditory nerve at the cochlea electrically, often complain about poor speech understanding in noisy environments. Despite the proven advantages of multimicrophone directional noise reduction systems for conventional hearing aids, only one major manufacturer has so far implemented such a system in a product, presumably because of the added power consumption and size. We present a physically small (intermicrophone distance 7 mm) and computationally inexpensive adaptive noise reduction system suitable for behind-the-ear cochlear implant speech processors. Supporting algorithms, which allow the adjustment of the opening angle and the maximum noise suppression, are proposed and evaluated. A portable real-time device for test in real acoustic environments is presented.

Publisher note

To access the full article, please see PDF.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of ENT, Head and Neck Surgery Inselspital, University of Berne, CH-3010, Berne, Switzerland

    Martin Kompis & Matthias Bertram

  2. Bernafon Inc., Berne, CH-3018, Berne, Switzerland

    Matthias Bertram

  3. Laboratoire des Microprocesseurs, Ecole d'Ingénieurs de Genève, 1202, Geneva, Switzerland

    Jacques François

  4. Clinique O.R.L., Hôpital Universitaire de Genève, 1211, Geneva, Switzerland

    Marco Pelizzone

Authors
  1. Martin Kompis
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Matthias Bertram
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Jacques François
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Marco Pelizzone
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Martin Kompis.

Rights and permissions

Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Kompis, M., Bertram, M., François, J. et al. A Two-Microphone Noise Reduction System for Cochlear Implant Users with Nearby Microphones—Part I: Signal Processing Algorithm Design and Development. EURASIP J. Adv. Signal Process. 2008, 647502 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1155/2008/647502

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1155/2008/647502

Keywords