Saphyr® neo establishes new landmark speech performance levels

Compared to just before cochlear implantation (BCI on Figure 1), speech perception in quiet increased rapidly to reach 78% of correct sentence comprehension and 68% of correct isolated words comprehension after only 3 months of habituation. These scores improved over the first year of cochlear implant usage, reaching an average of 94% identification for sentences and 78% for isolated words after the first year. Speech-in-noise scores reached an average of 52% correct word identification in noise after the first year.

These scores were compared with those obtained from patients tested in comparable conditions in a large multicentre study ran by Lazard et al.^{2 evaluating the outcomes of former sound processor versions: the Digisonic SP, released in 2004, and the Convex SP, released in 1999.}

Fig 1: Speech perception scores (N=10)

Scores for sentence recognition, expressed in percentage of correct sentences (Figure 2), improved from 51% with the Convex SP to 75% with the Digisonic SP, reaching 94% with the Saphyr® neo SP. These observations provide direct evidence of the translation of technological improvements into speech perception benefits for cochlear implant users, with a +24% increase from generation 1 (1999) to generation 2 (2004) and another +19% increase in speech perception for the third generation (2014).
The improvements observed with the Saphyr® neo speech processor can be explained in part by the introduction of the new CrystalisXDP compression system, which was separately evaluated in another multicentre clinical trial,³ and by the introduction of the Voice Track, a multi-band noise reduction system.

Figure 2. Comparison of three successive generations of sound processors