Cochlear implants and spatial hearing: Enabling access to the next dimension of hearing (Cherish)

人工耳蜗和空间听力：实现听力的下一个维度（Cherish）

• 批准号: EP/Y031946/1
• 负责人: Lorenzo Picinali
• 金额: $ 66.43万
• 依托单位: Imperial College London
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2024
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2024 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=EP%2FY031946%2F1
• 关键词: Cochlear; implants; spatial; hearing; Enabling

The loss of inner hair cells in the cochlea causes deafness. Since the first trial of a cochlear implant in 1957, cochlear implants have been developed to the point where they can (re-)restore hearing and speech understanding in a large proportion of patients. Although spatial hearing is central to controlling and directing attention and to enabling speech understanding in noisy environments it has been largely neglected. In current implants, matching of binaural information, a basic prerequisite for spatial hearing, is not yet implemented. Furthermore, intensive rehabilitation programs are lacking. The here proposed interdisciplinary doctoral network in which physicians, psychologists and engineers collaborate, aims at the improvement of spatial hearing in cochlear implant users. In ten different interconnected projects spatial hearing will be improved by (1) applying machine learning algorithms to identify sounds sources and to provide the information to CI users through visual or tactile spatial cues, (2) examining physiological impairments of spatial hearing in CI users and matching the imbalance of the binaural inputs, and by (3) patient centered training programs that make use of virtual environments. The doctoral training network will provide the next generation of researchers and engineers that will have a good understanding of the multifaceted problems of spatial hearing and that will be equipped with expertise and skills to come up with innovative solutions in this field. The collaboration between academia and the private sector enables the realisation of new solutions for spatial hearing with CIs, thus enabling deaf patients to substantially improve their hearing.

耳蜗内毛细胞的丧失会导致耳聋。自 1957 年首次试验人工耳蜗以来，人工耳蜗已经发展到可以（重新）恢复大部分患者的听力和言语理解能力。尽管空间听觉对于控制和引导注意力以及在嘈杂环境中实现语音理解至关重要，但它在很大程度上被忽视了。在当前的植入物中，双耳信息的匹配（空间听觉的基本先决条件）尚未实现。此外，缺乏强化康复计划。这里提出的跨学科博士网络由医生、心理学家和工程师合作，旨在改善人工耳蜗使用者的空间听力。在十个不同的相互关联的项目中，空间听力将通过以下方式得到改善：(1) 应用机器学习算法来识别声源并通过视觉或触觉空间提示向 CI 用户提供信息，(2) 检查 CI 用户空间听力的生理损伤，以及匹配双耳输入的不平衡，以及（3）利用虚拟环境的以患者为中心的培训计划。博士培训网络将培养下一代研究人员和工程师，他们将深入了解空间听力的多方面问题，并具备在该领域提出创新解决方案的专业知识和技能。学术界和私营部门之间的合作使得利用 CI 实现空间听力的新解决方案成为可能，从而使聋哑患者能够大幅提高听力。