The efficacy of microphone directionality in improving speech recognition in noise for three commercial cochlear-implant systems

Objectives: To investigate the effect of fixed and adaptive microphone directionality on speech reception threshold (SRT) in noise when compared to omnidirectional mode in unilateral cochlear-implant (CI) use for three different CI systems.Methods: Twenty-four CI recipients with bilateral severe-to-profound hearing loss participated in the study. Eight recipients of each CI system were enrolled, and their SRT in noise was measured when the speech and noise signals were co-located in the front to serve as a baseline. The acute effect of different microphone directionalities on SRT in noise was measured with the noise emanating at 90° in the horizontal plane from the side of the CI sound processor (S0NCI).Results: When compared to the baseline condition, the individual data revealed fairly similar patterns within each CI system. In the S0NCI condition, the average improvement in SRT in noise for fixed and adaptive directionalities over the omnidirectional mode was statistically significant and ranged from 1.2 to 6.0 dB SNR and from 3.7 to 12.7 dB SNR depending on the CI system, respectively.Discussion: Directional microphones significantly improve SRT in noise for all three CI systems. However, relatively large differences were observed in the directional microphone efficacy between CI systems.