Potential advantages of high pulse rate stimulation of cochlear implants

Lower thresholds and smaller stimulus currents may allow for the use of smaller cochlear implant stimulus electrodes and potentially more channels of stimulation within a given cochlea region. With high (2 kpps) compared to low (125 pps) pulse rate stimuli, inferior colliculus (IC) units have a significantly lower stimulus threshold. The provision of a background "spontaneous" stimuli may provide, a further decrease in threshold current, a unit population with a larger range of thresholds and a more physiologically natural stimulus response. A low threshold, low current level, high pulse rate processing strategy capable of evoking background "spontaneous" firing in units is described. This background stimulus strategy has the potential to deliver more speech information to cochlear implant patients.