Thursday, December 13, 2007

Mapping No. 1 (with photos)

I had my first mapping yesterday. The initial levels were set quite conservatively on activation the prior day so we were able to crank them up quite a bit yesterday. I'm hearing a lot more, but even so it's thrilling not to be annoyed by the loudness. I'm doing good understanding speech. I don't know where I stand on a standard audiogram yet -- my audiologist intends to test me at my third mapping sometime in January. My second mapping will be next Tuesday.

As we cranked up the output the CI started cutting out. After a call to Advanced Bionics my audiologist set the transmission power (the strength of the signal from external to internal coil) to high and that solved it. It is likely due to the swelling at the magnet point and we should be able to set it back to normal in a few weeks. In the meantime my battery life will be reduced somewhat. I'm using the smaller battery at this point to be as easy on my tender ear as possible (it's only been 2 weeks since surgery after all!). Even so, I got at least 10 hours out of it yesterday. I will find out today how long it truly lasts.

The overall nature of sound to me at this early point is that everything sounds deeper pitched, especially voices. I expect that to change over time, but right now it is really weird! My 2-year old son indeed sounds like a munchkin! Many environmental sounds are fairly close to normal: keyboard keys clacking, my footsteps through our creaky old wood-floored house, water dripping and gurgling, and all the various clunks and clacks when doing things. I don't notice the lower pitch as much with noises, but they are lower. Cars driving by sound like wooshing alien spacecraft! Well, what Hollywood imagines they sound like anyway.

I had a really cool moment yesterday. I thought I'd go back and have a look at Abbie's activation video. When I watched it in the past, even with my hearing aids, I could not understand a single word said in the entire video (which is the usual case for me with any web video). Well, yesterday I caught nearly every word! Even her audiologist off-screen! I never expected that a CI would help me with that so soon.

I'm having lunch with a friend shortly. It will be interesting to see how it goes!

For those interested in the technical details (like me!), here are my three program settings:

1. HiRes-P F-120 / IDR 60 / P-mic 50%, T-mic 50%
2. HiRes-S F-120 / IDR 60 / P-mic 50%, T-mic 50%
3. HiRes-P F-120 / IDR 60 / P-mic 0%, T-mic 100%

I need to learn a lot more about the technology, but here are some short definitions:

HiRes-P: Electrodes pairs are fired simultaneously (I think the "P" is for parallel -- 12/17 correction, "P" is for paired).
HiRes-S: Electrodes are fired sequentially (very fast!).
F-120: Fidelity 120 is AB's new strategy which uses current steering to stimulate nerve areas between electrodes. So instead of having just 16 stimulation points (one for each electrode), there are additional points between electrodes providing up to 120 "spectral bands."
IDR: Input Dynamic Range. This is input compression that squeezes the dynamic range -- loud sounds are reduced and soft increased. The higher the number the less compression. 60 is the default and is a moderate setting. I'm pretty sure it's a dB (decibel) figure.
P-mic: The processor's built-in microphone.
T-Mic: An auxillary microphone at the tip of an earpiece that locates the mic in the ear in order to make use of the external ear's sound focusing capability.

My audiologist instructed me to try both HiRes-P and HiRes-S to see if I develop a preference.

Now for some photos. My ear continues to recede back to its normal position. I'd say it's just over half way there!





Here is the same photo as above marked up to point out the various components and with an overlay of the implant showing its approximate size and location under my scalp (you can click on the pictures to see a bigger view):





We took some video on my activation day, so I will work on getting that posted soon.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Only 2 weeks in and you're giving me (all of us!)an education on the more technical aspects, nice work Jeff! I have not had much desire to understand all the specifics and codes, but it is very interesting nonetheless. And the pics are great! You wear that thing well! The colors are so cool. (Eboy is cochlear corp., but I like the look of AB a little better)

I'm so amazed at the speed at which you are going through the mappings and the quality with which you are hearing sounds. Incredible!

Geo said...

Man, I'm jealous.

Jennifer said...

Great pics...I'm impressed with your photo editing skills...how'd you do that overlay? I know exactly where mine are...I can feel them perfectly :)
I have two 100% T-mic programs (Fidelity 120 on 1 and HiRes P on 2) and Fidelity 120 50/50 on 3. I do use the 100% T-mic for telephone...if I cover my ear as much as possible it heps to keep some of the sound out. At this point background noises are still really distracting, and I wonder if the T-coil would block them out entirely...but, as you said, I'm not sure I'd like the sound.
How long did your battery last today?
Abbie's video was one of the first that I watched and was able to hear everything that she and the audie said. That was just incredible to just be sitting there comprehending...after so long without...amazing, eh?
I love your writing...thanks for sharing your story!!

Abbie said...

I love love love the overlay picture! That is awesome, I wish I thought of that :) Your initial mapping started off like mine. My audi set me up with the HiRes-P 120 and HiRes-S 120 and a map created by the Neural Response of the electrodes. I am so glad to see things are going so well for you! :)

Anonymous said...

Wow, thanks so much for being so detailed about the technical stuff in which I am completely clueless. Great Blog! ~Shannon