Validation of the Surface Voltage Test in Nucleus implant users
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Validation of a Surface Voltage Test for detection of extra cochlear electrodes in Nucleus cochlear implant patients
IRAS ID
229529
Contact name
Mary Grasmeder
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Southampton
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 1 months, 18 days
Research summary
Cochlear implants generate small electrical pulses and these have sufficient voltage to be measurable as a surface voltage, and can be recorded using a similar procedure to measuring an EEG, called a Surface Voltage Test. A small number of studies relating to this type of measurement have been published. In addition, the test has already been used with a limited number of cochlear implant users at the University of Southampton Auditory Implant Service, however it has not yet been studied in Nucleus brand implant users. \n\nCochlear implant (CI) electrodes which are either faulty or in a sub-optimal position (close to the round window or outside the cochlea) may generate a different surface potential from electrodes which are functioning as expected. The purpose of this research is to validate the use of this test to detect migrated electrodes which are sitting outside of the cochlea in patients with Nucleus cochlear implants. A second aim is to investigate the effect of implant stimulation mode on the results of this test. Due to implant design, Nucleus implants can be run in numerous stimulation modes, which cannot be done in Advanced Bionics or MED-EL implants. Subsequently, studying how different modes affect results will help to optimise the test and inform interpretation of results in future.
REC name
South Central - Oxford A Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
17/SC/0360
Date of REC Opinion
17 Jul 2017
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion