Adjust cochlear implant to widen sound perception. (Takes in Music, Noise).

NEW YORK - Fine-tuning the signal processing of cochlear implants can as much as double the range of perceptible sounds in patients who use the device, Dr. Jay Rubinstein reported at the annual conference of the American Society for Artificial Internal Organs.

"The cochlear implant is the pacemaker for the ear--the standard for people with profound hearing loss," noted Dr. Rubinstein of the University of Iowa, Iowa City. "But the implant has only been for speech perception. According to our new study, adjustments to the electric signal presented to the patient can result in an increase in the dynamic range of the users, improving perception of other sounds such as music and noise."

The dynamic range (from soft to loud sounds) for people with ...