A PILOT INVESTIGATION OF CHANGES IN LARYNGEAL FUNCTION PRE AND POST COCHLEAR IMPLANT-SURGERY

This pilot investigation was undertaken to determine if there were any measurable changes in laryngeal function when comparing pre and post operative status with regard to cochlear implant surgery. The subjects , all totally deafened adults with varying aetiologies, were unable to monitor speech/voice production acoustically prior to surgery. The st udy aimed to evaluate whether change was effected to laryngeal functio n, and therefore voice quality, once an auditory feedback loop had bee n re-established and no direct therapeutic intervention had taken plac e. All the subjects were implanted with a multi-channel cochlear impla nt device (Nucleus 22: SPEAK strategy). Results indicate that a signif icant change can be measured in laryngeal function when comparing pre and post operative status of cochlear implant surgery. Furthermore, th e assessment of laryngeal function identifies the source of acoustic f indings which facilitates effective management of voice quality during rehabilitation following cochlear implantation.