NUST SCHOOL OF

ELECTRICAL
ENGINEERING &
COMPUTER
SCIENCES
SIGNALS AND SYSTEMS

THE CODING OF SOUND DARK HORSES

BY A COCHLEAR Hashaam Masoood Reg 187
PROSTHESIS Mohsin Nasir Reg 197
Muneeb Ahmed Reg 184
Fahad Naeem Khan Reg 178
Introduction
In normal hearing, the hair cells of the inner ear transmit information to hearing nerve which
sends it to the brain. In most cases of deafness hearing nerve still remains functional but their
hair cells have been lost or damaged.

In a cochlear implant system, sound enters a microphone travels to an external minicomputer

called a sound processor. The sound is processed & converted into digital information. This
digital information is sent over transmitter antennae to the surgically implanted part of the
system. The implant will turn the sound information into electric signals that travel down to
an electrode array inserted into the tiny inner ear or cochlea. The electrode directly stimulates
the auditory nerve sending sound information to the brain. By passing the damaged inner ear
the cochlea implant provides an entirely new mechanism for hearing.

The objective of this project is first to investigate the foundational signal processing
principles implemented in the operation of a cochlear implant signal processing unit, and
then to examine and exercise some of the real-world engineering trade-offs faced when
implementing a cochlear prosthesis.

Project Description and Implementation

The project consisted of a Pre-lab section and an Engineering Challenge section. The Pre-lab
consisted of a GUI where simple filters were to be explored. The other part provided students
with the ability to simulate a cochlear implant signal processor where student could input an
audio.wav file using a GUI provided. We could set the number of bandpass filters (channels),
and listen to an acoustic simulation. It also required us to vary the listening environment, e.g.
quiet or noise, and assess speech intelligibility.
 The Cochlear Implant follows a simple working principle.

Once the sound is converted into voltage by the microphone, the signal processor takes
command. Its essential role is to transform speech signals into electrical stimuli. We will
examine the most widely used cochlear implant signal processing strategy, continuous
interleaved sampling (CIS).

In this method, electrodes are stimulated in a non-simultaneous fashion to prevent channel

interaction, which results when the currents in the cochlea activate more neurons than desired
resulting from parallel stimulation.

The first functional block of the signal processor is the preemphasis filter. It serves to
accentuate high frequency, low-energy signals. Effectively, the filter brings the high
frequency content, especially important for understanding consonants, to a level
commensurate with low frequency, high-energy signals.

Following preemphasis, the speech signals are separated into a predetermined number

of frequencies. This is achieved through bandpass filters. Each bandpass filter serves to let in
a given range of frequencies called a frequency band.
The next step is to determine how strong the speech is in each frequency band. This strength
is called the energy content. The energy content is determined through processes called full
wave rectification and low-pass filtering. The loudness of the resulting signal is modified to fit
the dynamic range of the patient.

The energy content in each band will be used to set the amplitude of a corresponding sinusoid
representing the particular frequency band. The overall speech signal is generated from the
sum of these sinusoids.
We were able to design the above principle in lab view ourselves:
And we have generated the following output:
 In speech processor different types of Filters are used in order to extract the proper sound.

The filters used include:

 Low and High Pass Filter

 Ideal Band Reject Filter

 Ideal Band Pass Filter

The band pass filters are ideal as the transitions between the pass band and the rejected
frequencies are abrupt. There is no roll off indicated. This is beyond the project; each band
pass filter was specified as a digital elliptic filter to provide a steeper roll off than a traditional
filter, e.g. Butterworth, but with the expense of equi-ripple in the pass band and stop bands.
The maximum pass band loss is specified as 0.5dB and the stop band attenuation of at least
40dB.

Project Challenges

Compare speech recognition vs. music appreciation

We were also able to test the GUI for tonal language such as Urdu and realized the
recognition dependent on the pitch it was conveyed through. The Music perception is
generally more difficult with a cochlear prosthesis and the channel count will likely be higher
than for speech. The channel count for music perception in a noisy environment increases as
well. `Also to compare and differentiate speech and music specialized ideal filters could be
used. We are well aware of bandwidths involving human speech and music in most cases.

The following article illustrates and discusses how their model

(http://www.medel.com/US/img/download/20869_FineHearing.pdf) improves speech
understanding in background noise. Furthermore, listeners are able to achieve better pitch
discrimination and perceive a wider range of tones through the above. Both are important for
music perception and understanding tonal languages.

Consider how to improve cochlear implant performance in a variety of environments

1. The block diagram at the top of the model represents a cochlear implant speech processor,
from the microphone which picks up the sound (Input Source block) to the electrical pulses
that are generated. The frequencies increase in pitch from Channel 0, which transmits the
lowest frequency, to Channel 7, which transmits the highest.

2. The purpose of the Filter Bank Signal Processing block is to decompose the input speech
signal into eight overlapping sub bands. Two filter bank implementations are illustrated in this
demo: a parallel, single-rate, second-order-section IIR filter bank and a cascaded, multirate,
multistage FIR filter bank..

3. Parallel Single-Rate SOS IIR Filter Bank: In this bank, the sixth-order IIR filters are
implemented as second-order-sections. Notice that the Filter Design Toolbox scale function is
used to obtain optimal scaling gains. The eight filters are running in parallel at the input signal
rate.

4. Cascaded Multirate Multistage FIR Filter Bank: The design of this filter bank is based on the
principles of an approach that combines downsampling and filtering at each filter stage. The
overall filter response for each subband is obtained by cascading its components.

5. Since downsamplisng is applied at each filter stage, the later stages are running at a fraction of
the input signal rate. For example, the last filter stages are running an one-eighth of the input
signal rate. Consequently, this design is very suitable for implementations on the low-power

There are a number of changes you can make to the model to see how different variables
affect the output of the cochlear implant speech processor.
6. Research has shown that about eight frequency channels are necessary for an implant to
provide good auditory understanding for a cochlear implant user. Above eight channels, the
reconstructed signal usually does not improve sufficiently to justify the rising complexity.

7. Noise presents a significant challenge to cochlear implant users. Select the Add noise
parameter in the Input Source block to simulate the effects of a noisy environment on the
reconstructed signal. Observe that the signal becomes difficult to hear. The Denoise block in
the model uses a soft threshold block to attempt to remove noise from the signal. When the
Denoise parameter in the Denoise block is selected, you can listen to the reconstructed signal
and observe that not all the noise is removed. There is no perfect solution to the noise
problem, and the results afforded by any denoising technology must be weighed against its
cost.
 Consider the cost and accessibility of cochlear implants

Cochlear implantation is very controversial especially among the Deaf Culture. Those in
support of early implantation assert that it provides a means for auditory input to the brain at a
critical developmental period where children learn speech and language skills. Examining this
from an engineering perspective, it is likely that a patient would benefit from implant
upgrades through time. Fortunately, the speech processing algorithm may be upgraded. The
limiting factor is the array inserted in the cochlea. It is unlikely that the array may be
explanted and replaced. The natural response of the body is to form a fibrous tissue sheath
around the array. Removing it may damage remaining hair cells.

Similarly we have seen that eight frequency channels can do the required job effectively. Thus
to offer an 8-channel device at a lower cost can make the cochlear implant more accessible to
population.

As engineers we strive we strive to improve performance rather than look into options that are
good enough. We need to look into alternatives that may result from installing the hardware
on the outside or increasing channels in a way that would reduce the cost from the existing
cost of $ 32,000.

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 References:

1. www.cochlear.com
2. http://www.medel.com/
3. http://www.umm.edu/otolaryngology/cochlear.htm
4. http://www.childrenshearing.org/custom/about_the_center.html
5. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dyenMluFaUw&feature=related
6. http://www.utdallas.edu/~loizou/cimplants/
7. http://www.mathworks.fr/products/sigprocblockset/demos.html?file=/products/
8. demos/shipping/dspblks/dspcochlear.html
9. Clark GM. (2003), Cochlear implants: Fundamentals and Applications. New York: Springer
Verlag