Impulse suppression algorithm development of a compatible program for cochlear implant users

Cochlear implant patients are more likely to abstain from impulsive-like environments due to limitations of current sound processing strategies. Conventional sound processing algorithms in conjunction with automatic gain controls tend to suppress impulsive sounds achieved unfortunately at the cost of reducing speech intelligibility. In this work, we propose a signal processing algorithm to provide protection to cochlear implant users in impulsive/noisy environments. A 22-band Advanced Combination Encoder (ACE) sound processing strategy was used as the base algorithm for speech enhancement. We propose an adaptable mathematical relationship to define impulsive like sound conditions and use this relationship to reduce the intensity of electrical pulses without altering the frequency ranges associated with speech to maintain speech quality/intelligibility. By varying the floor level of the environment, the program reduced/increased suppression intensity to achieve an effective configuration for practical list...