Electrically evoked compound action potentials in adult and pediatric cochlear implant users: II. Assessing cochlear nerve health status with the interphase gap effect and the phase locking value

This study characterized and compared neural synchrony in the cochlear nerve (CN) and the number of CN fibers activated by electrical stimulation. Neural synchrony was quantified using the phase locking value. The number of activated CN fibers was assessed using the effect of increasing the interphase gap (IPG) of biphasic pulses on the electrically evoked compound action potential (eCAP), referred to as the IPG...

The interphase gap effect and phase locking value may offer clinically useful, objective measures of cochlear nerve health in CI users, but findings require validation in larger prospective studies before changing routine programming or counseling practice.

Objective biomarkers of cochlear nerve health could eventually guide CI programming decisions and improve outcome prediction across age groups.

1. 01Used electrically evoked compound action potentials (ECAPs) to assess cochlear nerve health in CI users.
2. 02Applied two measures: interphase gap (IPG) effect and phase locking value (PLV) as potential neural health biomarkers.
3. 03Included both adult and pediatric cochlear implant users, enabling cross-age comparison.
4. 04Neural synchrony metrics may reflect underlying nerve fiber health independent of behavioral hearing outcomes.
5. 05Findings are exploratory; clinical translation requires further validation.

PMID

42248046

DOI

10.1016/j.heares.2026.109693.

Journal

Hearing Research

Publication type

research_article

Evidence level

4

Population

Adult and pediatric cochlear implant users

Intervention

Electrically evoked compound action potential (ECAP) measurement using interphase gap effect and phase locking value