New Computer Program May Help Predict Outcomes of Cochlear Implants in Children

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A new computer program may be able to predict which hearing-impaired children treated with cochlear implants will develop effective language skills two years after implantation.

Not all children with cochlear implants achieve near-normal language skills, however; estimates show that up to 30% of children do not gain this expected benefit.

In a study published in Brain and Behavior, investigators tested the hypothesis that a newly developed computer model called the support vector machine (SVM) model could predict which children will develop effective language skills within two years of undergoing cochlear implant surgery. The SVM model is able to extract and interpret data from functional brain magnetic resonance imaging (fMRIs) scans taken prior to cochlear implantation to determine how specific regions of the brain respond to auditory stimulus tests.