Characterization of a linear filter-based model to extend Optical Cochlear Implant measurements

This paper presents the Optical Cochlear Implant Simulator (OCIS), a linear filter-based model which extends laboratory measurements of optical cochlear implant performance to allow investigation of the design space for these new devices which are an alternative to traditional cochlear implants utilizing electrode arrays. In order to determine the bandpass for each channel of the optical cochlear implant for a specific center frequency, a Monte Carlo simulation is employed to simulate photon absorption by the cochlear tissue. The simulation results matches experimental data obtained previously by Izzo et al for a given point on the cochlea. OCIS employs a variable bandpass for each filter bank element correlating with the location of the center frequency band to the tonotopic map of the cochlea. OCIS synthesizes spectrally reduced speech simulating multi-channel optical cochlear implant output waveforms. Example time domain and spectrogram plots of simulated spectrally reduced speech are included.