A versatile digital speech processor for hearing aids and cochlear implants

A digital speech processor has been designed which is intended for two main applications. These are multi-channel cochlear implants and hearing aids for the profoundly deaf. The objective has been to take advantage of the many similarities between these devices and produce a single process which can be adapted to each by means of different output circuits and software. The speech processor uses one of the fastest low-power digital signal processing chips available, together with a substantial amount of electrically reprogrammable memory to provide the maximum flexibility for implementing both established and experimental algorithms