# Image-Guided Cochlear Implant Programming: Pediatric Speech, Language, and Literacy

> **NIH NIH R01** · VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER · 2022 · $450,693

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
Although the recent literature has indicated that children receiving cochlear implants (CIs) often have
dramatically improved speech and language ability relative to previous generations of children with hearing
loss, many pediatric CI recipients display persistent speech and language disorders despite early implantation
and associated speech/language intervention. There is a striking paucity and ongoing need for studies that
systematically examine the relationship between intracochlear electrode location, audiological profile, and
subsequent phonological awareness, speech, language, and literacy in pediatric CI recipients. This project
provides a unique opportunity to examine whether individualized, image-guided CI programming (IGCIP)
significantly improves outcomes in pediatric CI patients. The proposed research activities will examine the
impact of personalized IGCIP in pediatric CI recipients on measures of basic auditory function (spectral,
temporal, and spectrotemporal resolution), word and non-word recognition, speech production, language,
phonological awareness, and reading comprehension using a double blind, waitlist control randomized clinical
trial (RCT) design. A total sample of 72 children with CIs aged six to twelve years old will be enrolled in the
project: half (n = 36) will be randomized to an immediate IGCIP condition and half to a waitlist control condition.
The waitlisted participants (n = 36) will undergo IGCIP after 12 months of monitoring and then followed for an
additional 12 months after intervention (total time in the study for both groups: 24 months). Those immediately
provided with IGCIP will also be followed for a total of 24 months. All participants will undergo extensive
audiological assessment as well as tests of phonological awareness, speech, language, and literacy at
baseline as well as at regular intervals: 2, 6, 12, 14, 18, and 24 months. We will use predictor analyses to
determine the impact of immediate and deferred IGCIP on subsequent auditory, speech, language, and literacy
outcomes.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10375414
- **Project number:** 5R01DC017683-04
- **Recipient organization:** VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER
- **Principal Investigator:** Stephen Mark Camarata
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $450,693
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-04-01 → 2024-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10375414

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10375414, Image-Guided Cochlear Implant Programming: Pediatric Speech, Language, and Literacy (5R01DC017683-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10375414. Licensed CC0.

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