fNIRS in Pediatric Hearing Aids

Pilot phase. Monocentric, non-controlled, non-randomized, open-label study evaluating the capacity of the functional near-infrared functional neuroimaging (fNIRS) technique to translate temporal cortical activity in response to a speech stimulus in normo-hearing and deaf children with cochlear implants. Hemodynamic changes are expected to be observed that indicate brain activity following the stimuli, resulting in a change in the concentration of oxygenated hemoglobin (HbO) and deoxygenated hemoglobin (HbR) recorded by the fNIRS. The use of the FNIRS in the evaluation of hearing aid effectiveness could contribute to a more adapted management of childhood hearing loss since conventional methods in young children are not adapted to the needs of children with hearing loss.