A 4 year PhD studentship is available at ExpORL, Dept. Neurosciences, KU Leuven, Belgium on the topic of sound processing for cochlear implants and hearing aids.
A cochlear implant (CI) can restore the hearing of the deaf by stimulating the auditory nerve directly with electrical pulses, using an array of electrodes inserted in the cochlea in a surgical procedure.
Different speech processing strategies have been proposed to optimize binaural hearing with bilateral CIs and bimodal systems (CI and contralateral HA). These strategies aim to improve coding of binaural cues (interaural time and level differences, ITD and ILD) and are generally designed on theoretical bases and psychophysically evaluated. It would be useful to have a functional model to predict to what extent the binaural cues are presented to the auditory system. In this project, we aim to develop a biologically inspired model that yields the available interaural cues based on existing models of the auditory periphery. The firing patterns for the two ears (either electric-electric or electric-acoustic) will be the input of a binaural model.
Candidates need a degree in electrical or biomedical engineering, physics, or similar, with a good background in signal processing. Good English proficiency is required as well as a strong interest in auditory perception and willingness to work in an interdisciplinary team. Knowledge of human neurophysiology and psychology of hearing is a strong plus.
This PhD is part of the ICanHear project (http://www.icanhear.eu/).
More information about the project and our lab can be found at http://tinyurl.com/modelsigproc
For more information, please contact Prof. Tom Francart (tom.francart@med.kuleuven.be, phone +32 379840). To apply, please follow the procedures outlined on the KU Leuven job site.
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