This PhD position is available for a fixed term of 3 years to perform research concerning subjective and objective cochlear implant (CI) performance in genotyped patients to improve preoperative patient counselling. CI is a very successful type of rehabilitation for patients with severe to profound hearing impairment. Hearing impairment is in about half of these patients caused by inherited disorders. Moreover, an etiological diagnosis of deafness, including genetic screening, has shown to be the single largest predictor of postoperative speech outcomes in adult cochlear implant recipients.
This project is divided into three parts: First, a retrospective cohort review will be performed of all (~2,100) currently known CI recipients in the Radboudumc with a genetic diagnosis (~400); Second, additional tests in a subset of the patients will be performed, based on their genetic profile and the expected cochlear site-of-lesion. The results will be further correlated to postoperative performance, degree of hearing preservation, and type of implanted electrode. Finally, a prospective study will be performed that evaluates the use of objective preoperative measurements, such as ECochG, in CI recipients and compares the results with intraoperative and postoperative measurements, underlying genetics, type of electrode and CI performance after 1 year. The research will be conducted at the ENT department of the Radboud University Medical Center and for some of these studies the candidate will collaborate at national (DOOFNL consortium) and international levels.).
Tasks and responsibilities
- Develop and prepare a CI implantation database of patients with an optogenetic diagnosis and summarize and analyse outcome measures.
- Develop and perform a test-protocol to assess selected patients in terms of objective measures (ECochG or others) and acquire, summarize and analyse data.
- Participate in performing objective tests.
- Integrate and publish the findings in international peer-reviewed journals as part of this PhD project.