Patent ID: 7376563

Claim:
A system for rehabilitation of a recipient's hearing, comprising: at least one acoustic sensor configured to convert a sensed acoustical signal into an electrical audio signal; a fully implantable signal processing unit configured to process said audio signal, comprising: an adaptive speech analysis and recognition module configured to detect and extract prosodic features from said audio signal, and an adaptive speech synthesis module configured to convert said audio signal into an artificial speech signal based on said extracted prosodic features; said speech analysis and recognition module and said speech synthesis module each being re-programmable while said signal processing unit is implantable; and an actuator arrangement configured to provide output stimulation to one or more hearing structures of the recipient based on said artificial speech signal, comprising a flexible carrier member configured to be implanted in the cochlea of the recipient, and an array of actuators mounted in said flexible carrier member configured to stimulate the cochlea.