Patent ID: 8914126

Claim:
A system comprising: a sound processor that divides an audio signal presented to a cochlear implant patient into a plurality of analysis channels each containing a frequency domain signal representative of a distinct frequency portion of the audio signal, detects a maximum energy level of each of the frequency domain signals, identifies, based on the detected maximum energy levels of each of the frequency domain signals, one or more spectral peaks and one or more other spectral components of the audio signal, directs a cochlear implant to selectively apply electrical stimulation representative of the one or more spectral peaks to at least one stimulation site within the cochlear implant patient using a partial multipolar stimulation configuration, and directs the cochlear implant to selectively apply electrical stimulation representative of the one or more other spectral components of the audio signal to at least one other stimulation site within the cochlear implant patient using a monopolar stimulation configuration; wherein the sound processor directs the cochlear implant to selectively apply the electrical stimulation representative of the one or more spectral peaks using the partial multipolar stimulation configuration by directing the cochlear implant to concurrently apply a main current to a main electrode, and apply compensating current to one or more compensating electrodes, wherein the compensating current is opposite in polarity compared to the main current and less than the main current, and wherein a remaining amount of current equal to a difference between the main current and the compensating current flows to an extracochlear ground electrode.