Patent ID: 8694114

Claim:
A cochlear implant, comprising: an electrode configured to be disposed within a cochlea of a user; and a processor in communication with the electrode and configured to stimulate the electrode, the processor being configured to: receive an input audio signal, band-pass filter the input audio signal into a plurality of channel signals, apply a Hilbert transform to at least one of the plurality of channel signals to generate a transformed audio signal, analyze the transformed audio signal to identify at least one positive-moving zero crossing of the transformed audio signal, and upon identifying the at least one positive-moving zero crossing of the transformed audio signal, trigger an electric current pulse to be delivered to the electrode, wherein the processor is configured to impose a refractory period between electric current pulses, and wherein the refractory period imposed between electric current pulses is randomized to be a value between a minimum refractory period and a maximum refractory period.