Utilization of different loudness encoding schemes in cochlear implant systems

A sound processor included in a cochlear implant system associated with a patient, the sound processor comprising:

• at least one processor that
• identifies, during a first time slot, a first loudness level of an audio signal presented to the patient,
• determines that a first stimulation pulse amplitude corresponding to the first loudness level is less than or equal to a maximum stimulation pulse amplitude allowed by a compliance voltage associated with a cochlear implant implanted within the patient,
• directs, in response to the determination that the first stimulation pulse amplitude is less than or equal to the maximum stimulation pulse amplitude applied by the compliance voltage, the cochlear implant to represent the first loudness level to the patient by directing the cochlear implant to generate and apply a single stimulation pulse that has the first stimulation pulse amplitude to the patient in accordance with a pulse amplitude modulation encoding scheme;
• identifies, during a second time slot subsequent to the first time slot, second first loudness level of the audio signal presented to the patient,
• determines that a second stimulation pulse amplitude corresponding to the second loudness level is greater than the maximum stimulation pulse amplitude allowed by the compliance voltage, and
• directs, in response to the determination that the second stimulation pulse amplitude is greater than the maximum stimulation pulse amplitude applied by the compliance voltage, the cochlear implant to represent the second loudness level to the patient by directing the cochlear implant to generate and apply one or more stimulation pulses in accordance with an encoding scheme that is different than the pulse amplitude modulation encoding scheme.

A sound processor included in a cochlear implant system associated with a patient, the sound processor comprising:

• at least one processor that
• identifies a loudness level of an audio signal presented to the patient;
• and
• directs the cochlear implant to encode the loudness level of the audio signal into a plurality of stimulation pulses in accordance with a pulse density modulation encoding scheme.

A cochlear implant implanted within a patient and included a cochlear implant system, the cochlear implant comprising:

• a receiving facility that receives an instruction from a sound processor included in the cochlear implant system for the cochlear implant to represent a loudness level of an audio signal to the patient;
• a loudness encoding management facility that
• determines that a stimulation pulse amplitude corresponding to the loudness level is greater than a maximum stimulation pulse amplitude allowed by a compliance voltage associated with the cochlear implant, and
• represents, in response to the determination that the stimulation pulse amplitude is greater than a maximum stimulation pulse amplitude allowed by the compliance voltage, the loudness level to the patient by generating and applying one or more stimulation pulses to the patient in accordance with at least one of a first encoding scheme that includes pulse density modulation and a second encoding scheme that includes a combination of pulse amplitude modulation and pulse width modulation.