Implantable cochlear system with integrated components and lead characterization

A cochlear implant system comprising:

• a cochlear electrode;
• a stimulator in electrical communication with the cochlear electrode;
• a signal processor in communication with the stimulator, the signal processor being programmed with a transfer function and being configured to receive one or more input signals and output a stimulation signal to the stimulator based on the received one or more input signals and the transfer function;
• an implantable battery and/or communication module in communication with the signal processor, the implantable battery and/or communication module including an implanted near field communication device for communicating via a first wireless communication protocol and an implanted wireless communication device for communicating via a second wireless communication protocol, the second wireless communication protocol having a longer range of wireless communication than the first wireless communication protocol;
• and
• an external device having an external near field communication device configured to communicate wirelessly with the implanted near field communication device via the first wireless communication protocol and an external wireless communication device configured to communicate wirelessly with the implanted wireless communication device via the second wireless communication protocol;
• and wherein
• communication between the external wireless communication device and the implanted wireless communication device via the second wireless communication protocol is enabled by first establishing communication between the implanted near field communication device and the external near field communication device via the first wireless communication protocol.