Cochlear implant system with improved input signal-to-noise ratio

A cochlear implant system comprising:

• an input source configured to receive an acoustic stimulus and generate an input signal representative of the received acoustic stimulus;
• a stimulator configured to provide electrical stimulation to cochlear tissue to stimulate the cochlear tissue at a first pulse rate;
• a signal processor in communication with the stimulator and the input source and configured to:
• provide a stimulation signal to the stimulator causing the stimulator to provide electrical stimulation at the first pulse rate;
• receive an input signal from the input source while the stimulator is providing electrical stimulation at the first pulse rate;
• transform the input signal to generate a transformed input signal representative of the frequency content of the received input signal;
• compare an amplitude of at least a portion of the transformed input signal to a threshold, the portion of the transformed input signal including a frequency associated with the first pulse rate;
• and
• if the amplitude of the portion of the transformed input signal exceeds the threshold:
• filter the input signal by attenuating frequencies in the input signal corresponding to the portion of frequencies in the transformed input signal that exceed the threshold;
• generate a filtered stimulation signal based on the filtered input signal;
• and
• provide the filtered stimulation signal to the stimulator to cause the stimulator to provide electrical stimulation to the cochlear tissue at the first pulse rate based on the filtered input signal.

A cochlear implant system comprising:

• an input source configured to receive a stimulus and generate input signals representative of the stimulus;
• a stimulator configured to provide electrical stimulation to cochlear tissue at a first pulse rate;
• a signal processor in communication with the stimulator and the input source and configured to:
• receive an input signal from the input source;
• determine if interference from electrical stimulation provided by the stimulator is present in the input signal;
• and
• if interference is determined to be present in the input signal:
• generate a filtered input signal by applying a filter to the input signal;
• and
• provide a stimulation signal to the stimulator to cause the stimulator to provide electrical stimulation to the cochlear tissue at the first pulse rate based on the filtered input signal.