A scoring system for cochlear implant candidate selection using artificial intelligence

Abstract Objective: Cochlear implant (CI) candidate selection is a lengthy, complicated process that entails subjective judgment on the interaction of multiple pre-operative variables. It is assumed that setting a scoring system for the process of CI candidate selection would help in precise and reliable decision making. This would also provide a tool that would help in providing a better quality of life for CI patients. Methods: Retrospective cohort study was held out in three post-CI rehabilitation centers. A total of 100 children records were analyzed with two statistical methods; conventional and Artificial Intelligence (AI) using Machine Learning. Language age deficit, phonological deficit, and social deficit were invented as new measures of CI performance; used to represent the developmental delay of those children in a single numeric value (in months). Results: Artificial Intelligence analysis surpassed conventional statistical methods for the prediction of the outcome measures of post-CI performance. This was clearly expressed using linear regression models. The AI classification model validation for predictive accuracy of language age deficit, phonological deficit, and social deficit were 56.66%, 88.11%, and 40.46% respectively. Conclusion: The production of a preliminary CI scoring model used for prediction of performance of patients was achieved. More data should be collected and fed to the software in order to improve its performance.