Fitting a cochlear implant

1. A computer-implemented method for fitting a medical implant to a recipient, the medical implant being operative to stimulate a physiological system of the recipient over a plurality of stimulation channels, the method comprising:

determining, based on measurements of the physiological system of the recipient, an initial stimulation profile for the plurality of stimulation channels;

determining one of a mean stimulus level of the initial stimulation profile and a median value of the initial stimulation profile;

determining a fitting stimulation profile by modifying a shape of the initial stimulation profile based on the one of a mean stimulus level of the initial stimulation profile and a median value of the initial stimulation profile; and

configuring the medical implant according to the fitting stimulation profile.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the mean stimulus level of the initial stimulation profile is determined.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the initial stimulation profile is an objectively measured profile and the fitting stimulation profile is a threshold level profile of the physiological system.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the initial stimulation profile is an objectively measured profile and the fitting stimulation profile is a comfort level profile of the physiological system.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the initial stimulation profile is a clinically measured threshold level profile of the physiological system and the fitting stimulation profile is a comfort level profile of the physiological system.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the initial stimulation profile is a clinically measured comfort level profile of the physiological system and the fitting stimulation profile is a threshold level profile of the physiological system.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein modifying the shape of the initial stimulation profile comprises:

multiplying the initial stimulation profile by a factor derived from the mean stimulus level of the initial stimulation profile.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein modifying the shape of the initial stimulation profile comprises:

multiplying the initial stimulation profile by a factor that will produce a fitting stimulation profile for which a mean stimulus level is different than the mean stimulus level of the initial stimulation profile.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein modifying the shape of the initial stimulation profile includes flattening the initial stimulation profile to produce a mean stimulus level of the fitting stimulation profile that is greater than the mean stimulus level of the initial stimulation profile.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the mean stimulus level of the initial stimulation profile is approximately the same as a mean stimulus level of the fitting stimulation profile.

11. A computer-implemented method for fitting a medical implant to a recipient, the medical implant being operative to stimulate a physiological system of the recipient over a plurality of stimulation channels, the method comprising:

determining, based on measurements of the physiological system of the recipient, an initial stimulation profile for the plurality of stimulation channels; and

determining a fitting stimulation profile by modifying a shape of the initial stimulation profile;

wherein modifying the shape of the initial stimulation profile comprises:

determining an offset stimulus level for the fitting stimulation profile;

shifting the initial stimulation profile by the offset stimulus level to form a shifted stimulation profile;

determining a representative stimulus level of the shifted stimulation profile;

forming a normalized stimulation profile by subtracting the representative stimulus value from each of the values of the shifted stimulation profile;

applying a weighting factor to each of the values of the normalized stimulation profile; and

adding the representative stimulus level to each of the values of the weighted normalized stimulation profile to provide the fitting stimulation profile.

12. A computer-implemented method for fitting a stimulating hearing prosthesis operative to stimulate a portion of an auditory system of a recipient over a plurality of stimulation channels comprising:

determining, based on measurements of a physiological system of the recipient, an initial stimulation profile for the plurality of stimulation channels; and

determining a fitting stimulation profile by shifting the initial stimulation profile to a desired stimulation level, and flattening or broadening a shape of the initial stimulation profile based on whether a mean stimulus level of the fitting stimulation profile is greater or lesser than a mean stimulus level of the initial stimulation profile; and

configuring the stimulating hearing prosthesis according to the fitting stimulation profile.

13. The computer-implemented method of claim 12 , wherein the initial stimulation profile is a clinically measured threshold level profile of the physiological system and the fitting stimulation profile is a comfort level profile of the physiological system.

14. The computer-implemented method of claim 12 , wherein the initial stimulation profile is a clinically measured comfort level profile of the physiological system and the fitting stimulation profile is a threshold level profile of the physiological system.