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The current use of hearing aids and artificial cochleas for deaf-mute individuals depends on their auditory nerve. Skin-hearing technology, a patented system developed by our group, uses a cutaneous sensory nerve to substitute for the auditory nerve to help deaf-mutes to hear sound. This paper introduces a new solution, multi-channel-array skin-hearing technology, to solve the problem of speech discrimination. Based on the ifltering principle of hair cells, external voice sig-nals at different frequencies are converted to current signals at corresponding frequencies using electronic multi-channel bandpass ifltering technology. Different positions on the skin can be stimulated by the electrode array, allowing the perception and discrimination of external speech signals to be determined by the skin response to the current signals. Through voice frequen-cy analysis, the frequency range of the band-pass iflter can also be determined. These ifndings demonstrate that the sensory nerves in the skin can help to transfer the voice signal and to dis-tinguish the speech signal, suggesting that the skin sensory nerves are good candidates for the replacement of the auditory nerve in addressing deaf-mutes’ hearing problems. Scientiifc hearing experiments can be more safely performed on the skin. Compared with the artificial cochlea, multi-channel-array skin-hearing aids have lower operation risk in use, are cheaper and are more easily popularized.
