The Effects of Frequency Lowering Function Hearing Aids on Korean Word Recognition Scores in the High Frequency Hearing Impaired

2012 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 249-251
Author(s):  
Hyeonmin Ju ◽  
Hyoungjae Kim ◽  
Dukhwan Lim
Keyword(s):  
Word Recognition ◽  
Hearing Aids ◽  
High Frequency ◽  
Hearing Impaired

Older Listeners' Use of Temporal Cues Altered by Compression Amplification

2000 ◽  
Vol 43 (3) ◽  
pp. 661-674 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pamela E. Souza
Keyword(s):  
Hearing Loss ◽  
Hearing Aids ◽  
High Frequency ◽  
Dynamic Range ◽  
Normal Hearing ◽  
Hearing Impaired ◽  
Temporal Information ◽  
Spectral Information ◽  
Temporal Cues ◽  
Age Related

This study compared the ability of younger and older listeners to use temporal information in speech when that information was altered by compression amplification. Recognition of vowel-consonant-vowel syllables was measured for four groups of adult listeners (younger normal hearing, older normal hearing, younger hearing impaired, older hearing impaired). There were four conditions. Syllables were processed with wide-dynamic range compression (WDRC) amplification and with linear amplification. In each of those conditions, recognition was measured for syllables containing only temporal information and for syllables containing spectral and temporal information. Recognition of WDRC-amplified speech provided an estimate of the ability to use altered amplitude envelope cues. Syllables were presented with a high-frequency masker to minimize confounding differences in high-frequency sensitivity between the younger and older groups. Scores were lower for WDRC-amplified speech than for linearly amplified speech, and older listeners performed more poorly than younger listeners. When spectral information was unrestricted, the age-related decrement was similar for both amplification types. When spectral information was restricted for listeners with normal hearing, the age-related decrement was greater for WDRC-amplified speech than for linearly amplified speech. When spectral information was restricted for listeners with hearing loss, the age-related decrement was similar for both amplification types. Clinically, these results imply that when spectral cues are available (i.e., when the listener has adequate spectral resolution) older listeners can use WDRC hearing aids to the same extent as younger listeners. For older listeners without hearing loss, poorer scores for compression-amplified speech suggest an age-related deficit in temporal resolution.

scholarly journals The Effects of Hearing Impairment, Age, and Hearing Aids on the Use of Self-Motion for Determining Front/Back Location

2016 ◽  
Vol 27 (07) ◽  
pp. 588-600 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. Owen Brimijoin ◽  
Michael A. Akeroyd
Keyword(s):  
Hearing Impairment ◽  
Hearing Aids ◽  
Sound Source ◽  
High Frequency ◽  
Source Location ◽  
Hearing Impaired ◽  
Motion Processing ◽  
Binaural Cues ◽  
Spectral Cues ◽  
Self Motion

Background: There are two cues that listeners use to disambiguate the front/back location of a sound source: high-frequency spectral cues associated with the head and pinnae, and self-motion–related binaural cues. The use of these cues can be compromised in listeners with hearing impairment and users of hearing aids. Purpose: To determine how age, hearing impairment, and the use of hearing aids affect a listener’s ability to determine front from back based on both self-motion and spectral cues. Research Design: We used a previously published front/back illusion: signals whose physical source location is rotated around the head at twice the angular rate of the listener’s head movements are perceptually located in the opposite hemifield from where they physically are. In normal-hearing listeners, the strength of this illusion decreases as a function of low-pass filter cutoff frequency, this is the result of a conflict between spectral cues and dynamic binaural cues for sound source location. The illusion was used as an assay of self-motion processing in listeners with hearing impairment and users of hearing aids. Study Sample: We recruited 40 hearing-impaired participants, with an average age of 62 yr. The data for three listeners were discarded because they did not move their heads enough during the experiment. Data Collection and Analysis: Listeners sat at the center of a ring of 24 loudspeakers, turned their heads back and forth, and used a wireless keypad to report the front/back location of statically presented signals and of dynamically moving signals with illusory locations. Front/back accuracy for static signals, the strength of front/back illusions, and minimum audible movement angle were measured for each listener in each condition. All measurements were made in each listener both aided and unaided. Results: Hearing-impaired listeners were less accurate at front/back discrimination for both static and illusory conditions. Neither static nor illusory conditions were affected by high-frequency content. Hearing aids had heterogeneous effects from listener to listener, but independent of other factors, on average, listeners wearing aids exhibited a spectrally dependent increase in “front” responses: the more high-frequency energy in the signal, the more likely they were to report it as coming from the front. Conclusions: Hearing impairment was associated with a decrease in the accuracy of self-motion processing for both static and moving signals. Hearing aids may not always reproduce dynamic self-motion–related cues with sufficient fidelity to allow reliable front/back discrimination.

Equivalent Noise Dose Obtained Through Hearing Aids in the Classrooms of Hearing-Impaired Children

1990 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 147-150
Author(s):  
Ronald A. Wilde
Keyword(s):  
Hearing Aids ◽  
High Gain ◽  
Hearing Impaired ◽  
Deaf Children ◽  
Impaired Children ◽  
Very High ◽  
Hearing Impaired Children

A commercial noise dose meter was used to estimate the equivalent noise dose received through high-gain hearing aids worn in a school for deaf children. There were no significant differences among nominal SSPL settings and all SSPL settings produced very high equivalent noise doses, although these are within the parameters of previous projections.

Evaluation of Special Hearing Aids for Deaf Children

1971 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
pp. 527-537 ◽  
Author(s):  
Norman P. Erber
Keyword(s):  
Hearing Aids ◽  
High Frequency ◽  
Hearing Aid ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Acoustic Stimulation ◽  
Deaf Children ◽  
Frequency Range ◽  
Frequency Limit ◽  
Unpublished Studies ◽  
Published Research

Two types of special hearing aid have been developed recently to improve the reception of speech by profoundly deaf children. In a different way, each special system provides greater low-frequency acoustic stimulation to deaf ears than does a conventional hearing aid. One of the devices extends the low-frequency limit of amplification; the other shifts high-frequency energy to a lower frequency range. In general, previous evaluations of these special hearing aids have obtained inconsistent or inconclusive results. This paper reviews most of the published research on the use of special hearing aids by deaf children, summarizes several unpublished studies, and suggests a set of guidelines for future evaluations of special and conventional amplification systems.

Comparison of In-the-Ear and Over-the-Ear Hearing Aid Fittings

1986 ◽  
Vol 51 (4) ◽  
pp. 362-369 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donna M. Risberg ◽  
Robyn M. Cox
Keyword(s):  
Hearing Aids ◽  
High Frequency ◽  
Comparative Evaluation ◽  
Speech Intelligibility ◽  
Hearing Aid ◽  
Hearing Aid Fitting ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Functional Gain ◽  
The Relationship

A custom in-the-ear (ITE) hearing aid fitting was compared to two over-the-ear (OTE) hearing aid fittings for each of 9 subjects with mild to moderately severe hearing losses. Speech intelligibility via the three instruments was compared using the Speech Intelligibility Rating (SIR) test. The relationship between functional gain and coupler gain was compared for the ITE and the higher rated OTE instruments. The difference in input received at the microphone locations of the two types of hearing aids was measured for 10 different subjects and compared to the functional gain data. It was concluded that (a) for persons with mild to moderately severe hearing losses, appropriately adjusted custom ITE fittings typically yield speech intelligibility that is equal to the better OTE fitting identified in a comparative evaluation; and (b) gain prescriptions for ITE hearing aids should be adjusted to account for the high-frequency emphasis associated with in-the-concha microphone placement.

Modified Earpieces and CROS for High Frequency Hearing Losses

1968 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 204-218 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Dodds ◽  
Earl Harford
Keyword(s):  
Hearing Loss ◽  
Hearing Aids ◽  
High Frequency ◽  
Hearing Aid ◽  
Sound Field ◽  
Intensity Level ◽  
Test Results ◽  
High Frequency Hearing Loss ◽  
Increased Sensitivity ◽  
Difficult Cases

Persons with a high frequency hearing loss are difficult cases for whom to find suitable amplification. We have experienced some success with this problem in our Hearing Clinics using a specially designed earmold with a hearing aid. Thirty-five cases with high frequency hearing losses were selected from our clinical files for analysis of test results using standard, vented, and open earpieces. A statistical analysis of test results revealed that PB scores in sound field, using an average conversational intensity level (70 dB SPL), were enhanced when utilizing any one of the three earmolds. This result was due undoubtedly to increased sensitivity provided by the hearing aid. Only the open earmold used with a CROS hearing aid resulted in a significant improvement in discrimination when compared with the group’s unaided PB score under earphones or when comparing inter-earmold scores. These findings suggest that the inclusion of the open earmold with a CROS aid in the audiologist’s armamentarium should increase his flexibility in selecting hearing aids for persons with a high frequency hearing loss.

Underlying Structure of Auditory-Visual Consonant Perception by Hearing-Impaired Children and the Influences of Syllabic Compression

1988 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 156-165 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. A. Busby ◽  
Y. C. Tong ◽  
G. M. Clark
Keyword(s):  
Hearing Aids ◽  
Free Field ◽  
Acoustic Parameter ◽  
Hearing Impaired ◽  
Visual Signal ◽  
Underlying Structure ◽  
Choice Procedure ◽  
Release Times ◽  
Impaired Children ◽  
Hearing Impaired Children

The identification of consonants in a/-C-/a/nonsense syllables, using a fourteen-alternative forced-choice procedure, was examined in 4 profoundly hearing-impaired children under five conditions: audition alone using hearing aids in free-field (A),vision alone (V), auditory-visual using hearing aids in free-field (AV1), auditory-visual with linear amplification (AV2), and auditory-visual with syllabic compression (AV3). In the AV2 and AV3 conditions, acoustic signals were binaurally presented by magnetic or acoustic coupling to the subjects' hearing aids. The syllabic compressor had a compression ratio of 10:1, and attack and release times were 1.2 ms and 60 ms. The confusion matrices were subjected to two analysis methods: hierarchical clustering and information transmission analysis using articulatory features. The same general conclusions were drawn on the basis of results obtained from either analysis method. The results indicated better performance in the V condition than in the A condition. In the three AV conditions, the subjects predominately combined the acoustic parameter of voicing with the visual signal. No consistent differences were recorded across the three AV conditions. Syllabic compression did not, therefore, appear to have a significant influence on AV perception for these children. A high degree of subject variability was recorded for the A and three AV conditions, but not for the V condition.

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