Application of ABRS to the Hearing-Aid Selection Process

1986 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 120-128 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathryn A. Beauchaine ◽  
Michael P. Gorga ◽  
Jan K. Reiland ◽  
Lori L. Larson

This paper describes preliminary data on the use of click-evoked ABRs in the hearing aid selection process. Four normal-hearing and 4 hearing-impaired subjects were tested with a hearing aid set at three different frequency response settings. Estimates of gain were calculated using shifts in Wave V thresholds, shifts in Wave V latency-level functions, acoustic-reflex measurements, coupler gain measurements, and measurements of functional gain. Results suggest that the click-evoked ABR does not distinguish between differing amounts of low-frequency gain, although reasonable estimates of high-frequency gain appear possible. Also discussed are technical factors that must be considered when using the ABR in the hearing aid evaluation process.

1988 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 178-186 ◽  
Author(s):  
Denis Byrne ◽  
Sue Cotton

This study evaluated the National Acoustic Laboratories' (NAL) new formula for prescribing the gain and frequency response of a hearing aid. The frequency response prescribed for 44 clients (67 fitted ears) was compared with a series of variations having increased or decreased low-frequency and/or high-frequency emphasis. The evaluations consisted of paired-comparison judgments of the intelligibility of speech in quiet and the pleasantness of speech in noise. There were only 4 ears (6%) where a comparison response was more intelligible than the NAL response, but there were 16 ears (24%) where one of the comparison responses was more pleasant. On the average, hearing aid gain that was used by each subject agreed closely with prescribed gain. These trends were not affected by audiogram configuration, experience in aid usage, or type of aid limiting. The formula was found to be highly effective, but there were some cases where a change in aid prescription was indicated. A simple evaluation procedure using paired-comparison judgments is proposed for detecting such cases.


1971 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
pp. 527-537 ◽  
Author(s):  
Norman P. Erber

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.


1986 ◽  
Vol 51 (4) ◽  
pp. 362-369 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donna M. Risberg ◽  
Robyn M. Cox

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.


1999 ◽  
Vol 121 (1) ◽  
pp. 139-147 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric G. Paterson ◽  
Fred Stern

In this two-part paper, time-accurate solutions of the Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations are presented, which address through model problems, the response of turbulent propeller-blade boundary layers and wakes to external-flow traveling waves. In Part 1, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology flapping-foil experiment was simulated and the results validated through comparisons with data. The response was shown to be significantly more complex than classical unsteady boundary layer and unsteady lifting flows thus motivating further study. In Part 2, the effects of frequency, waveform, and foil geometry are investigated. The results demonstrate that uniquely different response occurs for low and high frequency. High-frequency response agrees with behavior seen in the flapping-foil experiment, whereas low-frequency response displays a temporal behavior which more closely agrees with classical inviscid-flow theories. Study of waveform and geometry show that, for high frequency, the driving mechanism of the response is a viscous-inviscid interaction created by a near-wake peak in the displacement thickness which, in turn, is directly related to unsteady lift and the oscillatory wake sheet. Pressure waves radiate upstream and downstream of the displacement thickness peak for high frequency flows. Secondary effects, which are primarily due to geometry, include gust deformation due to steady-unsteady interaction and trailing-edge counter-rotating vortices which create a two-layered amplitude and phase-angle profile across the boundary layer.


2012 ◽  
Vol 271-272 ◽  
pp. 981-985
Author(s):  
You Yi Wang ◽  
Yang Zhao ◽  
Wen Lai Ma

Frame structure is widely used in practical projects. For jitter of the frame structure excited by median and high frequency disturbances, firstly, the dynamic model of thin plate substructure is built by wave method, and then the dynamic model of frame structure is established by combining wave method and substructure technique. At last, the accurate dynamic response was obtained. The simulation of dynamic characteristic is made, and simulation results are compared with FEM results. On this basis, modal experiment and frequency response experiment is done to verify theoretical results. In comparison to FEM, the results by wave method are accurate in low frequency regions, and the results are more accurate in the median and high frequency regions. The experiment proves wave method is correct and effective for jitter transmission analysis of frame structure in the median and high frequency regions.


1986 ◽  
Vol 95 (5) ◽  
pp. 520-524 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jack D. Clemis ◽  
William J. Ballad ◽  
Mead C. Killion

There are several applications of and advantages to using an insert earphone. An insert earphone has three parts: a transducer to convert electrical energy to sound, a conduit to deliver the sound into the ear canal, and a coupler connecting the device to the canal. The data from this study indicate that there is a distinct advantage in using insert earphones over TDH-49 phones (standard headphones) in the attenuation of low frequency ambient noise. The use of insert earphones will permit one to test hearing in areas of higher ambient noise than was previously possible. Insert earphones are used to shorten the hearing aid selection process. A technique is described in which only one real ear measurement is required for an accurate hearing aid fitting. Most, but not all, of the masking dilemmas that are encountered with standard headphones are circumvented or eliminated by using insert earphones. In brain stem auditory evoked reponse testing, the insert earphone reduces the stimulus artifact without influencing the acoustic signal. Finally, the insert earphone solves the collapsing ear canal problem.


1980 ◽  
Vol 45 (3) ◽  
pp. 325-335 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jerry L. Punch ◽  
Edwin L. Beck

Connected discourse was processed by a master hearing aid via two channels that were independently adjusted to seven discrete settings of low-cutoff frequency. Signals were tape-recorded and played back in a paired-comparison format to 12 listeners with gradually sloping sensorineural hearing loss, who selected the speech channel preferred for its sound quality. Four experimental trials were administered, each of which consisted of 21 randomized paired conditions. Results across the four trials revealed high intersubject and intrasubject response agreement. Listeners indicated strong and systematic preferences for speech reproduced by circuitry having progressively extended low-frequency emphasis. Findings confirm earlier experimental observations that hearing-impaired listeners are capable of making repeatable paired-comparison preference judgments of the quality of hearing-aid processed speech. Additionally, results demonstrate definitively that low-cutoff frequency is sufficiently robust to be regarded as the probable source of a potent perceptual basis for such judgments. The clinical implication is that hearing-impaired listeners can be expected to exhibit strong preferences for the quality of speech reproduced by hearing aids having relatively extended low-frequency response.


2011 ◽  
Vol 54 (2) ◽  
pp. 118-122
Author(s):  
Yuka Yoshida ◽  
Tadashi Nishimura ◽  
Fumi Fukuda ◽  
Osamu Saito ◽  
Hiroshi Hosoi

1971 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 323-331 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel L. Bode ◽  
Roger N. Kasten

An experiment was conducted with 34 normal-hearing listeners to determine the effects of distortion (generated by a single hearing aid) on consonant identification in noise. Five experimental conditions were employed in which measured harmonic distortion ranged from approximately 1% (high fidelity) to 35%. Each listening condition involved playback of recorded test material at a constant sensation level. Results showed that average consonant identification scores, relative to the high-fidelity condition, decreased 15–29% as a function of increased distortion. Initial consonants were discriminated best across all distortion conditions, and progressive increases in distortion tended to most affect final consonants. The data also suggested possible talker/hearing aid interactions. Reduced high-frequency response and altered speech-to-noise ratio, together with harmonic distortion, were postulated as mutually inclusive causes of the observed decrements in consonant differentiation.


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