scholarly journals Noise Reduction Using Modified Wiener Filter in Digital Hearing Aid for Speech Signal Enhancement

2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 1360-1378
Author(s):  
Madam Aravind Kumar ◽  
Kamsali Manjunatha Chari
Keyword(s):  
Hearing Aids ◽  
Speech Signal ◽  
Communication Systems ◽  
Noise Suppression ◽  
Wiener Filter ◽  
Power Spectra ◽  
Noise Signal ◽  
Communication Process ◽  
Digital Hearing Aids ◽  
Multiplication Operation

Abstract Speech signals are usually affected by noises during the communication process. For suppressing the noise signal that is combined with the speech signal, a Wiener filter is adapted in digital hearing aids. Weiner filter plays an important role in noise suppression and enhancement by estimating the relation between the power spectra of the noise-affected speech signal and the noise signal. Power consumption and the hardware requirement are the important problems in adapting Weiner filter for major communication systems. In this work, we implemented an efficient Wiener filter and applied it for noise suppression along with a real-valued fast Fourier transform (FFT)/real-valued inverse FFT processor in digital hearing aids. The pipelined process was adopted for increasing the performance of the system. The proposed Wiener filter was designed to remove the iteration problems in the conventional Wiener filter. The division operation was replaced by an efficient inverse and multiplication operation in the proposed design. A modified architecture for matrix inversion with low computation complexity was implemented. The complete design computation was based on IEEE-754 standard single-precision floating-point numbers. The Wiener filter and the whole system architecture was implemented and designed on a Field Programmable Gate Array platform and simulated to validate the results in Xilinx ISE tools. An efficient reduction in power and area was obtained by adapting the proposed method for speech signal noise degradation. The performance of the proposed design was found to be 50.01% more efficient than that of existing designs.

Performance Improvement of Digital Hearing Aid Systems

2015 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 27
Author(s):  
Isiaka Ajewale Alimi
Keyword(s):  
Noise Reduction ◽  
Hearing Aids ◽  
Digital Signal Processor ◽  
Speech Intelligibility ◽  
Communication Systems ◽  
Hearing Aid ◽  
Spectral Subtraction ◽  
Residual Spectrum ◽  
Digital Hearing Aids ◽  
Digital Hearing Aid

Digital hearing aids addresses the issues of noise and speech intelligibility that is associated with the analogue types. One of the main functions of the digital signal processor (DSP) of digital hearing aid systems is noise reduction which can be achieved by speech enhancement algorithms which in turn improve system performance and flexibility. However, studies have shown that the quality of experience (QoE) with some of the current hearing aids is not up to expectation in a noisy environment due to interfering sound, background noise and reverberation. It is also suggested that noise reduction features of the DSP can be further improved accordingly. Recently, we proposed an adaptive spectral subtraction algorithm to enhance the performance of communication systems and address the issue of associated musical noise generated by the conventional spectral subtraction algorithm. The effectiveness of the algorithm has been confirmed by different objective and subjective evaluations. In this study, an adaptive spectral subtraction algorithm is implemented using the noise-estimation algorithm for highly non-stationary noisy environments instead of the voice activity detection (VAD) employed in our previous work due to its effectiveness. Also, signal to residual spectrum ratio (SR) is implemented in order to control the amplification distortion for speech intelligibility improvement. The results show that the proposed scheme gives comparatively better performance and can be easily employed in digital hearing aid system for improving speech quality and intelligibility.

Speech Enhancement based on Wiener Filter and Compressive Sensing

2016 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 367
Author(s):  
Amart Sulong ◽  
Teddy Surya Gunawan ◽  
Mira Kartiwi
Keyword(s):  
Compressive Sensing ◽  
Speech Enhancement ◽  
Speech Signal ◽  
Signal To Noise Ratio ◽  
Algorithm Design ◽  
Wiener Filter ◽  
Noise Signal ◽  
High Signal ◽  
Noisy Speech ◽  
Performance Results

<p><em>In communication medium to satisfy the speech enhancement process by using differents methodologies and algoirthms are the key term in testing the system design well enough to produce the best performance results for the speech system. The Wiener filter is one of the classical algorithm that applied to speech process to avoid the noise attacking the speech signal. In other word, compressive sensing method by randomize measurement matrix are combined with the Wiener filter to analyse the noisy speech signal with less introduce to noise signal and producing high signal to noise ratio. The PESQ is used to measure the quality of the proposed algorithm design. As in the experimental results shows that, attacking of defferent noise environments in speech signal still effectively improve the performance of noisy speech with maintain the high score of the PESQ quality. </em><em></em></p>

Assessment of the effects of noise suppression in digital hearing aids

2003 ◽  
Vol 1240 ◽  
pp. 333-338
Author(s):  
Somia Tawfik ◽  
Marcel Vlaming ◽  
Iman Sadek ◽  
Nithreen Said ◽  
Lobna Hamed
Keyword(s):  
Hearing Aids ◽  
Noise Suppression ◽  
Digital Hearing Aids

scholarly journals Modified GSC Method to Reduce the Distortion of the Enhanced Speech Signal Using Cross-Correlation and Sidelobe Neutralization

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (14) ◽  
pp. 6288
Author(s):  
Hang Su ◽  
Chang-Myung Lee
Keyword(s):  
Speech Signal ◽  
Output Signal ◽  
Cross Correlation ◽  
Acoustic Noise ◽  
Audio Signal ◽  
Noise Signal ◽  
Lms Algorithm ◽  
Least Mean Square ◽  
Experiment Data ◽  
Noise Component

The generalized sidelobe canceller (GSC) method is a common algorithm to enhance audio signals using a microphone array. Distortion of the enhanced audio signal consists of two parts: the residual acoustic noise and the distortion of the desired audio signal, which means that the desired audio signal is damaged. This paper proposes a modified GSC method to reduce both kinds of distortion when the desired audio signal is a non-stationary speech signal. First, the cross-correlation coefficient between the canceling signal and the error signal of the least mean square (LMS) algorithm was added to the adaptive process of the GSC method to reduce the distortion of the enhanced signal while the energy of the desired signal frame was increased suddenly. The sidelobe pattern of beamforming was then presented to estimate the noise signal in the beamforming output signal of the GSC method. The noise component of the beamforming output signal was decreased by subtracting the estimated noise signal to improve the denoising performance of the GSC method. Finally, the GSC-SN-MCC method was proposed by merging the above two methods. The experiment was performed in an anechoic chamber to validate the proposed method in various SNR conditions. Furthermore, the simulated calculation with inaccurate noise directions was conducted based on the experiment data to inspect the robustness of the proposed method to the error of the estimated noise direction. The experiment data and calculation results indicated that the proposed method could reduce the distortion effectively under various SNR conditions and would not cause more distortion if the estimated noise direction is far from the actual noise direction.

Expectations, Prefitting Counseling, and Hearing Aid Outcome

2009 ◽  
Vol 20 (05) ◽  
pp. 320-334 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gabrielle H. Saunders ◽  
M Samantha Lewis ◽  
Anna Forsline
Keyword(s):  
Hearing Aids ◽  
Hearing Aid ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Fine Tuning ◽  
Initial Contact ◽  
High Expectations ◽  
Digital Hearing Aids ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Unrealistic Expectations

Background: Data suggest that having high expectations about hearing aids results in better overall outcome. However, some have postulated that excessively high expectations will result in disappointment and thus poor outcome. It has been suggested that counseling patients with unrealistic expectations about hearing aids prior to fitting may be beneficial. Data, however, are mixed as to the effectiveness of such counseling, in terms of both changes in expectations and final outcome. Purpose: The primary purpose of this study was to determine whether supplementing prefitting counseling with demonstration of real-world listening can (1) alter expectations of new hearing aid users and (2) increase satisfaction over verbal-only counseling. Secondary goals of the study were to examine (1) the relationship between prefitting expectations and postfitting outcome, and (2) the effect of hearing aid fine-tuning on hearing aid outcome. Research Design: Sixty new hearing aid users were fitted binaurally with Beltone Oria behind-the-ear digital hearing aids. Forty participants received prefitting counseling and demonstration of listening situations with the Beltone AVE™ (Audio Verification Environment) system; 20 received prefitting counseling without a demonstration of listening situations. Hearing aid expectations were measured at initial contact and following prefitting counseling. Reported hearing aid outcome was measured after eight to ten weeks of hearing aid use. Study Sample: Sixty new hearing aid users aged between 55 and 81 years with symmetrical sensorineural hearing loss. Intervention: Participants were randomly assigned to one of three experimental groups, between which the prefitting counseling and follow-up differed: Group 1 received prefitting counseling in combination with demonstration of listening situations. Additionally, if the participant had complaints about sound quality at the follow-up visit, the hearing aids were fine-tuned using the Beltone AVE system. Group 2 received prefitting counseling in combination with demonstration of listening situations with the Beltone AVE system, but no fine-tuning was provided at follow-up. Group 3 received prefitting hearing aid counseling that did not include demonstration of listening, and the hearing aids were not fine-tuned at the follow-up appointment. Results: The results showed that prefitting hearing aid counseling had small but significant effects on expectations. The two forms of counseling did not differ in their effectiveness at changing expectations; however, anecdotally, we learned from many participants that that they enjoyed listening to the auditory demonstrations and that they found them to be an interesting listening exercise. The data also show that positive expectations result in more positive outcome and that hearing aid fine-tuning is beneficial to the user. Conclusions: We conclude that prefitting counseling can be advantageous to hearing aid outcome and recommend the addition of prefitting counseling to address expectations associated with quality of life and self-image. The data emphasize the need to address unrealistic expectations prior to fitting hearing aids cautiously, so as not to decrease expectations to the extent of discouraging and demotivating the patient. Data also show that positive expectations regarding the impact hearing aids will have on psychosocial well-being are important for successful hearing aid outcome.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document