Evaluation of Speech Intelligibility through a Bone Conduction Stimulator

The use of multiple spatially distributed microphones allows performing spatial filtering along with conventional temporal filtering, which can better reject the interference signals, leading to an overall improvement of the speech quality. In this paper, we propose a novel dual-microphone generalized sidelobe canceller (GSC) algorithm assisted by a bone-conduction (BC) sensor for speech enhancement, which is named BC-assisted GSC (BCA-GSC) algorithm. The BC sensor is relatively insensitive to the ambient noise compared to the conventional air-conduction (AC) microphone. Hence, BC speech can be analyzed to generate very accurate voice activity detection (VAD), even in a high noise environment. The proposed algorithm incorporates the VAD information obtained by the BC speech into the adaptive blocking matrix (ABM) and adaptive noise canceller (ANC) in GSC. By using VAD to control ABM and combining VAD with signal-to-interference ratio (SIR) to control ANC, the proposed method could suppress interferences and improve the overall performance of GSC significantly. It is verified by experiments that the proposed GSC system not only improves speech quality remarkably but also boosts speech intelligibility.

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An examination of the effects of broadband air-conduction masker on the speech intelligibility of speech-modulated bone-conduction ultrasound

Hearing Research ◽

10.1016/j.heares.2014.09.012 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 317 ◽

pp. 41-49 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Tadashi Nishimura ◽

Tadao Okayasu ◽

Osamu Saito ◽

Ryota Shimokura ◽

Akinori Yamashita ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Speech Intelligibility ◽

Bone Conduction ◽

Air Conduction

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Using the Callsign Acquisition Test (CAT) to compare the speech intelligibility of air versus bone conduction

International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics ◽

10.1016/j.ergon.2007.04.003 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 37 (7) ◽

pp. 631-641 ◽

Cited By ~ 16

Author(s):

M. Gripper ◽

M. McBride ◽

B. Osafo-Yeboah ◽

X. Jiang

Keyword(s):

Speech Intelligibility ◽

Bone Conduction

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Paired comparisons between the Classic 300 bone-anchored and conventional bone-conduction hearing aids in terms of sound quality and speech intelligibility

British Journal of Audiology ◽

10.3109/03005369509076748 ◽

1995 ◽

Vol 29 (6) ◽

pp. 299-307 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

A. Ringdahl ◽

B. Israelsson ◽

L. Caprin

Keyword(s):

Hearing Aids ◽

Speech Intelligibility ◽

Bone Conduction ◽

Sound Quality ◽

Paired Comparisons ◽

Bone Conduction Hearing

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Long-term Outcomes of Clip Coupler Implantation in Patients with Unilateral Congenital Aural Atresia

Annals of Otology Rhinology & Laryngology ◽

10.1177/0003489420924058 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 129 (12) ◽

pp. 1221-1228

Author(s):

Chunli Zhao ◽

Jinsong Yang ◽

Yujie Liu ◽

Mengdie Gao ◽

Peiwei Chen ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Speech Intelligibility ◽

Signal To Noise Ratio ◽

Bone Conduction ◽

Free Field ◽

Short Term ◽

Aural Atresia ◽

Long Term Follow Up ◽

Congenital Aural Atresia

Objective: To evaluate the long-term safety and efficacy of the Clip coupler attached to the stapes head in patients with unilateral congenital aural atresia (CAA). Methods: This single-center retrospective study included 16 Mandarin-speaking patients who had unilateral microtia accompanied by CAA. All patients were divided into two groups: the short-term follow-up group (n = 9) and the long-term follow-up group (n = 7). The floating mass transducer of the Vibrant Soundbridge (VSB) was positioned in the stapes head by the Clip coupler. The safety of the VSB was investigated by comparing preoperative and postoperative bone-conduction (BC) thresholds as well as by complications. The effectiveness was evaluated by functional gain (FG), word recognition score (WRS), speech reception threshold (SRT) and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). Results: Pre- and post-operative BC thresholds were no different in all patients. And no complications developed. VSB-aided thresholds in the free-field had improved significantly in both short- and long-term follow-up groups. The improvements of WRS were observed in two groups. The monosyllabic VSB-aided WRS in the long-term follow-up group was significantly higher than that in the short-term follow-up group. When speech was from the impaired ear and noise presented to the side of normal ear (SVSBNCL), lower SNRs were found in two groups after VSB implantation. However, there was no statistical difference in aided SNR between the two groups at SVSBNCL status. Conclusions: Our results show that the FMT connected to the stapes head is a secure and useful device for patients with unilateral CHL/MHL, not only in terms of improved hearing thresholds, but also improved speech intelligibility in quiet and noisy environments.

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Comparison of Speech Intelligibility Test between Air Conduction and Bone Conduction Using the Callsign Acquisition Test

Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting ◽

10.1177/154193120605000409 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 50 (4) ◽

pp. 589-593 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

B. Osafo-Yeboah ◽

X. Jiang ◽

M. Gripper ◽

L. Lyons

Keyword(s):

Speech Intelligibility ◽

Bone Conduction ◽

Intelligibility Test ◽

Air Conduction

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Bone conduction microphone: Head sensitivity mapping for speech intelligibility and sound quality

2008 International Conference on Audio, Language and Image Processing ◽

10.1109/icalip.2008.4590150 ◽

2008 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Phuong Tran ◽

Tomasz Letowski ◽

Maranda McBride

Keyword(s):

Speech Intelligibility ◽

Bone Conduction ◽

Sound Quality

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Audiological Results with the SAMBA Audio Processor in Comparison to the Amadé for the Vibrant Soundbridge

Audiology and Neurotology ◽

10.1159/000506067 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 25 (3) ◽

pp. 164-172

Author(s):

Denise Zimmermann ◽

Susan Busch ◽

Thomas Lenarz ◽

Hannes Maier

Keyword(s):

Speech Intelligibility ◽

New Technologies ◽

Bone Conduction ◽

Free Field ◽

Trial Period ◽

Vibrant Soundbridge ◽

Speech Processor ◽

Level Of Satisfaction ◽

Oldenburg Sentence Test ◽

Flexible Adaptation

Background: Since its introduction in 1996, the Vibrant Soundbridge (VSB) has been upgraded with several improved generations of processors. As all systems are compatible, implanted patients can benefit from new technologies by upgrading to the newest processor type available. Objectives: The aim of this study was to compare the performance of the new (current) SAMBA processor with the previous Amadé processor. Methods: Twenty subjects monaurally implanted with a VSB and the Amadé processor tested the new SAMBA processor for a trial period of 4 weeks. We measured air conduction and bone conduction thresholds, unaided thresholds, and aided free field thresholds with both devices. Speech performance in quiet using the Freiburg monosyllabic test at 65 dB SPL (S0) was compared. The speech intelligibility in noise was determined using the Oldenburg sentence test measured in different listening conditions (S0NVSB/S0Ncontra) and microphone settings (omni/directional vs. adaptive directivity). Results: Word recognition scores in quiet with the SAMBA were still significantly lower than with the Amadé after the 4 weeks trial period but improved over the following year. Speech intelligibility with the SAMBA was significantly better than with the Amadé in omnidirectional mode and comparable with the Amadé in directional mode. Hence, the adaptive directionality provides an advantage in difficult hearing situations such as noisy environments. The subjective benefit was evaluated using the Abbreviated Profile of Hearing Aid Benefit and the Speech, Spatial and Qualities-C questionnaire. Results of the questionnaires demonstrate an overall higher level of satisfaction with the new SAMBA speech processor than with the older processor. Conclusion: The SAMBA enables similar speech perception in quiet but more flexible adaptation in acoustically challenging environments compared to the previous Amadé processor.

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