Artikel
Self-fitting method for hearing aids using everyday-life sounds
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Autoren
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Vincent Gräfen
- Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg, Fakultät VI – Medizin und Gesundheitswissenschaften, Department Medizinische Physik und Akustik, Oldenburg, Germany
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Jan Heeren
- Cluster of Excellence “Hearing4All”, Oldenburg, Germany
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Volker Hohmann
- Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg, Fakultät VI – Medizin und Gesundheitswissenschaften, Department Medizinische Physik und Akustik, Oldenburg, Germany; Cluster of Excellence “Hearing4All”, Oldenburg, Germany
| Veröffentlicht: | 5. März 2024 |
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Gliederung
Text
Research question: The Loudness Validation Measurement [1] is a categorical loudness scaling test designed to detect individual deviations in loudness perception from reference values of normal-hearing subjects. The method uses natural signals and considers narrowband and broadband conditions at presentation levels of 50, 65, and 80 dB SPL. In this study, a self-fitting approach was developed and evaluated that combines the Loudness Validation Measurement with an adaptive gain-adjustment for hearing aids.
Methods: In the proposed method, the gains for each narrowband condition were adjusted so that the loudness responses matched with the normal-hearing reference defined by a termination criterion. Subsequently, an adjustment of overall gain for broadband signals at the specified input levels was carried out. The method was tested against a reference loudness-based fitting procedure (trueLOUDNESS, [2]). Ten subjects with mild to moderate symmetric high-frequency hearing loss participated in the experiment. The gain-adjustment was conducted in a sound-insulated free-field lab, in which the signals were presented frontally from a loudspeaker. The portable hearing lab [3] was used as hearing aids to apply the calculated gains. The test and the reference fitting method were evaluated using the Loudness Validation Measurement and in-situ audiometry.
Results: The final gain values obtained with both fitting methods showed median differences of less than 5 dB. The gain-adjustment method showed a better approximation of the reference loudness perception values for the broadband conditions. For the narrowband conditions the deviation from the reference was higher. On average, the predefined termination criterion was achieved after 4.6 trials per condition.
Conclusions: The results indicate the successful development of a method for self-fitting of hearing aids, leading to gain values comparable to the trueLOUDNESS procedure. The duration of the self-fitting procedure is approximately 10 minutes, suggesting its practicality for applications in hearing-aids.
Funding: This work is funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) Project-ID 352015383 SFB 1330 B1 and C4.
References
- 1.
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- 2.
- Oetting D, Hohmann V, Appell JE, Kollmeier B, Ewert SD. Restoring Perceived Loudness for Listeners With Hearing Loss. Ear Hear. 2018 Jul/Aug;39(4):664-78. DOI: 10.1097/AUD.0000000000000521
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- Kayser H, Herzke T, Maanen P, Zimmermann M, Grimm G, Hohmann V. Open community platform for hearing aid algorithm research: open Master Hearing Aid (openMHA). SoftwareX. 2022 Jan;17:100953. DOI: 10.1016/j.softx.2021.100953
