gms | German Medical Science

24. Jahrestagung der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Audiologie

Deutsche Gesellschaft für Audiologie e. V.

14.09. - 17.09.2022, Erfurt

Self-audiometry via the hearpieces

Meeting Abstract

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  • presenting/speaker Jan Heeren - Hörzentrum Oldenburg gGmbH, Oldenburg, DE
  • Kamil Adiloglu - Hörzentrum Oldenburg gGmbH, Oldenburg, DE
  • Kirsten C. Wagener - Hörzentrum Oldenburg gGmbH, Oldenburg, DE

Deutsche Gesellschaft für Audiologie e.V.. 24. Jahrestagung der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Audiologie. Erfurt, 14.-17.09.2022. Düsseldorf: German Medical Science GMS Publishing House; 2022. Doc055

doi: 10.3205/22dga055, urn:nbn:de:0183-22dga0556

Published: September 12, 2022

© 2022 Heeren et al.
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License. See license information at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.


Outline

Text

The CoVid19 pandemic has led to a boost of remote studies in hearing research, e.g., audiological experiments via the remote hearing lab [1] with subjects at their homes and experimenters controlling these remotely from their institute's site via internet. Also hearing aid fitting could be performed remotely if particularly the pure tone audiogram for air conduction (PTA) can be determined. Remote PTA measurements cause a lot of uncertainties since no professional is present to check for the correct fit of the headphones/devices for signal presentation, check for a blocked ear canal, e.g., by ear wax, and, to control environmental noise. This study investigates a remote audiometry approach based on the Hearpieces [2] and an Automated Pure-Tone Audiometry App [3], aiming at identifying criteria to achieve valid pure tone hearing thresholds. Following factors were evaluated:

1.
acoustic coupling after self-insertion,
2.
the influence of environmental noise,
3.
using the inner and outer microphones of the Hearpieces to control sound pressure levels,
4.
using additional closed headphones to damp environmental noise,
5.
participant group, and
6.
retest reliability.

Eleven normal-hearing and 24 hearing-impaired subjects participated in the study. Results showed that coupling errors occur for both self-insertion and professional insertion. These coupling errors are detectable using the ear-canal-microphone signals. Background white noise at 65 dB SPL leads to a shift in hearing thresholds by up to 35 dB. The additional usage of damping headphones decreases these shifts to 5 dB. A strong limitation is given by the fact that the Hearpieces did not fit in 26% of the ears and even more participants (34% in total) failed to insert them on their own. Concluding, it can be stated that if a participant has passed the barrier of self-insertion, Hearpiece APTA can deliver valid results. Non-valid measurement conditions are detectable using the Hearpiece microphone signals.

A long version of this article is available here:

https://www.dga-ev.com/fileadmin/dga2022/233.pdf


References

1.
Schulte M, Vormann M, Kaya M, Heeren J, Latzel M. Remote hearing system evaluations in the time of Covid-19. Phonak Field Study News. 2020 Nov. Available from: https://www.phonakpro.com/content/dam/phonakpro/gc_hq/en/resources/evidence/field_studies/documents/PH_FSN_remote_hearing_system_evaulations_Covid_210x297_EN_V1.00.pdf External link
2.
Denk F, Lettau M, Schepker H, Doclo S, Roden R, Blau M, Bach JH, Wellmann J, Kollmeier B. A one-size-fits-all earpiece with multiple microphones and drivers for hearing device research. In: Audio Engineering Society Conference: 2019 AES INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON HEADPHONE TECHNOLOGY. Audio Engineering Society; 2019 Aug.
3.
Luengen M, Garrelfs C, Adiloǧlu K, Krueger M, Cauchi B, Markert U, Typlt M, Kinkel M, Schultz C. Connected Hearing Devices and Audiologists: The User-Centered Development of Digital Service Innovations. Frontiers in Digital Health. 2021 Sep;3:739370. DOI: 10.3389/fdgth.2021.739370 External link