Evaluation of Noise Reduction Algorithms in Hearing Aids for Multiple Signals From Equal or Different Directions

Husstedt, Hendrik; Mertins, Alfred; Frenz, Marlitt

doi:10.1177/2331216518803198

Cited by 7 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 9 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The effect of the DM is frequency dependent (e.g., Ricketts, 2001), as the DM works better at lower frequencies. It also depends on the direction of the noise as noise from the back is reduced more compared to for example the noise from the sides (e.g., Husstedt et al, 2018). That is, the DM results not only in a spatial but also in a frequency dependent SNR improvement and is therefore rather different or more than simply changing the level of the noise.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of Directional Microphone Technology in Hearing Aids on Neural Correlates of Listening and Memory Effort: An Electroencephalographic Study

et al. 2020

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The aim of the study was to compare the effect of different spatial noise-processing algorithms in hearing aids on listening effort and memory effort on a subjective, behavioral, and neurophysiological level using electroencephalography (EEG). Two types of directional microphone (DM) technologies for spatial noise processing were chosen: one with a wide directionality (wide DM) and another with a narrower directionality (narrow DM) to accentuate the speech source. Participants with a severe hearing loss were fitted with hearing aids and participated in two EEG experiments. In the first one, participants listened to sentences in cafeteria noise and were asked to rate the experienced listening effort. The second EEG experiment was a listening span task during which participants had to repeat sentence material and then recall the final words of the last four sentences. Subjective listening effort was lower with narrow than wide DM and EEG alpha power was reduced for the narrow DM. The results of the listening span task indicated a reduction in experienced memory effort and better memory performance. During the memory retention phase, EEG alpha level for the narrow relative to the wide DM was reduced. This effect was more pronounced during linguistically difficult sentences. This study extends previous findings, as it reveals a benefit for narrow DM in terms of cognitive performance and memory effort also on a neural level, and when speech intelligibility is almost 100%. Together, this indicates that a narrow and focused DM allows for a more efficient neurocognitive processing than a wide DM.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of Directional Microphone Technology in Hearing Aids on Neural Correlates of Listening and Memory Effort: An Electroencephalographic Study

et al. 2020

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…To verify that there was only little interaction between the compression and NR, additional technical measurements were performed using the phase inversion method described by Hagerman and Olofsson (2004). The International Speech Test Signal (ISTS) signal and the spectrally matched IFnoise (European Hearing Instrument Manufacturers Association, 2016; Holube et al, 2010) were played back simultaneously at 65 dB SPL.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Can Dual Compression Offer Better Mandarin Speech Intelligibility and Sound Quality Than Fast-Acting Compression?

Chen

Wong

Kuehnel³

et al. 2021

Trends in Hearing

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of dual compression for Mandarin-speaking hearing aid users. Dual compression combines fast and slow compressors operating simultaneously across all frequency channels. The study participants were 31 hearing aid users with symmetrical moderate-to-severe hearing loss, with a mean age of 67 years. A new pair of 20-channel behind-the-ear hearing aids (i.e., Phonak Bolero B90-P) was used during the testing. The results revealed a significant improvement in speech reception thresholds in noise when switching from fast-acting compression to dual compression. The sound quality ratings revealed that most listeners preferred dual compression to fast-acting compression for listening effort, listening comfort, speech clarity, and overall sound quality at +4 dB signal-to-noise ratio. These results are consistent with predictions based on the theoretical understanding of dual and fast-acting compression. However, whether these results can be generalized to other languages or other dual compression systems should be verified by future studies.

show abstract

“…In binaural HAs, it is crucial to preserve the ITDs, which becomes a challenging task in presence of unwanted side effects of HA algorithms [31,32]. In this context, the application of ITD models could serve as individual ITD reference data to continuously improve adaptive HA algorithms [33] and increase their robustness against physical imperfections, such as gain, position and phase errors in the HA microphone arrays [34], or detrimental acoustic conditions inflicted by noise sources or reverberation [35,36].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hybrid multi-harmonic model for the prediction of interaural time differences in individual behind-the-ear hearing-aid-related transfer functions

2022

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Spatial sound perception in aided listeners partly relies on hearing-aid-related transfer functions (HARTFs), describing the directional acoustic paths between a sound source and the hearing-aid (HA) microphones. Compared to head-related transfer functions (HRTFs), the HARTFs of behind-the-ear HAs exhibit substantial differences in spectro-temporal characteristics and binaural cues such as interaural time differences (ITDs). Since assumptions on antipodal microphone placement on the equator of a three-concentric sphere are violated in such datasets, predicting the ITDs via Kuhn’s simple analytic harmonic model entails excessive errors. Although angular ear-canal offsets have been addressed in an extended Woodworth model, the prediction errors remain large if the frequency range does not comply with the model specifications. Tuned to the previously inaccurately modelled frequency range between 500 Hz and 1.5 kHz, we propose a hybrid multi-harmonic model to predict the ITDs in HRTFs and HARTFs for arbitrary directions in the horizontal plane with superior accuracy. The target model coefficients are derived from individual directional measurements of 30 adults, wearing two dual-microphone behind-the-ear HAs and two in-ear microphones. Model individualisation is facilitated by the availability of polynomial weights that are applied to subsets of individual anthropometric and HA features to estimate the target model coefficients. The model is published as part of the Auditory Modeling Toolbox (AMT, pausch2022) and supplemented with the individual features and directional datasets.

show abstract

Evaluation of Noise Reduction Algorithms in Hearing Aids for Multiple Signals From Equal or Different Directions

Cited by 7 publications

References 9 publications

Effect of Directional Microphone Technology in Hearing Aids on Neural Correlates of Listening and Memory Effort: An Electroencephalographic Study

Effect of Directional Microphone Technology in Hearing Aids on Neural Correlates of Listening and Memory Effort: An Electroencephalographic Study

Can Dual Compression Offer Better Mandarin Speech Intelligibility and Sound Quality Than Fast-Acting Compression?

Hybrid multi-harmonic model for the prediction of interaural time differences in individual behind-the-ear hearing-aid-related transfer functions

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About