A methodical evaluation of novel sound changing principles in CE-labelled Sonova brand hearing instruments (e.g. Phonak hearing instruments) is intended to be conducted on hearing impaired participants. These sound changing principles are enabled by respective hearing instrument technologies and hearing instrument algorithms. The aim of the study is to investigate and asses strength and weaknesses of these novel sound changing principles in terms of hearing performance to determine their application in hearing instruments (Phase of development). Both, objective laboratory measurements as well as subjective evaluations in real life environment will be carried out. This will be a controlled, single blinded and randomised active comparator clinical evaluation which will be conducted mono centric at Sonova AG Headquarter based in Stäfa
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
SINGLE
Enrollment
15
Each participant will be fitted with the 4 different Noise Reduction (Sound Changing) principles on the same hearing aid, saved to 4 manual programs. Noise Reduction principle is a sound processing algorithm to remove noise from a speech signal to improve the speech intelligibility and comfort. The experimental conditions vary in their parametrization to result in different degrees of noise suppression and good speech quality.
Each participant will be fitted with the 4 different Noise Reduction (Sound Changing) principles on the same hearing aid, saved to 4 manual programs. Noise Reduction principle is a sound processing algorithm to remove noise from a speech signal to improve the speech intelligibility and comfort. The experimental conditions vary in their parametrization to result in different degrees of noise suppression and good speech quality.
Each participant will be fitted with the 4 different Noise Reduction (Sound Changing) principles on the same hearing aid, saved to 4 manual programs. Noise Reduction principle is a sound processing algorithm to remove noise from a speech signal to improve the speech intelligibility and comfort. The experimental conditions vary in their parametrization to result in different degrees of noise suppression and good speech quality.
Each participant will be fitted with the 4 different Noise Reduction (Sound Changing) principles on the same hearing aid, saved to 4 manual programs. Noise Reduction principle is a sound processing algorithm to remove noise from a speech signal to improve the speech intelligibility and comfort. The experimental conditions vary in their parametrization to result in different degrees of noise suppression and good speech quality.
Sonova AG
Stäfa, Switzerland
Sound quality ratings
The sound quality ratings will be assessed with the aid of a Multi-Stimulus Test. The data, serving as the primary outcome measure, are collected in the laboratory and will use a continuous rating scale. The scale ranges from 0 "very bad" to 100 "very good" in increments of 1.
Time frame: 4 weeks
Oldenburg sentence test in noise
The data, serving as secondary outcome is a Signal to noise ratio (SNR) in decibel (dB) where a 50% speech reception threshold is reached. This outcome measurement will be carried out in the laboratory.
Time frame: 4 weeks
Oldenburg sentence test & manual tracking task
A dual task paradigm will be used in which the Oldenburg Sentence test in noise will be administered as a primary task, and the subject will manually track a point on a computerised elliptical track as a secondary task. The aim is to recall as many words from the presented sentence at a predefined SNR and track the point as accurately as possible at the same time. The SNR is set as the level at which a subject reaches a speech reception threshold of 80-90%. The data derived, serving as a secondary outcome measure, are a \[%\] of time on target and distance error from the target.
Time frame: 4 weeks
Adaptive Categorial Listening Effort Scaling (ACALES)
The ACALES procedure determines self-reported individual listening effort on a scale from "extreme effort" to "no effort" within a signal-to-noise ratio range that corresponds to individual subject perceptions. The data, serving as a secondary outcome, are a set of points on a categorial scale (subjectively perceived listening effort) as a function of different SNRs.
Time frame: 2 weeks
Self-report form
A qualitative questionnaire with predefined questions and comment sections to gather information on individual perceptions regarding the comparison of two different hearing programs during different laboratory-based acoustic scenes. For details of the hearing aid settings, see study arms. The data collected from this questionnaire are scores on a continuous rating scale ranging from "hearing program A is much worse than hearing program B" to "hearing program B is much better than hearing program A" and any subjective comments given.
Time frame: One week
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