The trial will test whether a standard music program that is an offset to the general program provides the same benefit as a music program that is individually customized for each test participant. The trial seeks to investigate the benefit received by musicians that regularly play an instrument and belong to an organized music group or orchestra instead of people that listen to music.
The initial goal of hearing aids is to amplify speech and facilitate speech understanding especially in noise. Besides speech difficulty, people with hearing loss also report a reduced enjoyment of music. The hearing aid settings used for amplifying speech often have adverse effects on music. For this study, the sponsor will carry out testing with participants with hearing loss to compare dedicated music programs. The current study will compare the standard music program available in the software to one that is fine-tuned for each subject. The hearing aids that will be used for the study are certified by the European Conformity and have been on the market for almost one year. The goal is to determine whether musicians will perceive a difference and prefer a fine-tuned music program over the default music program in real-life situations.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
NA
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE
Enrollment
20
A digital, wireless hearing aid is programmed specifically to each subject's hearing loss and fitted with both a program that is fine-tuned for their specific music playing as well as the standard music program that uses pre-determined settings.
Bernafon AG
Bern, Switzerland
Preference Rating
Subjects will answer a questionnaire that asks them to choose which program that they preferred. The questionnaire gives Program 1 or Program 2 as the choices as well as a no Preference option for those that did not notice a difference between the two. The percentage of subjects that chose each Program will be calculated to determine if more preferred the optimized music program.
Time frame: 20 days
Sound Perception Test - Pitch
The sound perception test is called the Adaptive Music Perception test. It is tested in the lab with digitally synthesized recordings of components of tones. It tests the overall perception of Meter with pitch (in Hz). A lower score is better. A higher score means that it took higher Levels of Hz to perceive a difference between musical notes.The subjects are tested in the unaided, aided with the standard program, and aided with the test (optimized) program. The scores will be averaged and analyzed to determine if one program results in better (lower) test scores.
Time frame: 0,10, and 20 days
Music Sound Quality Rating
The sound quality of the devices when listening/playing music will be rated using a questionnaire. The questionnaire asks subjects to rate various aspects of the sound using a 5-point scale with 1 being the worst answer and 5 being the best. The questionnaire will be answered for Program 1 and Program 2. The scores for each question will be averaged across subjects and the difference between the two programs calculated to determine if one music program results in better sound quality scores. A positive score is in favor of the fine-tuned program and a negative score would be in favor of the standard program. They will test Program 1 and Program 2 during the same period as they have the ability to use a button on the Hearing aid to switch between programs.
Time frame: 0,10, and 20 days
Sound Perception Test - Duration
The sound perception test is called the Adaptive Music Perception test. It is tested in the lab with digitally synthesized recordings of components of tones. It tests the overall perception of duration (in milliseconds). A lower score is better. A higher score means that it took longer in milliseconds to perceive a difference between musical notes.The subjects are tested in the unaided, aided with the standard program, and aided with the test (optimized) program. The scores will be averaged and analyzed to determine if one program results in better (lower) test scores.
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Time frame: 0,10, and 20 days
Sound Perception Test - Level
The sound perception test is called the Adaptive Music Perception test. It is tested in the lab with digitally synthesized recordings of components of tones. It tests the overall perception of Meter with Level (in decibels). A lower score is better. A higher score means that it took higher levels in dB to perceive a difference between musical notes.The subjects are tested in the unaided, aided with the standard program, and aided with the test (optimized) program. The scores will be averaged and analyzed to determine if one program results in better (lower) test scores.
Time frame: 0,10, and 20 days
Sound Perception Test - Brightness
The sound perception test is called the Adaptive Music Perception test. It is tested in the lab with digitally synthesized recordings of components of tones. The perception of the Timber of music is tested by the brightness (measured in dB). Lower scores are better. A higher score means that it took higher levels in dB to perceive a difference between musical notes.The subjects are tested in the unaided, aided with the standard program, and aided with the test (optimized) program. The scores will be averaged and analyzed to determine if one program results in better (lower) test scores.
Time frame: 0,10, and 20 days
Sound Perception Test - Attack
The sound perception test is called the Adaptive Music Perception test. It is tested in the lab with digitally synthesized recordings of components of tones. The perception of the Timber of music is tested by the attack (measured in Hz). Lower scores are better. A higher score means that it took higher levels in Hz to perceive a difference between musical notes.The subjects are tested in the unaided, aided with the standard program, and aided with the test (optimized) program. The scores will be averaged and analyzed to determine if one program results in better (lower) test scores.
Time frame: 0,10, and 20 days
Sound Perception Test - Spectral Irregularities
The sound perception test is called the Adaptive Music Perception test. It is tested in the lab with digitally synthesized recordings of components of tones. The perception of the Timber of music is tested by the spectral irregularities (measured in dB). Lower scores are better. A higher score means that it took higher levels in dB to perceive a difference between musical notes.The subjects are tested in the unaided, aided with the standard program, and aided with the test (optimized) program. The scores will be averaged and analyzed to determine if one program results in better (lower) test scores.
Time frame: 0,10, and 20 days