Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

New Software 'Hearing Dummies' Pave the Way for Tailor-Made Hearing Aids
Science Daily ^ | June 13, 2011 | Staff + Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council

Posted on 06/13/2011 10:58:23 AM PDT by Red Badger

New software 'hearing dummies' are part of cutting-edge research that promises to revolutionise the diagnosis and treatment of hearing impairments.

The work could also be used in the long-term to develop a radical new type of hearing aid that can be customised using the hearing dummy to meet the different needs of individual patients. If the procedures gain clinical acceptance, a device could reach the market within 4 years.

The research is being carried out by a team at the University of Essex with funding from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC).

The aim has been to enable hearing aids to be carefully calibrated so that they address the particular underlying hearing condition affecting each individual patient; and to ensure that they tackle the most common problem affecting hearing-impaired people -- sound interference, which leads to an inability to follow conversations in noisy environments.

People also differ in how much they are affected by noisy environments, which is why developing a tailor-made approach represents such a significant breakthrough.

"Today's hearing aids don't help to separate sounds -- they just amplify them," says Professor Ray Meddis, of the University's Department of Psychology, who has led the work. "So they often make everything too noisy for the wearer, especially in social situations like parties, and some wearers still can't make out what people are saying to them. They find the whole experience so uncomfortable that they end up taking their hearing aids out! This discourages them from going to social occasions or busy environments and may result in them withdrawing from society."

The first key advance has been the development of unique computer models (or 'hearing dummies') that can use the information collected during the tests to simulate the precise details of an individual patient's hearing.

(Excerpt) Read more at sciencedaily.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; Technical
KEYWORDS: ear; hearing; menieres; tinnitus
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041 next last
To: Red Badger
I have had several hearing aids, all of them made my ears feel sticky after a while. The amplification of everything is also an issue, even with the fancy multiple channel digital models.

The failure to pick out speech with a noisy background is very real. And after all, is not hearing speech why you wear the damn things?

21 posted on 06/13/2011 12:07:00 PM PDT by doorgunner69
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: mountainlion

Change your ringtone............


22 posted on 06/13/2011 12:07:18 PM PDT by Red Badger (Nothing is a 'right' if someone has to give it to you................)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 18 | View Replies]

To: doorgunner69

From Wiki:

A voice frequency (VF) or voice band is one of the frequencies, within part of the audio range, that is used for the transmission of speech.

In telephony, the usable voice frequency band ranges from approximately 300 Hz to 3400 Hz. It is for this reason that the ultra low frequency band of the electromagnetic spectrum between 300 and 3000 Hz is also referred to as voice frequency, being the electromagnetic energy that represents acoustic energy at baseband. The bandwidth allocated for a single voice-frequency transmission channel is usually 4 kHz, including guard bands, allowing a sampling rate of 8 kHz to be used as the basis of the pulse code modulation system used for the digital PSTN.
[edit] Fundamental frequency

The voiced speech of a typical adult male will have a fundamental frequency from 85 to 180 Hz, and that of a typical adult female from 165 to 255 Hz.[1][2] Thus, the fundamental frequency of most speech falls below the bottom of the “voice frequency” band as defined above. However, enough of the harmonic series will be present for the missing fundamental to create the impression of hearing the fundamental tone.


I use a really cheap hearing aid that has this as it basic freq response. It works for me.


23 posted on 06/13/2011 12:12:18 PM PDT by Red Badger (Nothing is a 'right' if someone has to give it to you................)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 21 | View Replies]

To: Red Badger
Thank you for the links, Red Badger.

Looks like something that may grow into something good!

24 posted on 06/13/2011 12:12:52 PM PDT by Glenn (iamtheresistance.org)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 20 | View Replies]

To: Red Badger
Change your ringtone............

I got rotary dial so I can hear and it works when the power is out.

25 posted on 06/13/2011 12:30:53 PM PDT by mountainlion (A nation that forgets it's past has no future. WinstonChirchill)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 22 | View Replies]

To: mountainlion

They still make those things?????....................


26 posted on 06/13/2011 12:31:48 PM PDT by Red Badger (Nothing is a 'right' if someone has to give it to you................)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 25 | View Replies]

To: WVNan

Would you mind telling me what name brand etc that you use/recommend?

I’ve needed them for 20 years, but I just keep putting them off. I’m 62 and I now know how much I’m missing in life without hearing.


27 posted on 06/13/2011 12:36:18 PM PDT by Gator113 ("GAME ON." I'll be voting for Sarah Palin, Liberty, our Constitution and American Exceptionalism.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

To: Red Badger

I needs hearing aids, but that sure looks larger than I would want to wear. grrrrrr


28 posted on 06/13/2011 12:38:31 PM PDT by Gator113 ("GAME ON." I'll be voting for Sarah Palin, Liberty, our Constitution and American Exceptionalism.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Red Badger

I need hearing aids, but that sure looks larger than I would want to wear. grrrrrr


29 posted on 06/13/2011 12:38:51 PM PDT by Gator113 ("GAME ON." I'll be voting for Sarah Palin, Liberty, our Constitution and American Exceptionalism.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Red Badger; Joya

Ping to Joya;


30 posted on 06/13/2011 12:49:11 PM PDT by Quix (Times are a changin' INSURE you have believed in your heart & confessed Jesus as Lord Come NtheFlesh)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Red Badger

They still make those things?????....................

I don’t know if they still make them but it still works and I got spare parts. I can hear great with it.


31 posted on 06/13/2011 12:55:36 PM PDT by mountainlion (A nation that forgets it's past has no future. WinstonChirchill)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 26 | View Replies]

To: Red Badger

My tinnitus is so loud, with so many varying sounds, that I can’t hear people talk, much less understand what they’re saying! I’ve pretty much given up.


32 posted on 06/13/2011 12:55:44 PM PDT by Dr. Bogus Pachysandra ( Ya can't pick up a turd by the clean end!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: Gator113

I have age related nerve deafness. Okay, I looked up to see if the place I go is a chain,and it is. Advanced Hearing Centers. I have one small inside the ear aid;. He set it to my needs on the computer with it in my ear. He calibrated it over a couple of weeks until I was happy with the sound I was getting. I hear just fine with the one, although he keeps trying to sell me another one. Mel is a good guy and goes out of his way to keep me happy...free batteries, monthly terms, etc. I don’t know if all of the centers are as good as he is. The brand of the one I bought for $1,750 is called ReSound. You might look them up online too.

Based on my Dad’s experience and the experience of all the people I’ve known who bought them, I cannot recommend
Bell Tone. Very expensive too.

I love mine so much, I sleep with it in. Can’t stand the silence.


33 posted on 06/13/2011 6:36:44 PM PDT by WVNan
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 27 | View Replies]

To: Dr. Bogus Pachysandra

Did I read some place that Zinc is good for Tinnitis?


34 posted on 06/13/2011 6:38:31 PM PDT by WVNan
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 32 | View Replies]

To: Gator113
Here is the one I have.


35 posted on 06/13/2011 6:43:51 PM PDT by WVNan
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 29 | View Replies]

To: Red Badger

There is nothing wrong with my hearing (had it tested a couple of months ago.) You people just slur and speak too softly!


36 posted on 06/13/2011 6:47:32 PM PDT by Revolting cat! (Let us prey!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: WVNan

That was helpful. Thank you very much.


37 posted on 06/13/2011 7:02:20 PM PDT by Gator113 ("GAME ON." I'll be voting for Sarah Palin, Liberty, our Constitution and American Exceptionalism.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 33 | View Replies]

To: Glenn

That would be a godsend.


38 posted on 06/14/2011 12:19:41 AM PDT by Ronin ("A society of sheep must in time beget a government of wolves" -- Bertrand de Jouve)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: Red Badger

Thanks for the ping!


39 posted on 06/14/2011 7:20:41 AM PDT by Vor Lady (The Lord will turn the arena of suffering into a platform of opportunity. R. Zacharias)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: Red Badger

This sounds like me. My kids are always telling me I’m yelling, but it’s because I’m trying to talk over the cicaidas in my ears and loosing the hearing isn’t helping.


40 posted on 06/14/2011 7:23:48 AM PDT by Vor Lady (The Lord will turn the arena of suffering into a platform of opportunity. R. Zacharias)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 19 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson