EFFECTS OF AN ADAPTIVE-FEEDBACK ACTIVE NOISE CANCELLATION HEADSET ON WIDEBAND NOISE AND SPEECH INTELLIGIBILITY IN MANDARIN

Abstract

Biomedical Engineering: Applications, Basis and CommunicationsVol. 20, No. 02, pp. 123-131 (2008) No AccessEFFECTS OF AN ADAPTIVE-FEEDBACK ACTIVE NOISE CANCELLATION HEADSET ON WIDEBAND NOISE AND SPEECH INTELLIGIBILITY IN MANDARINJiun-Hung Lin, Shih-Tsang Tang, Wei-Ru Han, Chih-Yuan Chuang, Ping-Ting Liu, and Shuenn-Tsong YoungJiun-Hung LinDepartment of Electronics Engineering, Kun Shan University, Taiwan, R.O.C.Corresponding author: Professor Jiun-Hung Lin, Department of Electronics Engineering, Kun Shan University, No. 949, Da Wan Rd., Yung-Kang City, Tainan Hsien, Taiwan. Search for more papers by this author , Shih-Tsang TangDepartment of Biomedical Engineering, Yuanpei University, Taiwan, R.O.C. Search for more papers by this author , Wei-Ru HanInstitute of Biomedical Engineering, National Yang-Ming University Taiwan, R.O.C. Search for more papers by this author , Chih-Yuan ChuangInstitute of Biomedical Engineering, National Yang-Ming University Taiwan, R.O.C. Search for more papers by this author , Ping-Ting LiuInstitute of Biomedical Engineering, National Yang-Ming University Taiwan, R.O.C. Search for more papers by this author , and Shuenn-Tsong YoungInstitute of Biomedical Engineering, National Yang-Ming University Taiwan, R.O.C. Search for more papers by this author https://doi.org/10.4015/S1016237208000672Cited by:0 PreviousNext AboutSectionsPDF/EPUB ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsRecommend to Library ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditEmail AbstractMany industrial workers must wear hearing protectors in order to avoid hearing loss. Conventional passive methods, such as earmuffs, are ineffective against low-frequency noise, and so the present study developed a headset equipped with a digital signal processing system that implements adaptive-feedback active noise cancellation (FbAANC) to reduce the low-frequency noise. The proposed FbAANC headset system reduced the noise level by 40–60 dB at frequencies down to 63 Hz. We also evaluated the effects of the FbAANC headset on speech intelligibility on a disyllabic Mandarin word discrimination test (WDT) platform. For an SNR below–10 dB, the mean WDT score was 13%–32% higher with the FbAANC headset than without the headset in 30 subjects with normal hearing thresholds. These results suggest that the FbAANC headset would be useful for hearing protection in workplaces with high levels of wideband industrial noise.Keywords:Noise cancellationWord discrimination testDSPIndustrial noise References S. M. Kuo and D. R. Morgan, Proc. IEEE 87(6), 943 (1999), DOI: 10.1109/5.763310. Crossref, ISI, Google ScholarS. J. Elliott and P. A. Nelson, IEEE Signal Process. Mag. 10(4), 12 (1993), DOI: 10.1109/79.248551. Crossref, ISI, Google ScholarH. Sano, S. Adachi and H. 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