Abstract
Objective: This study was aimed at evaluating improvements in speech-in-noise recognition ability as measured by signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) with the use of wireless remote microphone technology. These microphones transmit digital signals via radio frequency directly to hearing aids and may be a valuable assistive listening device for the hearing-impaired population of Mandarin speakers in China.Methods: Twenty-three adults (aged 19–80 years old) and fourteen children (aged 8–17 years old) with bilateral sensorineural hearing loss were recruited. The Mandarin Hearing in Noise Test was used to test speech recognition ability in adult subjects, and the Mandarin Hearing in Noise Test for Children was used for children. The subjects’ perceived SNR was measured using sentence recognition ability at three different listening distances of 1.5, 3, and 6 m. At each distance, SNR was obtained under three device settings: hearing aid microphone alone, wireless remote microphone alone, and hearing aid microphone and wireless remote microphone simultaneously.Results: At each test distance, for both adult and pediatric groups, speech-in-noise recognition thresholds were significantly lower with the use of the wireless remote microphone in comparison with the hearing aid microphones alone (P < 0.05), indicating better SNR performance with the wireless remote microphone. Moreover, when the wireless remote microphone was used, test distance had no effect on speech-in-noise recognition for either adults or children.Conclusion: Wireless remote microphone technology can significantly improve speech recognition performance in challenging listening environments for Mandarin speaking hearing aid users in China.
Highlights
With the advancement and evolution of current hearing technology, a variety of digital audio electronic devices have become more prevalent in the general population
The results showed that at the same test distance, the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) thresholds under three device settings were significantly different from each other (p < 0.05)
Performance was significantly better when the Mini Microphone active only (MM) was active compared to the hearing aid microphone alone (p < 0.05)
Summary
With the advancement and evolution of current hearing technology, a variety of digital audio electronic devices have become more prevalent in the general population. Hearing aids have been proven to be an effective solution in compensating for hearing loss in the loudness domain, but cannot compensate sufficiently for issues with frequency or temporal resolution. These issues become more pronounced in listening environments where the target sounds are masked by competing sounds. An effective way to help people with sensorineural hearing loss in more challenging listening environments is to improve the audibility of the target signal. Research has shown that the speech-in-noise recognition ability in people with sensorineural hearing loss is significantly reduced when the SNR is at or below 5 dB. Adult-like performance is reached at the age of 10–12 years in stationary noise conditions (Koopmans et al, 2018)
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