Determining fitting ranges of various bone conduction hearing aids

Abstract

Objectives: To define fitting ranges for nine bone conduction devices (BCDs) over different frequencies based on the device's maximum power output (MPO) and to validate the assessment of MPO of BCDs in the ear canal.Background: Maximum power output (MPO) is an important characteristic when fit-

Characteristics of Bone-Conduction Devices Simulated in a Finite-Element Model of a Whole Human Head

“…This means that the sensitivity of the microphone, the gain of the amplifier, and settings of the filters that also influences the output of the BCD are not included in the current simulations. However, the maximum output of a BCD, the maximum power output in hearing level, is determined by the voltage to the transducer, the transducer itself, and the BC transmission from the attachment position to the inner ear (van Barneveld, Kok, Noten, Bosman, & Snik, 2018). Consequently, the estimations of the outputs in Figure 8 are the maximum output of a BCD with a 1 -V battery.…”

“…Consequently, the estimations of the outputs in Figure 8 are the maximum output of a BCD with a 1 -V battery. Therefore, if a higher gain is applied to a BCD to reach the hearing threshold, the maximum power output is reached at a lower hearing level than if a lower gain is applied (van Barneveld et al., 2018). Hence, the differences in Figure 8 are estimations of the differences in dynamic ranges between the BCDs.…”

“…This was also found in this study; the Baha® Attract and the Sophono® systems result in comparable vibration levels of the cochlear promontories (Figures 6(a) and 8(a)). When the maximum power output was estimated for the Sophono®, Baha®, and Baha® Attract, the Sophono® was 18 to 30 dB below the Baha® system at frequencies between 0.5 and 2 kHz except at 1.5 kHz where they were similar (van Barneveld et al., 2018). That is significantly different from the above-mentioned comparisons that were based on hearing thresholds and also different from the estimations in Figure 10.…”

“…This is similar to this study where the Baha® Attract results fall with frequency compared with the BAHA/Ponto at frequencies above 2 kHz with a slope of about −10 dB/octave (Figure 10(a) and (b)). In the estimation of maximum power output, the Baha® Attract gave comparable levels to the Baha® connect system up to 1 kHz but fell with frequency at higher frequencies (van Barneveld et al., 2018). Compared with the simulations here, the high-frequency results were 5 to 10 dB lower, which could be related to differences in static force or skin thickness for the Baha® Attract system.…”

Hearing Aid Treatment for Patients with Mixed Hearing Loss. Part II: Speech Recognition in Comparison to Direct Acoustic Cochlear Stimulation

“…The required gain should comprise full compensation of the conductive part and approximately half of the sensorineural component (for details, see part I [Wardenga et al, 2020]). As a second criterion, the MPO of the hearing aid should be high enough to cover the patient's dynamic range of hearing, with a minimum of 35 dB [Zwartenkot et al, 2014;van Barneveld et al, 2018], resulting in a required output (see Table 2 for the applied criteria).…”