Ear Asymmetries and Asymmetric Directional Microphone Hearing Aid Fittings

Cord, Mary T.; Surr, Rauna K.; Walden, Brian E.; Dittberner, Andrew

doi:10.1044/1059-0889(2011/10-0035)

Cited by 6 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…To date asymmetric directivity has only been suggested in bilateral HA-users as a permanent setting instead of manually switching between directional modes [ 41 , 65 ]. According to the “better SNR ear” principle, the effective SNR should be at least as good as the better of the two ears [ 66 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…According to the “better SNR ear” principle, the effective SNR should be at least as good as the better of the two ears [ 66 ]. But the reported difference between asymmetric and symmetric directivity varies across HA-studies, ranging from no difference [ 41 , 65 , 67 , 68 ] to a significant benefit in favor of the symmetric configuration [ 30 , 59 , 60 ]. However, CI-recipients are a different population, especially in the event of bimodal fitting.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Monaural Beamforming in Bimodal Cochlear Implant Users: Effect of (A)symmetric Directivity and Noise Type

Devocht

Janssen

Chalupper³

et al. 2016

PLoS ONE

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ObjectiveTo evaluate monaural beamforming in bimodally aided cochlear implant (CI) users.DesignThe study enrolled twelve adult bimodal listeners with at least six months of CI-experience and using a contralateral hearing aid (HA) most of the daytime. Participants were uniformly fitted with the same CI speech processor and HA, giving access to an identical monaural beamformer in both ears. A within-subject repeated measures design evaluated three directional configurations [omnidirectional, asymmetric directivity (in CI alone) and symmetric directivity (in both CI and HA)] in two noise types [stationary and fluctuating]. Bimodal speech reception thresholds (SRT) as well as listening effort ratings were assessed in a diffuse noise field.ResultsSymmetric monaural beamforming provided a significant SRT improvement of 2.6 dB SNR, compared to 1.6 dB SNR for asymmetric monaural beamforming. Directional benefits were similarly observed in stationary and fluctuating noise. Directivity did not contribute to less listening effort in addition to improvement in speech intelligibility. Bimodal performance was about 7 dB SNR worse in fluctuating than in stationary noise.ConclusionsMonaural beamforming provided substantial benefit for speech intelligibility in noise for bimodal listeners. The greatest benefit occurred when monaural beamforming was activated symmetrically in both CI and HA. Monaural beamforming does not bridge the gap between bimodal and normal hearing performance, especially in fluctuating noise. Results advocate further bimodal co-operation.Trial RegistrationThis trial was registered in www.trialregister.nl under number NTR4901.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Monaural Beamforming in Bimodal Cochlear Implant Users: Effect of (A)symmetric Directivity and Noise Type

Devocht

Janssen

Chalupper³

et al. 2016

PLoS ONE

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“…If the LDN SNR and RDN SNR are equivalent or the direction of the estimated DN is 180°, the device positioned on the most HI ear is set to OM mode, and the contralateral device is set to DM mode, following a study by Cord et al. that demonstrated that for subjects with asymmetric hearing ability, providing directional processing to the ear with better hearing‐in‐noise ability yielded significantly better performance and providing directional processing to the ear with poorer hearing‐in‐noise ability did not yield a significant directional advantage. For the DM‐mode device, the output of the beamformer is regarded as the input signal, and for the OM‐mode device, the unprocessed input signal of a front microphone is regarded as the input signal.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In monaurally HI persons, who have hearing loss in only one ear, the ear with normal hearing can be used for the detection of such informative ambient sounds; however, in binaurally HI persons who use independently operated, forward‐focusing HS devices in both ears, most ambient sounds not in front of the person may be attenuated. Therefore, in order to provide a more natural ambient sound to binaurally HI persons without increasing the interference of ambient noises, several groups have suggested the concept of an asymmetric directional microphone (DM) algorithm, which applies the forward‐focusing beamformer to one ear and an omnidirectional microphone (OM) algorithm to the other ear simultaneously . However, in most conventional bilateral asymmetric DM algorithms, two HS devices are operated independently, and therefore, several limitations exist: (i) the direction of the most dominant noise source (DN) around the listener cannot be determined because comparison between the two devices is not available; and (ii) when the DN moves near the OM‐mode device, the roles of the DM‐mode and OM‐mode devices cannot be switched automatically to minimize the interference of the DN.…”

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confidence: 99%

A New Asymmetric Directional Microphone Algorithm With Automatic Mode‐Switching Ability for Binaural Hearing Support Devices

et al. 2015

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For hearing support devices, it is important to minimize the negative effect of ambient noises for speech recognition but also, at the same time, supply natural ambient sounds to the hearing-impaired person. However, conventional fixed bilateral asymmetric directional microphone (DM) algorithms cannot perform in such a way when the DM-mode device and a dominant noise (DN) source are placed on the same lateral hemisphere. In this study, a new binaural asymmetric DM algorithm that can overcome the defects of conventional algorithms is proposed. The proposed algorithm can estimate the position of a specific DN in the 90°-270° range and switch directional- and omnidirectional-mode devices automatically if the DM-mode device and the DN are placed in opposite lateral hemispheres. Computer simulation and KEMAR mannequin recording tests demonstrated that the performance of the conventional algorithm deteriorated when the DM-mode device and the DN were placed in the opposite hemisphere; in contrast, the performance of the proposed algorithm was consistently maintained regardless of directional variations in the DN. Based on these experimental results, the proposed algorithm may be able to improve speech quality and intelligibility for hearing-impaired persons who have similar degrees of hearing impairment in both ears.

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“…However, for noisy scenarios with the sound source coming from the side, one or two omnidirectional microphones work better compared to binaural directional microphones (Hornsby and Ricketts 2007;Kuk et al 2005;Wu et al 2013). Some hearing aids now allow for switching to an asymmetric microphone setting when speech is detected to the side or back of the listener (Nyffeler 2010;Cord et al 2011). However, asymmetric hearing aid processing can be confusing for hearing aid users for the purposes of localisation (Ibrahim et al 2013), which is essential for safe walking (Campos, Ramkhalawansingh, and Pichora-Fuller 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluating the benefit of hearing aids with motion-based beamformer adaptation in a real-world setup

Voss¹,

Pichora‐Fuller

Ishida³

et al. 2021

International Journal of Audiology

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Objective: Conventional directional hearing aid microphone technology may obstruct listening intentions when the talker and listener walk side by side. The purpose of the current study was to evaluate hearing aids that use a motion sensor to address listening needs during walking. Design: Each participant completed two walks in randomised order, one walk with each of two hearing aid programs: (1) conventional beamformer adaptation that activated an adaptive, multiband beamformer in loud environments and (2) motion-based beamformer adaptation that activated a pinna-mimicking microphone setting when walking was detected. Participants walked along a pre-defined track and completed tasks assessing speech understanding and environmental awareness. Study Sample: Participants were 22 older adults with moderate-to-severe hearing loss and experience using hearing aids. Results: More participants preferred the motion-based than conventional beamformer adaptation for speech understanding, environmental awareness, overall listening, and sound quality (p < 0.05). Measures of speech understanding (p < 0.01) and localisation of sound stimuli (p < 0.05) were significantly better with motion-based than conventional beamformer adaptation. Conclusions: The results suggest that hearing aid users can benefit from beamforming that uses motion sensor input to adapt the signal processing according to the user's activity. The real-world setup of this study had limitations.

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Ear Asymmetries and Asymmetric Directional Microphone Hearing Aid Fittings

Abstract: An asymmetry between ears for speech understanding in noise did not result in preference for 1 asymmetric fitting over the other in everyday listening situations.

Cited by 6 publications

References 15 publications

Monaural Beamforming in Bimodal Cochlear Implant Users: Effect of (A)symmetric Directivity and Noise Type

Monaural Beamforming in Bimodal Cochlear Implant Users: Effect of (A)symmetric Directivity and Noise Type

A New Asymmetric Directional Microphone Algorithm With Automatic Mode‐Switching Ability for Binaural Hearing Support Devices

Evaluating the benefit of hearing aids with motion-based beamformer adaptation in a real-world setup

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