Noise-reduction circuitry in hearing aids

Schum, Donald J.

doi:10.1097/01.hj.0000294049.75608.1c

Cited by 22 publications

(28 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…This goal is two-fold: to restore lost intelligibility and to improve the quality of noisy speech (Schum, 2003). Single-microphone NR systems perform the second goal of improving quality, without increasing intelligibility (Chabries & Bray, 2002;Levitt, 2001;Schum, 2003). Directional microphones are the only NR strategy that meets the first goal (Chabries & Bray, 2002;Levitt, 2001;Schum, 2003).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…The general goal of all noise reduction algorithms is to restore the SRT of listeners with hearing loss to that of listeners with normal hearing. This goal is two-fold: to restore lost intelligibility and to improve the quality of noisy speech (Schum, 2003). Single-microphone NR systems perform the second goal of improving quality, without increasing intelligibility (Chabries & Bray, 2002;Levitt, 2001;Schum, 2003).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Determination of the Potential Benefit of Time-Frequency Gain Manipulation

et al. 2006

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Determination of the Potential Benefit of Time-Frequency Gain Manipulation

et al. 2006

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“…In the first stage, the algorithm performs signal detection and analysis with the intent of identifying the presence (or absence) of speech and noise in each band. Detectors are employed to estimate the modulation rate, modulation depth, or/and SNR in each frequency band (Schum, 2003;Latzel et al, 2003;Chung, 2004;Bentler and Chiou, 2006). The Siemens (Triano) hearing aid, for instance, decides whether speech is present in a particular band based on the modulation rate (Chung, 2004), while the Widex (Senso Diva) hearing aid detects speech presence based on the estimated SNR (Kuk et al, 2002).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gain-induced speech distortions and the absence of intelligibility benefit with existing noise-reduction algorithms

Kim

Loizou

2011

The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America

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Most noise-reduction algorithms used in hearing aids apply a gain to the noisy envelopes to reduce noise interference. The present study assesses the impact of two types of speech distortion introduced by noise-suppressive gain functions: amplification distortion occurring when the amplitude of the target signal is over-estimated, and attenuation distortion occurring when the target amplitude is under-estimated. Sentences corrupted by steady noise and competing talker were processed through a noise-reduction algorithm and synthesized to contain either amplification distortion, attenuation distortion or both. The attenuation distortion was found to have a minimal effect on speech intelligibility. In fact, substantial improvements (> 80 percentage points) in intelligibility, relative to noise-corrupted speech, were obtained when the processed sentences contained only attenuation distortion. When the amplification distortion was limited to be smaller than 6 dB, performance was nearly unaffected in the steady-noise conditions, but was severely degraded in the competing-talker conditions. Overall, the present data suggest that one reason that existing algorithms do not improve speech intelligibility is because they allow amplification distortions in excess of 6 dB. These distortions are shown in this study to be always associated with masker-dominated envelopes and should thus be eliminated.

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“…Modulation-based noise reduction algorithms are commonly implemented in hearing aids to increase listening comfort by reducing the overall levels of background noise with relatively small temporal fluctuations (Kuk et al, 2002;Johns et al, 2002;Edwards et al, 1998;Latzel et al, 2003;Schum, 2003;Walden et al, 2000). These algorithms analyze the incoming signal and determine the presence of speech and noise.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%