The Influence of Receiver Size on Magnitude of Acoustic and Perceived Measures of Occlusion

Abstract

Measured and perceived occlusion was minor in all receiver conditions. Occlusion was not correlated to ear canal volume, suggesting that RIC hearing aids most often result in negligible amounts of measured and perceived occlusion effect, regardless of ear canal size. Because no significant relationship existed between the occlusion measures, clinicians may need to consider that self-rating of occlusion may not match measured occlusion results.

Perceived Occlusion and Comfort in Receiver-in-the-Ear Hearing Aids

“…There is a decreased perception of occlusion as there is an increase in the diameter of the vent as well as a decrease in acoustic mass (Kamp & Wynne, 1996;Kiessling et al, 2005;Vasil & Cienkowski, 2006;Vasil-Dilaj & Cienkowski, 2011).…”

“…After listening to a recorded sentence, the participant was asked to rate the selfperceived level of occlusion of the male talker's voice using a 5-point rating scale which ranged from No Occlusion to Complete Occlusion (Vasil-Dilaj & Cienkowski, 2011).…”

“…Hearing-impaired participants were chosen for this study because there is a lack of self-perceived occlusion ratings for the hearing-impaired population, and this is a follow-up investigation to Vasil-Dilaj and Cienkowski's (2011) perceived occlusion study in which normal hearing participants were tested only. Participants had at least a mild hearing loss, but no more than a moderately-severe hearing loss between 500 and 4000 Hz, and configurations were gradually sloping.…”

“…The use of a vent will decrease OE by allowing low frequency energy to escape from the ear canal. Through the use of real ear measures, it is shown that measured OE predictably decreases as vent size increases (Dillon, 2001;Kiessling et al, 2005;Tecca, 1991;Vasil-Dilaj & Cienkowski, 2011;Wimmer, 1986).…”

“…Acoustically, it is shown that as vent size increases, measured OE decreases (Vasil-Dilaj & Cienkowski, 2011). Although OE can be measured acoustically, the most important measures of OE may in fact be through the subjective measure of hearing aid user reports, as subjective measures have a greater impact on patient satisfaction with hearing aids (Kampe & Wynne, 1996;Vasil-Dilaj & Cienkowski, 2011).…”