Introduction to the Special Issue: Select Papers From the Hearing Across the Lifespan (HEAL) 2018 Conference.

[Figure: see text].

Reflections on Lake Como Conferences (2000-2016).

We present an overview of the conceptualization and development of the Newborn Hearing Screening and Hearing Across the Lifespan (Lake Como) conferences from 2000 to 2016.

A user-operated test of suprathreshold acuity in noise for adult hearing screening: The SUN (Speech Understanding in Noise) test.

A novel, user-operated test of suprathreshold acuity in noise for use in adult hearing screening (AHS) was developed. The Speech Understanding in Noise test (SUN) is a speech-in-noise test that makes use of a list of vowel-consonant-vowel (VCV) stimuli in background noise presented in a three-alternative forced choice (3AFC) paradigm by means of a touch sensitive screen. The test is automated, easy-to-use, and provides self-explanatory results (i.

Introduction to the AJA research forum on intervention and rehabilitation strategies for adults and older adults.

PURPOSE To give an overview of the third in a series of research forums emerged from the second International Conference on Adult Hearing Screening (AHS 2012), which was held in Cernobbio (Lake Como, Italy) in June 2012. The first two research forums, published in the previous and current issues of this journal, included several key contributions from the AHS meeting in 2 major topic areas, "Hearing Screening in Adults and Older Adults" (Vol. 22, June 2013) and "Aging and Hearing: Mechanisms and Effects" (this issue).

Introduction to the AJA research forum on aging and hearing: mechanisms and effects.

PURPOSE This Research Forum, "Aging and Hearing: Mechanisms and Effects," highlights 6 contributions presented at the 2nd International Conference on Adult Hearing Screening (AHS 2012), held in Cernobbio (Lake Como, Italy) in June 2012. Overall, the articles in this Research Forum give insight into the causes, mechanisms, and consequences of auditory dysfunctions in adults, with particular focus on their implications for screening, assessment, and intervention.

Using the speech understanding in noise (SUN) test for adult hearing screening1.

Purpose: To develop a novel speech-in-noise test for adult hearing screening-the Speech Understanding in Noise (SUN) test. The goal was to design a fast, automated, easy-to-use test to identify difficulties in speech communication.

Method: The SUN test consists of a short list of intervocalic consonants in noise presented in a forced-choice paradigm by means of a touch screen.

Introduction to the AJA research forum on hearing screening in adults and older adults.

To illustrate the overall project that led to the development of a series of research forums highlighting several key contributions to AHS 2012, the 2nd International Conference on Adult Hearing Screening, in Cernobbio (Lake Como), Italy, and, in particular, to provide an overview of the first research forum, "Hearing Screening in Adults and Older Adults," which contains a set of brief papers that tackle prominent issues related to adult hearing screening: guiding principles for adult screening, development of methods and technologies, program implementation and evaluation, possible future scenarios, and health policy issues.

Interventions following hearing screening in adults: a systematic descriptive review.

Objective: Adult hearing screening may be a solution to the under-diagnosis and under-treatment of hearing loss in adults. Limited use and satisfaction with hearing aids indicate that consideration of alternative interventions following hearing screening may be needed. The primary aim of this study is to provide an overview of all intervention types that have been offered to adult (≥ 18 years) screen-failures.

Speech processing for cochlear implants with the discrete wavelet transform: feasibility study and performance evaluation.

An innovative approach is investigated for speech processing in cochlear implants (CI). Differently from the traditional filter-bank spectral analysis strategies, the proposed method analyses the speech signal by means of the discrete wavelet transform (DWT). Preliminary tests were conducted in order to compare the WT and the filter-bank analysis methods.

Modeling of the internal fields distribution in human inner hearing system exposed to 900 and 1800 MHz.

This paper investigates the internal electric and magnetic field distribution and the specific absorption rate (SAR) values in a magnetic resonance imaging-based model of the inner hearing system exposed to 900 and 1800 MHz. The internal fields distributions were calculated using the Finite Integration Technique. The estimation of the field values was evaluated along lines passing through that target organ, specifically from the vestibular to the cochlear region and from the apex to the base of the cochlea.

Otoacoustic emission latency, cochlear tuning, and hearing functionality in neonates.

Transient evoked otoacoustic emissions of a large population of neonates (466 ears) are analyzed, with the aim of establishing if a significant latency difference can be observed between "pass" (333) and "fail" (133) ears, discriminated with a screening protocol based on band and global reproducibility. The ears that did not pass the test in at least one frequency band are named "fail," for simplicity, but they should be more appropriately defined as "partial pass." In a previous study, significantly different average latencies had been observed in adult subjects, comparing normal hearing and hearing impaired ears [J.

The Milan Project: a newborn hearing screening programme.

Aim: Since 1997 a newborn hearing screening programme has been implemented by the U.O. Neurologia-Neurofisiopatologia and Dipartimento di Neonatologia of the Istituti Clinici di Perfezionamento ICP in Milan for both babies with no risk and those at risk of hearing impairment.

Cochlear maturation and otoacoustic emissions in preterm infants: a time-frequency approach.

Click-evoked otoacoustic emissions (CEOAEs) from preterm infants were analyzed to characterize developmental changes of cochlear active mechanisms. Due to their strong time-varying properties, CEOAEs were studied with a time-frequency approach--the wavelet transform (WT). By means of the WT, CEOAEs were decomposed into 12 frequency bands, spanning the 0.

Design of hearing aid shells by three dimensional laser scanning and mesh reconstruction.

Hearing aid shells (or earmolds) must couple the hearing aid with the user's ear. Earmolds have to fit the subject's outer ear canal properly to ensure a good performance of the aid. Because of the great variability in the anatomical pattern of the ear, earmolds are custom made.

Principal component analysis as a method to facilitate fast detection of transient-evoked otoacoustic emissions.

Transient-evoked otoacoustic emissions (TEOAE) are acoustic signals coming from the inner ear (outer hair cells of the cochlea) after acoustic stimulation by clicks. They can be used to investigate the status of the peripheral hearing system. Some of their potential applications (e.

Comparison of two methods of TEOAE recording in newborn hearing screening.

This paper summarizes the results of trials performed in two hospitals, comparing the scoring of transient evoked otoacoustic emissions (TEOAEs) on the same neonates and within the same test session, recorded by the fully automatic device EchoScreen (Madsen Electronics/Fischer-Zoth GmbH) and ILO Otodynamics Ltd system. These trials form part of a larger project (Project Sentinel), whose primary aim is to stimulate the creation of new neonatal hearing screening programmes. Four thousand two hundred and forty-eight neonates were tested with both devices (8494 ears), in randomized order.

Click-evoked otoacoustic emissions recorded from untreated congenital hypothyroid newborns.

Thyroid hormone plays an important role in hearing development. Both a genetic or non-genetic hypothyroidism is often associated with congenital hearing loss. The exact incidence of hearing impairment in untreated congenital hypothyroid (CH) patients is unknown.

Frequency-related effects in the optimization of coils for the magnetic stimulation of the nervous system.

Magnetic stimulation of the nervous system is a non-invasive technique with a large number of applications in neurological diagnosis, brain research, and, recently, therapy. New applications require engineering modifications in order to decrease power consumption and coil heating. This can be accomplished by optimized coils with minimized resistance.