Impact of Prematurity on Auditory Processing in Children.

Prematurity is one of the most crucial risk factors negatively affecting the maturation of the auditory system. Children born preterm demonstrate high rates of hearing impairments. Auditory processing difficulties in preterm children might be a result of disturbances in the central auditory system development and/or sensory deprivation due to peripheral hearing loss.

Safety of high-power short pulse single spot diode laser stapedotomy: an experimental animal study.

Background: We present a new method of diode laser stapedoplasty - high-power short-pulse mode with preliminary carbonization of the waveguide and a single spot of laser ablation.

Aims/objective: The aim of our research is the safety evaluation of presented mode 0.98 µm diode laser cochleostomy in guinea pigs.

Clinical validation of the Russian Matrix test - effect of hearing loss, age, and noise level.

Objective: To validate the Russian matrix sentence test (RUMatrix) for the assessment of speech recognition in quiet and in noise in clinical praxis. The effect of hearing impairment, age, and masking-noise level on speech recognition was examined.

Design: All participants underwent pure tone audiometry, a monosyllabic speech test in quiet, and speech recognition measurements with RUMatrix in quiet (SRT) and in noise (SRT).

Development of the Russian matrix sentence test.

Objective: To develop the Russian matrix sentence test for speech intelligibility measurements in noise.

Design: Test development included recordings, optimization of speech material, and evaluation to investigate the equivalency of the test lists and training. For each of the 500 test items, the speech intelligibility function, speech reception threshold (SRT: signal-to-noise ratio, SNR, that provides 50% speech intelligibility), and slope was obtained.