Benefit of Higher Maximum Force Output in Bone Anchored Hearing Systems: A Crossover Study.

Objective: To investigate how higher maximum force output (MFO) in bone anchored hearing systems (BAHS) affects perceived benefit and the subjective experience of sound as well as hearing outcomes in subjects with mixed hearing loss.

Study Design: Prospective single-center, randomized crossover design (A-B-A) with within-subject control design.

Patients: The study included 19 experienced BAHS users with mixed hearing loss in the fitting range of a standard BAHS.

Investigating Real-World Benefits of High-Frequency Gain in Bone-Anchored Users with Ecological Momentary Assessment and Real-Time Data Logging.

Purpose: To compare listening ability (speech reception thresholds) and real-life listening experience in users with a percutaneous bone conduction device (BCD) with two listening programs differing only in high-frequency gain. In situ real-life experiences were recorded with ecological momentary assessment (EMA) techniques combined with real-time acoustical data logging and standard retrospective questionnaires.

Methods: Nineteen experienced BCD users participated in this study.

Benefit of Higher Maximum Force Output on Listening Effort in Bone-Anchored Hearing System Users: A Pupillometry Study.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to compare listening effort, as estimated via pupillary response, during a speech-in-noise test in bone-anchored hearing system (BAHS) users wearing three different sound processors. The three processors, Ponto Pro (PP), Ponto 3 (P3), and Ponto 3 SuperPower (P3SP), differ in terms of maximum force output (MFO) and MFO algorithm. The hypothesis was that listeners would allocate lower listening effort with the P3SP than with the PP, as a consequence of a higher MFO and, hence, fewer saturation artifacts in the signal.

Using Speech Recall in Hearing Aid Fitting and Outcome Evaluation Under Ecological Test Conditions.

In adaptive Speech Reception Threshold (SRT) tests used in the audiological clinic, speech is presented at signal to noise ratios (SNRs) that are lower than those generally encountered in real-life communication situations. At higher, ecologically valid SNRs, however, SRTs are insensitive to changes in hearing aid signal processing that may be of benefit to listeners who are hard of hearing. Previous studies conducted in Swedish using the Sentence-final Word Identification and Recall test (SWIR) have indicated that at such SNRs, the ability to recall spoken words may be a more informative measure.