Background: Mandarin Chinese has a rich repertoire of high-frequency speech sounds. This may pose a remarkable challenge to hearing-impaired listeners who speak Mandarin Chinese because of their high-frequency sloping hearing loss. An adaptive nonlinear frequency compression (adaptive NLFC) algorithm has been implemented in contemporary hearing aids to alleviate the problem.
Purpose: The present study examined the performance of speech perception and sound-quality rating in Mandarin-speaking hearing-impaired listeners using hearing aids fitted with adaptive NLFC (i.e., SoundRecover2 or SR2) at different parameter settings.
Research Design: Hearing-impaired listeners' phoneme detection thresholds, speech reception thresholds, and sound-quality ratings were collected with various SR2 settings.
Study Sample: The participants included 15 Mandarin-speaking adults aged 32 to 84 years old who had symmetric sloping severe-to-profound sensorineural hearing loss.
Intervention: The participants were fitted bilaterally with Phonak Naida V90-SP hearing aids.
Data Collection And Analysis: The outcome measures included phoneme detection threshold using the Mandarin Phonak Phoneme Perception test, speech reception threshold using the Mandarin hearing in noise test (M-HINT), and sound-quality ratings on human speech in quiet and noise, bird chirps, and music in quiet. For each test, five experimental settings were applied and compared: SR2-off, SR2-weak, SR2-default, SR2-strong 1, and SR2-strong 2.
Results: The results showed that listeners performed significantly better with SR2-strong 1 and SR2-strong 2 settings than with SR2-off or SR2-weak settings for speech reception threshold and phoneme detection threshold. However, no significant improvement was observed in sound-quality ratings among different settings.
Conclusions: These preliminary findings suggested that the adaptive NLFC algorithm provides perceptual benefit to Mandarin-speaking people with severe-to-profound hearing loss.
Download full-text PDF |
Source |
|---|---|
| http://dx.doi.org/10.1055/s-0040-1709450 | DOI Listing |
Publication Analysis
Top Keywords
Similar Publications
Speech Perception and Sound-Quality Rating with an Adaptive Nonlinear Frequency Compression Algorithm in Mandarin-Speaking Hearing Aid Users.
J Am Acad Audiol
September 2020
Innovation Centre Toronto, Sonova Canada, Inc., Mississauga, Ontario, Canada.
Background: Mandarin Chinese has a rich repertoire of high-frequency speech sounds. This may pose a remarkable challenge to hearing-impaired listeners who speak Mandarin Chinese because of their high-frequency sloping hearing loss. An adaptive nonlinear frequency compression (adaptive NLFC) algorithm has been implemented in contemporary hearing aids to alleviate the problem.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAuditory perceptual efficacy of nonlinear frequency compression used in hearing aids: A review.
J Otol
September 2017
Communication Sciences and Disorders, Ohio University, Athens, OH, USA.
Many patients with sensorineural hearing loss have a precipitous high-frequency loss with relatively good thresholds in the low frequencies. This present paper briefly introduces and compares the basic principles of four types of frequency lowering algorithms with emphasis on nonlinear frequency compression (NLFC). A review of the effects of the NLFC algorithm on speech and music perception and sound quality appraisal is then provided.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPreliminary evaluation of a novel non-linear frequency compression scheme for use in children.
Int J Audiol
December 2017
e Phonak LLC , Warrenville , IL , USA.
Objective: The primary goal of this study was to evaluate a new form of non-linear frequency compression (NLFC) in children. The new NLFC processing scheme is adaptive and potentially allows for a better preservation of the spectral characteristics of the input sounds when compared to conventional NLFC processing.
Design: A repeated-measures design was utilised to compare the speech perception of the participants with two configurations of the new adaptive NLFC processing to their performance with the existing NLFC.
The impact of hearing aids and age-related hearing loss on auditory plasticity across three months - An electrical neuroimaging study.
Hear Res
September 2017
Research Unit for Neuroplasticity and Learning in the Healthy Aging Brain, Department of Psychology, University of Zurich, Andreasstrasse 15/2, CH-8050 Zurich, Switzerland; University Research Priority Program "Dynamics of Healthy Aging", Department of Psychology, University of Zurich, Andreasstrasse 15/2, CH-8050 Zurich, Switzerland; Cognitive Neuroscience, Department of Psychology, University of Klagenfurt, Universitätsstrasse 65-67, A-9020 Klagenfurt, Austria. Electronic address:
The present study investigates behavioral and electrophysiological auditory and cognitive-related plasticity in three groups of healthy older adults (60-77 years). Group 1 was moderately hearing-impaired, experienced hearing aid users, and fitted with new hearing aids using non-linear frequency compression (NLFC on); Group 2, also moderately hearing-impaired, used the same type of hearing aids but NLFC was switched off during the entire period of study duration (NLFC off); Group 3 represented individuals with age-appropriate hearing (NHO) as controls, who were not different in IQ, gender, or age from Group 1 and 2. At five measurement time points (M1-M5) across three months, a series of active oddball tasks were administered while EEG was recorded.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Outcomes with hearing aids (HAs) can be assessed using various speech tests, but many tests are not sensitive to changes in high-frequency audibility.
Purpose: A Phoneme Perception Test (PPT), designed for the phonemes /s/ and /ʃ/, has been developed to investigate whether detection and recognition tasks are able to measure individual differences in phoneme audibility and recognition for various hearing instrument settings. These capabilities were studied using two different fricative stimulus materials.
Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?
Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!