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Deafness Research UK funds fellowships at the Cambridge Auditory Centre of Excellence
Dr Jing Chen has been awarded 6 months funding to complete her project to improve the processing methods implemented in hearing aids, leading to improved performance when listening in background noise. As a Newton Fellow, supported by the Royal Society, Dr Chen has been developing a method to enhancing the intelligibility of speech in noise based on the enhancement of spectral changes over time. Initial evaluations of the method showed improved intelligibility of speech in a steady background noise but it led to slightly worse intelligibility for speech in a background of two talkers.
Dr Chen is now exploring the use of a 'genetic algorithm' to select processing parameters for individual hearing-impaired listeners; this is a way of customising the processing to suit the hearing loss of the individual listener. The initial results have been encouraging and this grant of £30,000 will enable Dr Chen to refine the algorithm, test more subjects and assess the effects of the processing method for more types of background sounds. If the outcomes are successful, then the processing could be implemented in hearing aids, leading to improved performance when listening in background noise.
The second grant of £30,899 was awarded to Professor Brian Moore and Professor Aleksander Sek to evaluate two new hearing aid fitting methods. Appropriate fitting of hearing aids is vital for optimising the potential benefit of the aids. Almost all people with hearing loss can only hear comfortably over a small range of sound intensities. This means that is it necessary to 'squeeze' the wide range of sound intensities encountered in everyday life into a much smaller range at the output of the hearing aid. To achieve this, almost all modern hearing aids incorporate some form of multi-channel amplitude compression. The initial fitting of such hearing aids is usually based on the audiogram of the client, either using a published fitting formula or using a manufacturer's proprietary fitting method.
Over the next 5 months, Professor Sek, will be testing two new fitting methods, CAM2 and NAL-NL2, under laboratory conditions using simulated hearing aids and a method of paired comparisons. This method allows fittings using the two methods to be directly compared, thus allowing much greater sensitivity and precision.
The outcomes of Professor Sek's study will hopefully lead to hearing aid dispensers being able to make a more informed choice of fitting method of hearing aids to meet the needs of their clients.
Support of these two projects as part of the Cambridge Auditory Centre of Excellence scheme has enabled Deafness Research UK to provide crucial funds to retain Research Fellows in hearing research and ultimately bring benefits to hearing aid users.
