INNOVATIVE APPROACH TO HEARING DEVICE FITTINGS

Krause L (1), Holmes A E (2), Shrivastav R (3), Siburt H (4).

(1)Audigence Inc; (2,3,4)University of Florida.

Advances in hearing aid (HA) and cochlear implant (CI) technology has created millions of possible programming combinations for audiologists.  These advances have drastically increased our capability of conditioning the input signal so as to maximize its benefit for each individual user, but present clinical practice still relies heavily on subjective judgments. Our research team has developed a method to optimize digital hearing devices for individual patients using speech stimuli.  Preliminary results suggest an increase in phoneme responses as well as increased performance on the BKB-Sin while using our optimization procedure as compared to standard fitting protocols.   This programming technique seeks to develop a standardized method to optimize hearing aids for individual users, resulting in improved performance, increased user satisfaction, and shorter programming time.  

E-mail: lkrause@audigenceinc.com