Benefits of incorporating the adaptive dynamic range optimization amplification scheme into an assistive listening device for people with mild or moderate hearing loss

Hung-Yue Chang, Ching-Hsing Luo, Tun-Shin Lo, Hsiao-Chuan Chen, Kuo-You Huang, Wen-Huei Liao, Mao-Chang Su, Shu-Yu Liu, Nan-Mai Wang
2017 Assistive technology  
2017): Benefits of incorporating the adaptive dynamic range optimization amplification scheme into an assistive listening device for people with mild or moderate hearing loss, Assistive Technology, ABSTRACT This study investigated whether a self-designed assistive listening device (ALD) that incorporates an adaptive dynamic range optimization (ADRO) amplification strategy can surpass a commercially available monaurally worn linear ALD, SM100. Both subjective and objective measurements were
more » ... mented. Mandarin Hearing-In-Noise Test (MHINT) scores were the objective measurement, whereas participant satisfaction was the subjective measurement. The comparison was performed in a mixed design (i.e., subjects' hearing status being mild or moderate, quiet versus noisy, and linear versus ADRO scheme). The participants were two groups of hearing-impaired subjects, nine mild and eight moderate, respectively. The results of the ADRO system revealed a significant difference in the MHINT sentence reception threshold (SRT) in noisy environments between monaurally aided and unaided conditions, whereas the linear system did not. The benchmark results showed that the ADRO scheme is effectively beneficial to people who experience mild or moderate hearing loss in noisy environments. The satisfaction rating regarding overall speech quality indicated that the participants were satisfied with the speech quality of both ADRO and linear schemes in quiet environments, and they were more satisfied with ADRO than they with the linear scheme in noisy environments. KEYWORDS adaptive dynamic range optimization (ADRO); assistive listening device (ALD);
doi:10.1080/10400435.2017.1317674 pmid:28846498 fatcat:is2oyxiewbdp5bunx44zuengd4