Multilingual model-based rehabilitative audiology

听力损失是当今社会最常见的感官缺陷之一，并有日益增长的趋势。然而，使用助听器的诊断和康复方法仍然有限，而且没有在各国实现标准化。缺乏适当的标准化、国际上可比较的方法，阻碍了改善听力治疗的能力，阻碍了在研究中进行比较，也阻碍了更好地了解听力损失对实验室和现实生活中个人表现的影响。因此，当前项目的主要目标是建立一个统一的、国际兼容的、理论支持的语音听力学方法，用于听力诊断和听力设备效益的处方和评估。这将通过连接各种语言的基于语音的临床听力诊断和语音可理解性模型的开发和评估来实现。为了确保跨语言的基于语音的听力诊断的可比性，Matrix句子测试将应用于人类的语音识别测量和基于自动语音识别（ASR）的模型预测（Schädler等人，2015）。Matrix测试将首先针对不同的语言进行验证，然后纳入用于听力诊断的临床测试电池。在客观评估方面，将基于asr的模型扩展到不同语言、双耳听力以及预测不同听力状态听者的语音识别。由于这种基于asr的模型可以预测语音接收阈值，而无需将模型调整到任何经验数据，因此将这种建模概念应用于基于模型的助听器验配或基于模型的助听器设置预选将得到进一步开发。为了支持这种系统的、模型辅助的不同助听器的测试和比较，除了患者自己的助听器外，还将应用Master助听器平台。这个平台可以实现不同的算法，并将它们组合到一个模拟助听器中。它将与语音识别测量软件相结合，以一种可比较和良好控制的方式进行多中心研究。一些国际诊所和研究中心将实施一项通用的测量方案，以评估不同助听器的个人益处。该项目将与不同国家的主要诊所和研究中心密切合作，以促进多语言比较，并将有助于在语音测听和听力设备处方和评估领域建立国际公认的统一标准。

Hearing loss is one of the most frequent sensory deficits challenging our modern, communication-oriented society with increasing tendency. However, the diagnostics and rehabilitation approaches with hearing devices are still limited and not standardized across countries. The lack of adequate standardized, internationally comparable methods hampers the ability to improve hearing treatment, to draw comparisons across studies, and to better understand the influence of the hearing loss on individual performance in the laboratory and in real life. The main objective of the current project therefore is to establish a unified, internationally compatible and theory-supported approach in speech audiology to be used in hearing diagnostics and the prescription and assessment of hearing device benefit. This will be achieved by linking speech-based clinical hearing diagnostics in various languages and speech intelligibility model development and evaluation. To assure the comparability of speech-based hearing diagnostics across languages, the Matrix sentence test will be applied for speech recognition measurements with humans and for model predictions with Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR)-based model (Schädler et al., 2015). The Matrix test will be first validated for different languages and then included in the clinical test battery used for hearing diagnostics. For objective assessment, the ASR-based model will be extended for the different languages, binaural hearing, and for predicting speech recognition in listeners with different hearing status. Since this ASR-based model allows for predicting the speech reception thresholds without tuning the model to any empirical data, the application of this modelling concept towards model-based hearing aid fitting or model-based preselection of hearing aid settings will be further exploited. In order to support such a systematical, model-assisted testing and comparison of different hearing aids, a Master Hearing Aid Platform will be applied in addition to the patient own hearing aids. This platform enables the implementation of different algorithms and their combination into one simulated hearing aid. It will be combined with software for speech recognition measurements to conduct multicenter-study in a comparable and well-controlled way. A common measurement protocol will be implemented in several international clinics and research centers to assess the individual benefit from different hearing aids. The project will be realized in close cooperation with leading clinics and research centers in different countries to facilitate multilingual comparisons and will contribute to establishing internationally accepted, unified standards in the field of speech audiometry and the prescription and assessment of hearing devices.