Advanced System for Measuring the Speech-evoked Frequency Following Response

听力障碍是加拿大一个重要的公共卫生问题，预计随着人口老龄化，听力障碍的重要性将增加。然而，尽管现代数字助听器取得了重大进展，但许多用户仍然对其性能不满意。这表明迫切需要为听力受损者开发更好的评估工具和技术。一个困难是，目前的听力评估测试通常使用人工声音而不是语音。为了解决这一缺点，我们的研究计划侧重于基于语音诱发频率跟随响应（sFFR）的新兴技术，sFFR是一种由皮层下听觉系统响应于使用放置在头皮上的电极非侵入性记录的语音而产生的电信号。我们团队和其他人之前的工作表明，这种信号为大脑如何分析语音提供了一个重要的窗口。智能听力系统（IHS）要求的设备具有先进的功能，这将使我们的多学科团队从渥太华大学组成的博士。（电气和计算机工程），Christian Giguère博士（听力学）和Amineh Koravand博士（神经听力学），以满足以下研究目标：1）开发新的方法来减少sFFR中的噪声，因为高水平的噪声需要过多的记录时间，2）记录和分析对一组全面的自然语音刺激的响应，3）开发一种新型助听器，其设置可以通过监测大脑活动来优化。所要求的IHS设备中包含的软件和硬件选项也将允许在不同声学条件下设置实验的高度灵活性。这些能力将确保所要求的系统多年来得到高生产率的使用。我们的研究计划预计将在生物医学工程和听力辅助技术领域产生重大影响。将开发用于评估听力功能的新技术，包括用于检测sFFR的新信号处理算法和仪器、人类语音听觉处理的改进模型以及用于客观助听器验配的新技术。此外，博士生和硕士生将接受多学科和协作研究的培训，从而培养对加拿大生物医学和听力设备行业、听力和语音研究社区以及医疗保健有价值的技能。

Hearing impairment is an important public health problem in Canada, and it is expected to increase in significance as the population ages. However, despite major advances in modern digital hearing aids, many users remain dissatisfied with their performance. This points to a pressing need to develop better evaluation tools and technologies for the hearing impaired. One difficulty is that current tests for hearing assessment typically use artificial sounds instead of speech. To address this shortcoming, our research program focuses on emerging technologies based on the Speech-evoked Frequency Following Response (sFFR), which is an electrical signal produced by the sub-cortical auditory system in response to speech recorded non-invasively using electrodes placed on the scalp. Previous work by our group and others has shown that this signal provides an important window into how the brain analyses speech. The requested equipment from Intelligent Hearing Systems (IHS) possesses advanced capabilities that will enable our multidisciplinary team from the University of Ottawa consisting of Dr. Hilmi Dajani (Electrical and Computer Engineering), Dr. Christian Giguère (Audiology), and Dr. Amineh Koravand (Neuro-Audiology) to meet the following research objectives: 1) The development of new approaches to reduce the noise in the sFFR, because the high level of noise has required excessive recording times, 2) The recording and analysis of responses to a comprehensive set of natural speech stimuli, and 3) The development of a new type of hearing aid whose settings can be optimized by monitoring brain activity. Software and hardware options included with the requested IHS equipment will also permit high flexibility for setting up experiments in different acoustic conditions. These capabilities will ensure highly productive use of the requested system over many years. Our research program is expected to have a significant impact in the field of Biomedical Engineering and on hearing assistive technologies. Novel techniques for the assessment of hearing function will be developed, including new signal processing algorithms and instrumentation for detecting sFFRs, improved models of human auditory processing of speech, and new technologies for objective hearing aid fitting. Moreover, Doctoral and Master's students will be trained in multidisciplinary and collaborative research, and so will develop skills of value to the Canadian biomedical and hearing devices industries, the hearing and speech research communities, and healthcare.