Remote fitting system for digital hearing aids using the computer network

我们开发了一种新的数字助听器系统CLAIDHA（通过分析数字助听器来补偿响度），该系统采用基于窄带补偿的频率相关幅度压缩。尽管这种新型数字助听器的临床应用显示出更好的语音感知清晰度，但与传统助听器的拟合相比，有时难以获得适合每个受试者的频率增益特性。有时只有训练有素的熟练医生才能在这种困难的情况下适当地使用辅助器具。因此，居住在偏远地区的患者有时需要拜访训练有素的医生才能获得数字助听器的好处。因此，在本研究中，我们开发了一种利用计算机网络的远程配装系统，以便在不远程拜访训练有素的医生的情况下实现助听器的适当配装。结果表明，远程拟合系统可以作为常规方法进行辅助装置的拟合。

We have developed a new digital hearing aid system called CLAIDHA (compensate for loudness by analyzing digital hearing aid), which employs frequency-dependent amplitude compression based on narrow-band compensation. Although the clinical application of this new digital hearing aid has revealed the better intelligibility of the speech perception, it was sometimes harder to obtain the suitable frequency-gain characteristics for each subject, compared to the fitting of the conventional hearing aid. Only a well-trained skillful doctor sometimes could fit the aid appropriately in such difficult cases. Accordingly, patients who lived in distant area sometimes needed to visit the well-trained doctor in order to obtain the benefit of the digital hearing aid.Therefore, in the present study, a remote fitting system using the computer network has been developed in order to realize an appropriate fitting of the aid without visiting the well-trained doctor from a distance. The results obtained revealed that it is possible to fit the aid by using the remote fitting system as a conventional methods.