Individualized Signal Processing Strategy to Reduce Hearing Health Care Cost/Disp

该项目描述了一种新的方法来自动化和个性化的信号处理策略， 助听器可以提高在背景噪声中的语音清晰度，提高用户满意度， 接受助听器，并减少负担得起的听力保健的障碍。拟议 个体化信号处理策略（ISPS）是基于个体对分类信号的表现。 言语刺激的感知任务。这与基于复杂增益模型的传统方法不同 建立在平均感知、表现和偏好数据之上。确定自己的ISPS的能力 自动、快速和远程的结果是显著的成本节约和更大的听力可及性 为负担不起医疗费用的病人或难以获得必要专业知识的人提供医疗服务。 这些技术成就有可能从根本上改变助听器的销售和交付模式 还可以通过替换当前的助听器装配 方法（例如，调整到增益频率目标，然后进行主观微调）， 基于语音的参数调整。ISPS技术的成功实施将影响几个 RFA-DC-12-004中确定的障碍，包括物理、基础设施和知识障碍（通过允许 远程或自适应助听器，并尽量减少对高技能专业知识的需求），经济障碍（通过 降低总体成本）和文化障碍（通过为需要助听器的患者提供便捷的助听器配件， 避免寻求专业帮助）。第一阶段的项目将证明ISPS的可行性 方法：（1）在标准个人计算机上实现ISPS，（2）将ISPS与 市售助听器，以及（3）完成一项试点临床研究，比较ISPS的结果 拟合到那些在相同主题内用传统的规定性增益拟合实现的那些。成功后 为了证明这些目标，将提出一个第二阶段项目，以便将技术推广到 广泛的助听器，患者特征和听音环境，包括创新 支持远程和自适应应用。

This project describes a novel approach to automate and individualize the signal processing strategy for hearing aids that can result in improved speech intelligibility in background noise, greater user satisfaction and acceptance for hearing aids, and reduce barriers to affordable hearing health care. The proposed Individualized Signal Processing Strategy (ISPS) is based upon individual performance on categorical perception tasks for speech stimuli. This differs from traditional methods based on sophisticated gain models built upon average perception, performance, and preference data. The ability to determine one's ISPS automatically, rapidly and remotely results in dramatic cost-savings and greater accessibility to hearing health care for patients who cannot afford it or for those who lack easy access to the necessary expertise. These technical achievements have the potential to radically change the hearing aid sales and delivery models yet can also be implemented within existing business models by replacing contemporary hearing aid fitting methods (e.g. adjusting to gain-frequency targets followed by subjective fine tuning) with individualized speech-based parameter adjustment. Successful implementation of the ISPS technology will impact several barriers identified in RFA-DC-12-004 including physical, infrastructure and knowledge barriers (by allowing remote or self-fitting hearing aids and minimizing the need for highly skilled expertise), economic barriers (by reducing overall costs) and cultural barriers (by providing easy access to hearing aid fitting for patients who tend to avoid seeking professional help). This Phase I project will demonstrate the feasibility for the ISPS approach by (1) implementing the ISPS on a standard personal computer, (2) integrating the ISPS with a commercially available hearing aid, and (3) completing a pilot clinical study comparing outcomes with ISPS fitting to those achieved with traditional prescriptive gain fitting within the same subjects. Following successful demonstration of these objectives, a Phase II project will be proposed to enable extension of the technology to a wide range of hearing aids, patient characteristics and listening environments, including innovations supporting the use for remote and self-fitting applications.