Two-Microphone Noise Reduction for Cochlear Implants

描述（由申请人提供）：尽管人工耳蜗植入体（CI）的性能已经取得了显著进步，但这些器械的用户仍然受到背景噪声的严重阻碍。最近的工作与快速适应两个麦克风降噪算法已经显示出有前途的改善语音噪声比与多个噪声源。然而，这些结果，以及正常听力听众的可懂度的少数测量结果，是在不切实际的有利条件（低混响）下获得的。 拟议的工作将开发和评估用于人工耳蜗植入的新的双麦克风降噪算法。两个这样的算法将被实施，其中之一来自线性阵列处理和其他从双耳听力模型的先前工作。每种算法都将在真实的时间内实现，并作为听众植入物的预处理器。CI用户将作为受试者，在声学条件下进行语音接收测试，包括多个噪声源和真实的混响程度。与两个麦克风预处理器的性能进行比较，没有预处理。 如果第一阶段的结果表明，在现实的声学环境中，任何一种预处理算法都具有清晰的可懂度优势，则第二阶段的工作将涉及CI用户的现场试验、算法优化和资源最小化以实现产品化，以及探索用于双耳传递给助听器用户的算法。该项目的成功将增强人工耳蜗使用者在日常嘈杂环境中的语音接收能力。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Although there has been dramatic progress in the performance of cochlear implants (CIs), users of these devices continue to be severely hampered by background noise. Recent work with rapidly adapting two microphone noise reduction algorithms has shown promising improvements in speech-to-noise ratio with multiple noise sources. However, these results, and the few measurements of intelligibility with normal hearing listeners, were obtained in unrealistically favorable (low-reverberation) conditions. The proposed work will develop and assess new two-microphone noise reduction algorithms for cochlear implants. Two such algorithms will be implemented, one of them derived from prior work on linear array processing and the other from models of binaural hearing. Each algorithm will be implemented in real time and function as a preprocessor to the listener's implant. CI users will serve as subjects in tests of speech reception in acoustic conditions that include multiple noise sources and realistic degrees of reverberation. Performance with the two-microphone preprocessors will be compared to that without preprocessing. If the results of Phase I show clear intelligibility benefits of either preprocessing algorithm in realistic acoustic environments, work in Phase II will involve field trials with CI users, algorithm optimization and resource minimization for productization, and exploration of the algorithm(s) for binaural delivery to hearing aid users. Success in this project will result in enhanced speech reception by cochlear implant users in everyday noisy backgrounds.