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Assessment of Audio-Tactile Sensory Substitution Training in Participants with Profound Deafness Using the Event-Related Potential Technique
Published on: September 7, 2022
Improvements in speech perception with use of the AVR TranSonic frequency-transposing hearing aid
H J McDermott1, V P Dorkos, M R Dean
1Speech Processing Hearing Aid Program, Co-operative Research Centre for Cochlear Implant, Speech and Hearing Research, East Melbourne, Australia. h.mcdermott@medoto.unimelb.edu.au
Abstract:
Five adults with sensorineural hearing impairment participated in a trial comparing the performance of the AVR TranSonic frequency-transposing hearing aid with that of their own conventional aids. They used the TranSonic for approximately 12 weeks, during which time systematic changes were made to the transposition parameters. Speech perception was assessed with each setting of those parameters and with the participants' own hearing aids. Four participants obtained significantly higher scores with the TranSonic than with their own aids on at least one of the tests. However, analysis of the consonant confusions suggested that the improvement resulted mostly from the TranSonic's low-frequency electro-acoustic characteristics. There was only limited evidence for 2 of the participants that the frequency-lowering function was effective at improving speech perception.
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