Noise reduction in hearing aids: a review

Background noise is particularly damaging to speech intelligibility for people with hearing loss. The problem of reducing noise in hearing aids is one of great importance--and great difficulty. The problem has been addressed in many different ways over the years. The techniques used range from relatively simple forms of filtering to advanced signal processing methods. This paper provides a brief overview, in nontechnical language, of the issues involved and the various approaches to solving the problem.