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Updated: Jun 17, 2026

An Automated System for Sound Localization Testing in Hearing-Impaired Listeners
Published on: March 13, 2026
Amplification of interaural level differences improves sound localization in acoustic simulations of bimodal hearing
Tom Francart1, Tim Van den Bogaert, Marc Moonen
1ExpORL, Department of Neurosciences, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, O & N 2, Herestraat 49 bus 721, B-3000 Leuven, Belgium. tom.francart@med.kuleuven.be
Abstract:
Users of a cochlear implant and contralateral hearing aid are sensitive to interaural level differences (ILDs). However, when using their clinical devices, most of these subjects cannot use ILD cues for localization in the horizontal plane. This is partly due to a lack of high-frequency residual hearing in the acoustically stimulated ear. Using acoustic simulations of a cochlear implant and hearing loss, it is shown that localization performance can be improved by up to 14 degrees rms error relative to 48 degrees rms error for broadband noise by artificially introducing ILD cues in the low frequencies. The algorithm that was used for ILD introduction is described.
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