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Toward an Individual Binaural Loudness Model for Hearing Aid Fitting and Development
Iko Pieper1, Manfred Mauermann1, Birger Kollmeier1
1Medizinische Physik and Cluster of Excellence Hearing4All, Universität Oldenburg, Oldenburg, Germany.
Frontiers in Psychology
|July 9, 2021
Summary
Individualized loudness models (ILMs) for hearing aids need more than basic gain/attenuation adjustments. New parameters for binaural summation and spectral processing are crucial for accurately predicting loudness perception in hearing-impaired individuals.
Area of Science:
- Audiology
- Psychoacoustics
- Hearing Science
Background:
- Individual loudness perception significantly impacts hearing aid satisfaction.
- Current loudness models for the hearing impaired (HI) often lack personalization.
- Individualized loudness models (ILMs) could enhance hearing aid fitting and development.
Purpose of the Study:
- To determine if additional parameters beyond cochlear gain loss and linear attenuation are needed for ILMs.
- To investigate spectral and binaural loudness summation in normal hearing (NH) and HI listeners.
- To assess the interdependence of spectral and binaural summation for personalized loudness prediction.
Main Methods:
- Loudness perception was measured in eight NH and eight HI listeners across various auditory conditions (monaural/binaural, narrowband/broadband).
- A binaural summation stage was developed using empirical monaural loudness judgments.
- A recent monaural loudness model was extended with the proposed binaural stage to evaluate parameter requirements.
Main Results:
- Normal hearing (NH) listeners exhibited binaural inhibition, consistent with existing literature.
- Hearing-impaired (HI) listeners showed increased binaural summation and greater inter-subject variability.
- A bandwidth-dependent monaural parameter and a binaural summation parameter were necessary for accurate ILMs.
Conclusions:
- Individualized binaural summation is essential for accurate loudness modeling in HI listeners.
- A bandwidth-dependent spectral summation parameter is also required for comprehensive ILMs.
- These findings advance the development of personalized hearing aid processing.
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