Probe-microphone measurements with body-worn instruments: loudspeaker and reference microphone effects

Probe-microphone measurements are typically made with behind-the-ear (BTE) and in-the-ear (ITE) hearing aids with the loudspeaker located at 0-degrees or 45-degrees azimuth at head level and the reference microphone positioned on the head near the hearing aid microphone. With body-worn instruments, these conditions may not accurately reflect in situ hearing aid performance. This study compared the real-ear aided response (REAR) and real-ear insertion response (REIR) for a body-worn hearing aid using the substitution method and an off-line equalization modified pressure method with three different loudspeaker locations (0 degrees and 45 degrees at head level and 0 degrees at body hearing aid level) and two reference microphone positions (over-the-ear [OTE] and next to the body hearing aid microphone). Results indicated that each of the responses was affected by changes in loudspeaker and reference microphone location. If the substitution method measured from 0-degrees azimuth at head level is considered to be the most realistic representation of hearing aid performance, the closest agreement with body-worn hearing aids was obtained with the modified pressure method when the loudspeaker was located at 0-degrees azimuth at head level and the reference microphone was located over the ear. If the clinician uses the modified pressure method and desires to approximate results with the substitution method, correction values are needed for REAR measurements but not for REIR measurements.