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Development and assessment of two fixed-array microphones for use with hearing aids
F A Bilsen1, W Soede, A J Berkhout
1Delft University of Technology, Faculty of Applied Physics, The Netherlands.
Journal of Rehabilitation Research and Development
|January 1, 1993
Summary
New eyeglass-integrated microphone arrays significantly improve speech understanding for hearing-impaired individuals in noisy environments. These directional microphones offer a substantial improvement in the speech reception threshold in noise.
Area of Science:
- Audiology
- Acoustics
- Biomedical Engineering
Background:
- Hearing-impaired individuals struggle with speech comprehension in noisy settings.
- Conventional hearing aids lack sufficient directivity to suppress background noise effectively.
- Advanced microphone array technology offers potential solutions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop and evaluate eyeglass-integrated microphone arrays for improved speech perception in noise.
- To assess the directivity and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) improvement of these novel microphone systems.
Main Methods:
- Development of directional microphone prototypes integrated into eyeglass frames.
- Computer simulations to predict directivity index (DI).
- Free-field measurements and KEMAR manikin tests to validate performance in diffuse noise fields.
- Clinical assessment using speech-reception threshold in noise (SRTn) tests with normal-hearing and hearing-impaired subjects.
Main Results:
- Simulations predicted a DI exceeding 10 dB at higher frequencies.
- Measurements showed approximately 7 dB SNR improvement in diffuse noise compared to omnidirectional microphones.
- Monaural listening tests revealed a mean SRTn improvement of about 7 dB for microphone array users.
Conclusions:
- Eyeglass-integrated microphone arrays demonstrate significant potential for enhancing speech intelligibility in noisy environments.
- The developed systems offer a practical and effective solution for hearing-impaired listeners.
- Further clinical adoption is warranted based on demonstrated performance improvements.