Current efforts to improve speech intelligibility in hearing aids using signal processing algorithms are hampered by the need to reinvent realtime processing tools across research labs. Intellectual property rights and monetary considerations prevent the open sharing of processing tools from commercial companies and limit the usefulness of commercially available hearing aids in research. As a result, many academic innovations that could potentially improve hearing health care are not being tested and evaluated. Furthermore, when closed, proprietary devices are used in academic research, it becomes difficult to assess the impact of the findings when pertinent details of the subsystems in the signal processing pipeline are not known. In this proposal, we aim to develop an open, reconfigurable, non-proprietary, wearable, realtime speech processing system that uses processing and data collection approaches not available in existing hearing-aid technology that Audiologists and hearing aid researchers will be able to easily use to investigate new hearing aid algorithms in lab and field studies. Using novel speech processing algorithms, this open-access tool specifically designed for audiologists and hearing aid researchers will help accelerate hearing health care research studies and facilitate translation of technology advances into widespread clinical use.
In this proposal, we aim to develop an open, non-proprietary processing system that uses processing and data collection approaches not available in existing hearing-aid technology that researchers can easily use to design new hearing aids for field studies. Using novel speech processing algorithms, this open-access tool specifically designed for audiologists and hearing aid researchers will help accelerate hearing health care research studies and facilitate translation of technology advances into widespread clinical use.
| Lee, Ching-Hua; Kates, James M; Rao, Bhaskar D et al. (2017) Speech quality and stable gain trade-offs in adaptive feedback cancellation for hearing aids. J Acoust Soc Am 142:EL388 |
