Who we are
We are a dedicated group of partners and people, who come from clinics, academia, technological service, and industry. We are medical audiologists and otologists, engineers, consultants and hearing aids professionals, some are young, others more experienced. Some of us work full-time on the project, others part-time juggling other obligations. A few of us know the challenges of hearing impairment first hand.
Professor
Technical University of Denmark
Torsten Dau
Torsten Dau studied mechanical engineering at University of Hannover, where he earned a B. Sc. degree in 1987. He also studied physics, and graduated with a M. Sc. degree from University of Göttingen in 1992, and a Ph.D. degree from Oldenburg University in 1996. He obtained the habilitation in applied physics from Oldenburg University in 2003. Torsten Dau has since 2003 been a Professor at the Technical University of Denmark, where he is the head of the Hearing Systems group, of the Centre for Applied Hearing Research (CAHR), and Centre of Excellence for Hearing and Speech Sciences (CHeSS). Torsten’s research specializations are auditory signal processing and perception in humans, functional models of auditory processing, speech perception, computational scene analysis, auditory evoked potentials, hearing instrument signal processing and aided psychophysics. He has received numerous awards, and holds several positions of confidence.
Work Area
Torsten Dau is a member of the BEAR steering committee, and also sets directions for the work with aided performance in real life, and with new strategies for profiling and fitting, among other.
Resources
Publications
2022 |
Sanchez-Lopez, Raul; Wu, Mengfan; Fereczkowski, Michal; Santurette, Sébastien; Baumann, Monika; Kowalewski, Borys; Piechowiak, Tobias; Bisgaard, Nikolai; Ravn, Gert; Narayanan, Sreeram Kaithali; Dau, Torsten; Neher, Tobias Towards Auditory Profile-Based Hearing-Aid Fittings: BEAR Rationale and Clinical Implementation Journal Article Audiological Research, 12 (5), pp. 564-573, 2022. @article{AudRes2022a, title = {Towards Auditory Profile-Based Hearing-Aid Fittings: BEAR Rationale and Clinical Implementation}, author = {Raul Sanchez-Lopez and Mengfan Wu and Michal Fereczkowski and Sébastien Santurette and Monika Baumann and Borys Kowalewski and Tobias Piechowiak and Nikolai Bisgaard and Gert Ravn and Sreeram Kaithali Narayanan and Torsten Dau and Tobias Neher}, url = {https://doi.org/10.3390/audiolres12050055}, doi = {10.3390/audiolres12050055}, year = {2022}, date = {2022-10-09}, journal = {Audiological Research}, volume = {12}, number = {5}, pages = {564-573}, abstract = {(1) Background: To improve hearing-aid rehabilitation, the Danish ‘Better hEAring Rehabilitation’ (BEAR) project recently developed methods for individual hearing loss characterization and hearing-aid fitting. Four auditory profiles differing in terms of audiometric hearing loss and supra-threshold hearing abilities were identified. To enable auditory profile-based hearing-aid treatment, a fitting rationale leveraging differences in gain prescription and signal-to- noise (SNR) improvement was developed. This report describes the translation of this rationale to clinical devices supplied by three industrial partners. (2) Methods: Regarding the SNR improvement, advanced feature settings were proposed and verified based on free-field measurements made with an acoustic mannikin fitted with the different hearing aids. Regarding the gain prescription, a clinically feasible fitting tool and procedure based on real-ear gain adjustments were developed. (3) Results: Analyses of the collected real-ear gain and SNR improvement data confirmed the feasibility of the clinical implementation. Differences between the auditory profile-based fitting strategy and a current ‘best practice’ procedure based on the NAL- NL2 fitting rule were verified and are discussed in terms of limitations and future perspectives. (4) Conclusion: Based on a joint effort from academic and industrial partners, the BEAR fitting rationale was transferred to commercially available hearing aids.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } (1) Background: To improve hearing-aid rehabilitation, the Danish ‘Better hEAring Rehabilitation’ (BEAR) project recently developed methods for individual hearing loss characterization and hearing-aid fitting. Four auditory profiles differing in terms of audiometric hearing loss and supra-threshold hearing abilities were identified. To enable auditory profile-based hearing-aid treatment, a fitting rationale leveraging differences in gain prescription and signal-to- noise (SNR) improvement was developed. This report describes the translation of this rationale to clinical devices supplied by three industrial partners. (2) Methods: Regarding the SNR improvement, advanced feature settings were proposed and verified based on free-field measurements made with an acoustic mannikin fitted with the different hearing aids. Regarding the gain prescription, a clinically feasible fitting tool and procedure based on real-ear gain adjustments were developed. (3) Results: Analyses of the collected real-ear gain and SNR improvement data confirmed the feasibility of the clinical implementation. Differences between the auditory profile-based fitting strategy and a current ‘best practice’ procedure based on the NAL- NL2 fitting rule were verified and are discussed in terms of limitations and future perspectives. (4) Conclusion: Based on a joint effort from academic and industrial partners, the BEAR fitting rationale was transferred to commercially available hearing aids. |
Sanchez-Lopez, Raul; Dau, Torsten Clinical Auditory Profiling. Divide and Conquer Journal Article Audiology Today, 34 (4), pp. 14-25, 2022. @article{AT344, title = {Clinical Auditory Profiling. Divide and Conquer}, author = {Raul Sanchez-Lopez and Torsten Dau}, url = {https://www.audiology.org/news-and-publications/audiology-today/articles/clinical-auditory-profiling-divide-and-conquer/}, year = {2022}, date = {2022-07-01}, journal = {Audiology Today}, volume = {34}, number = {4}, pages = {14-25}, abstract = {Currently, the clinical characterization of hearing deficits for hearing aid fitting is based primarily on the pure-tone audiogram. In our work, we explored how data-driven approaches can effectively identify patient subpopulations with distinct differences in terms of their hearing abilities. This process is what we called "auditory profiling"; it opens several opportunities for improving the hearing rehabilitation process based on suprathreshold hearing deficits of patients.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } Currently, the clinical characterization of hearing deficits for hearing aid fitting is based primarily on the pure-tone audiogram. In our work, we explored how data-driven approaches can effectively identify patient subpopulations with distinct differences in terms of their hearing abilities. This process is what we called "auditory profiling"; it opens several opportunities for improving the hearing rehabilitation process based on suprathreshold hearing deficits of patients. |
2021 |
Sanchez-Lopez, Raul; Nielsen, Silje Grini; El-Haj-Ali, Mouhamad; Bianchi, Federica; Fereczkowski, Michal; Cañete, Oscar M; Wu, Mengfan; Neher, Tobias; Dau, Torsten; Santurette, Sébastien Auditory Tests for Characterizing Hearing Deficits in Listeners With Various Hearing Abilities: The BEAR Test Battery Journal Article Frontiers in Neuroscience, 15 (724007), pp. 1-19, 2021. @article{Frontiers_sept_2021, title = {Auditory Tests for Characterizing Hearing Deficits in Listeners With Various Hearing Abilities: The BEAR Test Battery}, author = {Raul Sanchez-Lopez and Silje Grini Nielsen and Mouhamad El-Haj-Ali and Federica Bianchi and Michal Fereczkowski and Oscar M Cañete and Mengfan Wu and Tobias Neher and Torsten Dau and Sébastien Santurette}, url = {https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnins.2021.724007/full}, doi = {10.3389/fnins.2021.724007}, year = {2021}, date = {2021-09-29}, journal = {Frontiers in Neuroscience}, volume = {15}, number = {724007}, pages = {1-19}, abstract = {The Better hEAring Rehabilitation (BEAR) project aims to provide a new clinical profiling tool—a test battery—for hearing loss characterization. Although the loss of sensitivity can be efficiently measured using pure-tone audiometry, the assessment of supra-threshold hearing deficits remains a challenge. In contrast to the classical “attenuation-distortion” model, the proposed BEAR approach is based on the hypothesis that the hearing abilities of a given listener can be characterized along two dimensions, reflecting independent types of perceptual deficits (distortions). A data-driven approach provided evidence for the existence of different auditory profiles with different degrees of distortions. Ten tests were included in a test battery, based on their clinical feasibility, time efficiency, and related evidence from the literature. The tests were divided into six categories: audibility, speech perception, binaural processing abilities, loudness perception, spectro-temporal modulation sensitivity, and spectro-temporal resolution. Seventy-five listeners with symmetric, mild-to-severe sensorineural hearing loss were selected from a clinical population. The analysis of the results showed interrelations among outcomes related to high-frequency processing and outcome measures related to low-frequency processing abilities. The results showed the ability of the tests to reveal differences among individuals and their potential use in clinical settings. }, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } The Better hEAring Rehabilitation (BEAR) project aims to provide a new clinical profiling tool—a test battery—for hearing loss characterization. Although the loss of sensitivity can be efficiently measured using pure-tone audiometry, the assessment of supra-threshold hearing deficits remains a challenge. In contrast to the classical “attenuation-distortion” model, the proposed BEAR approach is based on the hypothesis that the hearing abilities of a given listener can be characterized along two dimensions, reflecting independent types of perceptual deficits (distortions). A data-driven approach provided evidence for the existence of different auditory profiles with different degrees of distortions. Ten tests were included in a test battery, based on their clinical feasibility, time efficiency, and related evidence from the literature. The tests were divided into six categories: audibility, speech perception, binaural processing abilities, loudness perception, spectro-temporal modulation sensitivity, and spectro-temporal resolution. Seventy-five listeners with symmetric, mild-to-severe sensorineural hearing loss were selected from a clinical population. The analysis of the results showed interrelations among outcomes related to high-frequency processing and outcome measures related to low-frequency processing abilities. The results showed the ability of the tests to reveal differences among individuals and their potential use in clinical settings. |
Fereczkowski, Michal; Dau, Torsten; MacDonald, Ewen N Comparison of Behavioral and Physiological Measures of the Status of the Cochlear Nonlinearity Journal Article Trends in Hearing, 25 , pp. 1-11, 2021. @article{MF_TiH_2021, title = {Comparison of Behavioral and Physiological Measures of the Status of the Cochlear Nonlinearity}, author = {Michal Fereczkowski and Torsten Dau and Ewen N. MacDonald}, doi = {10.1177/23312165211016155}, year = {2021}, date = {2021-05-27}, journal = {Trends in Hearing}, volume = {25}, pages = {1-11}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } |
Sanchez-Lopez, Raul; Dau, Torsten; Whitmer, William M Audiometric profiles and patterns of benefit: a data-driven analysis of subjective hearing difficulties and handicaps Journal Article International Journal of Audiology, pp. 1–10, 2021. @article{doi:10.1080/14992027.2021.1905890, title = {Audiometric profiles and patterns of benefit: a data-driven analysis of subjective hearing difficulties and handicaps}, author = {Raul Sanchez-Lopez and Torsten Dau and William M Whitmer}, url = {https://doi.org/10.1080/14992027.2021.1905890}, doi = {10.1080/14992027.2021.1905890}, year = {2021}, date = {2021-04-07}, journal = {International Journal of Audiology}, pages = {1--10}, publisher = {Taylor & Francis}, abstract = {Objective: Hearing rehabilitation attempts to compensate for auditory dysfunction, reduce hearing difficulties and minimise participation restrictions that can lead to social isolation. However, there is no systematic approach to assess the quality of the intervention at an individual level that might help to evaluate the need of further hearing rehabilitation in the hearing care clinic. Design: A data-driven analysis on subjective data reflecting hearing disabilities and handicap was chosen to explore “benefit patterns” as a result of rehabilitation in different audiometric groups. The method was based on (1) dimensionality reduction; (2) stratification; (3) archetypal analysis; (4) clustering; (5) item importance estimation. Study sample: 572 hearing-aid users completed questionnaires of hearing difficulties (speech, spatial and qualities hearing scale; SSQ) and hearing handicap (HHQ). Results: The data-driven approach revealed four benefit profiles that were different for each audiometric group. The groups with low degree of high-frequency hearing loss (HLHF) showed a priority for rehabilitating hearing handicaps, whereas the groups with HLHF > 50 dB HL showed a priority for improvements in speech understanding. Conclusions: The patterns of benefit and the stratification approach might guide the clinical intervention strategy and improve the efficacy and quality of service in the hearing care clinic.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } Objective: Hearing rehabilitation attempts to compensate for auditory dysfunction, reduce hearing difficulties and minimise participation restrictions that can lead to social isolation. However, there is no systematic approach to assess the quality of the intervention at an individual level that might help to evaluate the need of further hearing rehabilitation in the hearing care clinic. Design: A data-driven analysis on subjective data reflecting hearing disabilities and handicap was chosen to explore “benefit patterns” as a result of rehabilitation in different audiometric groups. The method was based on (1) dimensionality reduction; (2) stratification; (3) archetypal analysis; (4) clustering; (5) item importance estimation. Study sample: 572 hearing-aid users completed questionnaires of hearing difficulties (speech, spatial and qualities hearing scale; SSQ) and hearing handicap (HHQ). Results: The data-driven approach revealed four benefit profiles that were different for each audiometric group. The groups with low degree of high-frequency hearing loss (HLHF) showed a priority for rehabilitating hearing handicaps, whereas the groups with HLHF > 50 dB HL showed a priority for improvements in speech understanding. Conclusions: The patterns of benefit and the stratification approach might guide the clinical intervention strategy and improve the efficacy and quality of service in the hearing care clinic. |
Sanchez-Lopez, Raul; Fereczkowski, Michal; Santurette, Sébastien; Dau, Torsten; Neher, Tobias Towards Auditory Profile-Based Hearing-Aid Fitting: Fitting Rationale and Pilot Evaluation Journal Article Audiology Research, 11 (1), pp. 10–21, 2021, ISBN: 2039-4349. @article{audiolres11010002, title = {Towards Auditory Profile-Based Hearing-Aid Fitting: Fitting Rationale and Pilot Evaluation}, author = {Raul Sanchez-Lopez and Michal Fereczkowski and Sébastien Santurette and Torsten Dau and Tobias Neher}, url = {https://www.mdpi.com/2039-4349/11/1/2}}, doi = {10.3390/audiolres11010002}, isbn = {2039-4349}, year = {2021}, date = {2021-01-16}, journal = {Audiology Research}, volume = {11}, number = {1}, pages = {10--21}, abstract = {Background—The clinical characterization of hearing deficits for hearing-aid fitting purposes is typically based on the pure-tone audiogram only. In a previous study, a group of hearing-impaired listeners completed a comprehensive test battery that was designed to tap into different dimensions of hearing abilities. A data-driven analysis of the data yielded four clinically relevant patient sub-populations or “auditory profiles”. The purpose of the current study was to propose and pilot-test profile-based hearing-aid settings in order to explore their potential for providing more targeted hearing-aid treatment. Methods—Four candidate hearing-aid settings were developed and evaluated by a subset of the participants tested previously. The evaluation consisted of multi-comparison preference ratings that were carried out in realistic sound scenarios. Results—Listeners belonging to the different auditory profiles showed different patterns of preference for the tested hearing-aid settings that were largely consistent with the expectations. Conclusions—The results of this pilot evaluation support further investigations into stratified, profile-based hearing-aid fitting with wearable hearing aids.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } Background—The clinical characterization of hearing deficits for hearing-aid fitting purposes is typically based on the pure-tone audiogram only. In a previous study, a group of hearing-impaired listeners completed a comprehensive test battery that was designed to tap into different dimensions of hearing abilities. A data-driven analysis of the data yielded four clinically relevant patient sub-populations or “auditory profiles”. The purpose of the current study was to propose and pilot-test profile-based hearing-aid settings in order to explore their potential for providing more targeted hearing-aid treatment. Methods—Four candidate hearing-aid settings were developed and evaluated by a subset of the participants tested previously. The evaluation consisted of multi-comparison preference ratings that were carried out in realistic sound scenarios. Results—Listeners belonging to the different auditory profiles showed different patterns of preference for the tested hearing-aid settings that were largely consistent with the expectations. Conclusions—The results of this pilot evaluation support further investigations into stratified, profile-based hearing-aid fitting with wearable hearing aids. |
2020 |
Wu, Mengfan; Sanchez-Lopez, Raul; El-Haj-Ali, Mouhamad; Nielsen, Silje G; Fereczkowski, Michal; Dau, Torsten; Santurette, Sébastien; Neher, Tobias Trends in Hearing, 24 , pp. 1-12, 2020. @article{doi:10.1177/2331216520960861, title = {Investigating the Effects of Four Auditory Profiles on Speech Recognition, Overall Quality, and Noise Annoyance With Simulated Hearing-Aid Processing Strategies}, author = {Mengfan Wu and Raul Sanchez-Lopez and Mouhamad El-Haj-Ali and Silje G Nielsen and Michal Fereczkowski and Torsten Dau and Sébastien Santurette and Tobias Neher}, url = {https://doi.org/10.1177%2F2331216520960861}, doi = {10.1177/2331216520960861}, year = {2020}, date = {2020-10-19}, journal = {Trends in Hearing}, volume = {24}, pages = {1-12}, abstract = {Effective hearing aid (HA) rehabilitation requires personalization of the HA fitting parameters, but in current clinical practice only the gain prescription is typically individualized. To optimize the fitting process, advanced HA settings such as noise reduction and microphone directionality can also be tailored to individual hearing deficits. In two earlier studies, an auditory test battery and a data-driven approach that allow classifying hearing-impaired listeners into four auditory profiles were developed. Because these profiles were found to be characterized by markedly different hearing abilities, it was hypothesized that more tailored HA fittings would lead to better outcomes for such listeners. Here, we explored potential interactions between the four auditory profiles and HA outcome as assessed with three different measures (speech recognition, overall quality, and noise annoyance) and six HA processing strategies with various noise reduction, directionality, and compression settings. Using virtual acoustics, a realistic speech-in-noise environment was simulated. The stimuli were generated using a HA simulator and presented to 49 habitual HA users who had previously been profiled. The four auditory profiles differed clearly in terms of their mean aided speech reception thresholds, thereby implying different needs in terms of signal-to-noise ratio improvement. However, no clear interactions with the tested HA processing strategies were found. Overall, these findings suggest that the auditory profiles can capture some of the individual differences in HA processing needs and that further research is required to identify suitable HA solutions for them. }, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } Effective hearing aid (HA) rehabilitation requires personalization of the HA fitting parameters, but in current clinical practice only the gain prescription is typically individualized. To optimize the fitting process, advanced HA settings such as noise reduction and microphone directionality can also be tailored to individual hearing deficits. In two earlier studies, an auditory test battery and a data-driven approach that allow classifying hearing-impaired listeners into four auditory profiles were developed. Because these profiles were found to be characterized by markedly different hearing abilities, it was hypothesized that more tailored HA fittings would lead to better outcomes for such listeners. Here, we explored potential interactions between the four auditory profiles and HA outcome as assessed with three different measures (speech recognition, overall quality, and noise annoyance) and six HA processing strategies with various noise reduction, directionality, and compression settings. Using virtual acoustics, a realistic speech-in-noise environment was simulated. The stimuli were generated using a HA simulator and presented to 49 habitual HA users who had previously been profiled. The four auditory profiles differed clearly in terms of their mean aided speech reception thresholds, thereby implying different needs in terms of signal-to-noise ratio improvement. However, no clear interactions with the tested HA processing strategies were found. Overall, these findings suggest that the auditory profiles can capture some of the individual differences in HA processing needs and that further research is required to identify suitable HA solutions for them. |
Sanchez-Lopez, Raul H; Fereczkowski, Michal; Neher, Tobias; Santurette, Sébastien; Dau, Torsten Robust auditory profiling: Improved data-driven method and profile definitions for better hearing rehabilitation Inproceedings Kressner, Abigail Anne; Regev, Jonathan; Christensen-Dalsgaard, Jakob; Tranebjærg, Lisbeth; Santurette, Sébastien; Dau, Torsten (Ed.): Proceedings of the International Symposium on Auditory and Audiological Research, pp. 281-288, 2020. @inproceedings{ISAAR2019_Raul_print, title = {Robust auditory profiling: Improved data-driven method and profile definitions for better hearing rehabilitation}, author = {Raul H Sanchez-Lopez and Michal Fereczkowski and Tobias Neher and Sébastien Santurette and Torsten Dau}, editor = {Abigail Anne Kressner and Jonathan Regev and Jakob Christensen-Dalsgaard and Lisbeth Tranebjærg and Sébastien Santurette and Torsten Dau }, url = {https://proceedings.isaar.eu/index.php/isaarproc/article/view/2019-32}, year = {2020}, date = {2020-05-13}, booktitle = {Proceedings of the International Symposium on Auditory and Audiological Research}, volume = {7}, pages = {281-288}, abstract = {Currently, the clinical characterization of hearing deficits for hearing-aid fitting is based on the pure-tone audiogram only. This relies on the assumption that the audiogram can predict performance in complex, supra-threshold tasks. Sanchez-Lopez et al. (2018) hypothesized that the hearing deficits of a given listener, both at threshold and supra-threshold levels, result from two independent types of auditory distortions. The authors performed a data-driven analysis of two large datasets with results from several tests, which led to the identification of four auditory profiles. However, the definition of the two types of distortion was challenged by differences between the two datasets in terms of the tests and listeners considered. In the Better hEAring Rehabilitation (BEAR) project, a new dataset was generated with the aim of overcoming these limitations. A heterogeneous group of listeners was tested using measures of speech intelligibility, loudness perception, binaural processing abilities and spectro-temporal resolution. As a consequence, the auditory profiles of Sanchez-Lopez et al. (2018) were refined. The updated auditory profiles, together with the investigation of optimal hearing-aid compensation strategies, are expected to form a solid basis for improved hearing-aid fitting.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {inproceedings} } Currently, the clinical characterization of hearing deficits for hearing-aid fitting is based on the pure-tone audiogram only. This relies on the assumption that the audiogram can predict performance in complex, supra-threshold tasks. Sanchez-Lopez et al. (2018) hypothesized that the hearing deficits of a given listener, both at threshold and supra-threshold levels, result from two independent types of auditory distortions. The authors performed a data-driven analysis of two large datasets with results from several tests, which led to the identification of four auditory profiles. However, the definition of the two types of distortion was challenged by differences between the two datasets in terms of the tests and listeners considered. In the Better hEAring Rehabilitation (BEAR) project, a new dataset was generated with the aim of overcoming these limitations. A heterogeneous group of listeners was tested using measures of speech intelligibility, loudness perception, binaural processing abilities and spectro-temporal resolution. As a consequence, the auditory profiles of Sanchez-Lopez et al. (2018) were refined. The updated auditory profiles, together with the investigation of optimal hearing-aid compensation strategies, are expected to form a solid basis for improved hearing-aid fitting. |
Piechowiak, Tobias; Zapala, David Using BEAR data to obtain reduced versions of the SSQ-12 and IOI-HA-7 questionnaires Tobias Piechowiak Inproceedings Kressner, Abigail Anne; Regev, Jonathan; Christensen-Dalsgaard, Jakob; Tranebjærg, Lisbeth; Santurette, Sébastien; Dau, Torsten (Ed.): Proceedings of the International Symposium on Auditory and Audiological Research, pp. 237-264, 2020. @inproceedings{ISAAR2019_TobiasP_pring´t, title = {Using BEAR data to obtain reduced versions of the SSQ-12 and IOI-HA-7 questionnaires Tobias Piechowiak}, author = {Tobias Piechowiak and David Zapala}, editor = {Abigail Anne Kressner and Jonathan Regev and Jakob Christensen-Dalsgaard and Lisbeth Tranebjærg and Sébastien Santurette and Torsten Dau }, url = {https://proceedings.isaar.eu/index.php/isaarproc/article/view/2019-29}, year = {2020}, date = {2020-05-01}, booktitle = {Proceedings of the International Symposium on Auditory and Audiological Research}, volume = {7}, pages = {237-264}, abstract = {The Speech, Spatial and Qualities of Hearing scale (SSQ-12) and the International Outcome Inventory for Hearing Aids (IOI-HA-7) are questionnaires containing 12 and 7 items, respectively. They are designed to subjectively assess hearing ability and are complementary to behavioral measures. Both questionnaires have been applied across a range of clinical and clinical research-related contexts, for example for assessing outcomes of e.g., cochlear implants and hearing aids. However, due to time constraints neither of the questionnaires seem to be an inherent part of standard clinical quality control. The Better Hearing Rehabilitation (BEAR) database contains SSQ- 12 and IOI-HA-7 scores of around 1600 subjects. Applying an Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) on the data from the 2nd visit allowed us to reduce the SSQ-12 to 5 questions and the IOI-HA to 3 remaining questions. The SSQ-5 explains 79% of the variance in the SSQ-12 data while the IOI-HA-3 accounts for 70% of the variance in the original IOI-HA-7. These new versions have the potential to be used more efficiently by shortening time and focusing on the items that are most effective to reflect individual benefit. Furthermore, the analysis seems to confirm the validity of such a reduction from similar findings in the literature that were done on different datasets.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {inproceedings} } The Speech, Spatial and Qualities of Hearing scale (SSQ-12) and the International Outcome Inventory for Hearing Aids (IOI-HA-7) are questionnaires containing 12 and 7 items, respectively. They are designed to subjectively assess hearing ability and are complementary to behavioral measures. Both questionnaires have been applied across a range of clinical and clinical research-related contexts, for example for assessing outcomes of e.g., cochlear implants and hearing aids. However, due to time constraints neither of the questionnaires seem to be an inherent part of standard clinical quality control. The Better Hearing Rehabilitation (BEAR) database contains SSQ- 12 and IOI-HA-7 scores of around 1600 subjects. Applying an Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) on the data from the 2nd visit allowed us to reduce the SSQ-12 to 5 questions and the IOI-HA to 3 remaining questions. The SSQ-5 explains 79% of the variance in the SSQ-12 data while the IOI-HA-3 accounts for 70% of the variance in the original IOI-HA-7. These new versions have the potential to be used more efficiently by shortening time and focusing on the items that are most effective to reflect individual benefit. Furthermore, the analysis seems to confirm the validity of such a reduction from similar findings in the literature that were done on different datasets. |
Lund, Katja; Ordoñez, Rodrigo; Nielsen, Jens Bo; Hammershøi, Dorte “Yes, I have experienced that!” – How daily life experiences may be harvested from new hearing aid users Inproceedings Kressner, Abigail Anne; Regev, Jonathan; Christensen-Dalsgaard, Jakob; Tranebjærg, Lisbeth; Santurette, Sébastien; Dau, Torsten (Ed.): Proceedings of the International Symposium on Audiogory and Audiological Research, pp. 381-388, 2020. @inproceedings{ISAAR2019Klu_print, title = {“Yes, I have experienced that!” – How daily life experiences may be harvested from new hearing aid users}, author = {Katja Lund and Rodrigo Ordoñez and Jens Bo Nielsen and Dorte Hammershøi}, editor = {Abigail Anne Kressner and Jonathan Regev and Jakob Christensen-Dalsgaard and Lisbeth Tranebjærg and Sébastien Santurette and Torsten Dau }, url = {https://proceedings.isaar.eu/index.php/isaarproc/article/view/2019-44}, year = {2020}, date = {2020-05-01}, booktitle = {Proceedings of the International Symposium on Audiogory and Audiological Research}, volume = {7}, pages = {381-388}, abstract = {Both auditory and non-auditory aspects of the rehabilitation process play a role in successful hearing aid uptake. The sound may be experienced differently in the clinic compared to daily life and the skills and knowledge related to HA use vary from patient to patient. The aim of the present study is to assess daily life experiences of new hearing aid users and to explore ways to utilize these assessments in a follow-up situation. The approach is based on online reporting, where the patients over a period of two months “swipe” through 453 possible experiences related to HA use. Seventeen patients volunteered to register experiences for a period of two months, and participated in a follow-up interview, where the registered data were presented. Results suggest that data can shed light on the development within various categories of hearing aid experience and promote reflection on the hearing rehabilitation process.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {inproceedings} } Both auditory and non-auditory aspects of the rehabilitation process play a role in successful hearing aid uptake. The sound may be experienced differently in the clinic compared to daily life and the skills and knowledge related to HA use vary from patient to patient. The aim of the present study is to assess daily life experiences of new hearing aid users and to explore ways to utilize these assessments in a follow-up situation. The approach is based on online reporting, where the patients over a period of two months “swipe” through 453 possible experiences related to HA use. Seventeen patients volunteered to register experiences for a period of two months, and participated in a follow-up interview, where the registered data were presented. Results suggest that data can shed light on the development within various categories of hearing aid experience and promote reflection on the hearing rehabilitation process. |
Hammershøi, Dorte; Wolff, Anne; Andersen, Lykke Junker; Mortensen, Rikke Louise; Nielsen, Mads Dalsgaard; Larsen, Stefanie Aagard Skov A word elicitation study including the development of scales characterizing aided listening experience Inproceedings Kressner, Abigail Anne; Regev, Jonathan; Christensen-Dalsgaard, Jakob; Tranebjærg, Lisbeth; Santurette, Sébastien; Dau, Torsten (Ed.): Proceedings of the International Symposium on Audiogory and Audiological Research, pp. 297-304, 2020. @inproceedings{ISAARPDP780print, title = {A word elicitation study including the development of scales characterizing aided listening experience}, author = {Dorte Hammershøi and Anne Wolff and Lykke Junker Andersen and Rikke Louise Mortensen and Mads Dalsgaard Nielsen and Stefanie Aagard Skov Larsen}, editor = {Abigail Anne Kressner and Jonathan Regev and Jakob Christensen-Dalsgaard and Lisbeth Tranebjærg and Sébastien Santurette and Torsten Dau }, url = {https://proceedings.isaar.eu/index.php/isaarproc/article/view/2019-34}, year = {2020}, date = {2020-04-22}, booktitle = {Proceedings of the International Symposium on Audiogory and Audiological Research}, volume = {7}, pages = {297-304}, abstract = {The purpose of the present study was to identify the terms hearing aid professionals and their patients use in the communication about the aided listening experience and develop scales that would help characterize this experience in the domain of corrective actions that a hearing care professional may apply. The study comprised a word elicitation task based on observations and interviews from consultations at the Aalborg University Hospital. The results were analyzed by developing an affinity diagram. The resulting 80 words were then sorted by three hearing professionals in a supervised card sorting session. The resulting attributes were included in a 63-point scale design, which (in a usability test including eight hearing-aid users) were considered easy to survey and use, but also including some redundancy and ambiguities. The results suggest that it is possible to develop scales based on the voluntary statements expressed during actual consultations, but it remains uncertain whether the expressions will be interpreted the same way by other patients and professionals.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {inproceedings} } The purpose of the present study was to identify the terms hearing aid professionals and their patients use in the communication about the aided listening experience and develop scales that would help characterize this experience in the domain of corrective actions that a hearing care professional may apply. The study comprised a word elicitation task based on observations and interviews from consultations at the Aalborg University Hospital. The results were analyzed by developing an affinity diagram. The resulting 80 words were then sorted by three hearing professionals in a supervised card sorting session. The resulting attributes were included in a 63-point scale design, which (in a usability test including eight hearing-aid users) were considered easy to survey and use, but also including some redundancy and ambiguities. The results suggest that it is possible to develop scales based on the voluntary statements expressed during actual consultations, but it remains uncertain whether the expressions will be interpreted the same way by other patients and professionals. |
Narayanan, Sreeram Kaithali; Piechowiak, Tobias; Wolff, Anne; Houmøller, Sabina Storbjerg; Narne, Vijaya K; Loquet, Gérard; Hougaard, Dan Dupont; Gaihede, Michael; Schmidt, Jesper Hvass; Hammershøi, Dorte Speech related hearing aid benefit index derived from standardized self-reported questionnaire data Inproceedings Kressner, Abigail Anne; Regev, Jonathan; Christensen-Dalsgaard, Jakob; Tranebjærg, Lisbeth; Santurette, Sébastien; Dau, Torsten (Ed.): Proceedings of the International Symposium on Auditory and Audiological Research, 2020. @inproceedings{ISAAR2019_sreeram_print, title = {Speech related hearing aid benefit index derived from standardized self-reported questionnaire data}, author = {Sreeram Kaithali Narayanan and Tobias Piechowiak and Anne Wolff and Sabina Storbjerg Houmøller and Vijaya K. Narne and Gérard Loquet and Dan Dupont Hougaard and Michael Gaihede and Jesper Hvass Schmidt and Dorte Hammershøi}, editor = {Abigail Anne Kressner and Jonathan Regev and Jakob Christensen-Dalsgaard and Lisbeth Tranebjærg and Sébastien Santurette and Torsten Dau }, url = {https://proceedings.isaar.eu/index.php/isaarproc/article/view/2019-45}, year = {2020}, date = {2020-04-14}, booktitle = {Proceedings of the International Symposium on Auditory and Audiological Research}, volume = {7}, abstract = {Speech understanding in noisy environments has been the most desired hearing-aid (HA) benefit sought by HA users. This paper examines the possibility of developing a speech-related HA benefit index from the speech- related questions in the self-reported questionnaire data. One question from Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) instrument 15D and nine questions from the Speech, Spatial and Qualities of Hearing Scale (SSQ) having a direct implication to speech were selected for the analysis. After applying weights relevant to 15D, a delta of base-line (prior to HA fitting) and follow-up (two months after the initial fitting) responses to the selected questions were determined. A principal component analysis (PCA) was performed on the scaled and centered delta values. The resultant principal component scores were used to derive the composite index indicative of speech-related HA benefit.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {inproceedings} } Speech understanding in noisy environments has been the most desired hearing-aid (HA) benefit sought by HA users. This paper examines the possibility of developing a speech-related HA benefit index from the speech- related questions in the self-reported questionnaire data. One question from Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) instrument 15D and nine questions from the Speech, Spatial and Qualities of Hearing Scale (SSQ) having a direct implication to speech were selected for the analysis. After applying weights relevant to 15D, a delta of base-line (prior to HA fitting) and follow-up (two months after the initial fitting) responses to the selected questions were determined. A principal component analysis (PCA) was performed on the scaled and centered delta values. The resultant principal component scores were used to derive the composite index indicative of speech-related HA benefit. |
Wu, Mengfan; Lopez, Raul Sanchez; El-Haj-Ali, Mouhamad; Nielsen, Silje Grini; Fereczkowski, Michal; Dau, Torsten; Santurette, Sébastien; Neher, Tobias Kressner, Abigail Anne; Regev, Jonathan; Christensen-Dalsgaard, Jakob; Tranebjærg, Lisbeth; Santurette, Sébastien; Dau, Torsten (Ed.): Proceedings of the International Symposium on Auditory and Audiological Research, pp. 265-272, 2020. @inproceedings{ISAAR2019_WU_print, title = {Perceptual evaluation of six hearing-aid processing strategies from the perspective of auditory profiling: Insights from the BEAR project}, author = {Mengfan Wu and Raul Sanchez Lopez and Mouhamad El-Haj-Ali and Silje Grini Nielsen and Michal Fereczkowski and Torsten Dau and Sébastien Santurette and Tobias Neher}, editor = {Abigail Anne Kressner and Jonathan Regev and Jakob Christensen-Dalsgaard and Lisbeth Tranebjærg and Sébastien Santurette and Torsten Dau }, url = {https://proceedings.isaar.eu/index.php/isaarproc/article/view/2019-30}, year = {2020}, date = {2020-04-08}, booktitle = {Proceedings of the International Symposium on Auditory and Audiological Research}, volume = {7}, pages = {265-272}, abstract = {The current study forms part of the Better hEAring Rehabilitation (BEAR) project, which aims at developing new clinical tools for characterizing individual hearing loss and for assessing hearing-aid (HA) benefit. Its purpose was to investigate potential interactions between four auditory profiles and three measures of HA outcome obtained for six HA processing strategies. Measurements were carried out in a realistic noise environment at signal-to-noise ratios that were set based on individual aided speech reception thresholds (SRT50). Speech recognition scores and ratings of overall quality and noise annoyance were collected in two spatial conditions. The stimuli were generated with the help of a HA simulator and presented via headphones to 60 older, habitual HA users who had previously been profiled based on a data-driven approach (Sanchez-Lopez et al., 2019). The four auditory profiles differed significantly in terms of mean aided SRT50 and interacted significantly with the HA processing strategies for speech recognition in one spatial condition. Moreover, the correlation-pattern between the speech recognition scores and subjective ratings differed among the auditory profiles.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {inproceedings} } The current study forms part of the Better hEAring Rehabilitation (BEAR) project, which aims at developing new clinical tools for characterizing individual hearing loss and for assessing hearing-aid (HA) benefit. Its purpose was to investigate potential interactions between four auditory profiles and three measures of HA outcome obtained for six HA processing strategies. Measurements were carried out in a realistic noise environment at signal-to-noise ratios that were set based on individual aided speech reception thresholds (SRT50). Speech recognition scores and ratings of overall quality and noise annoyance were collected in two spatial conditions. The stimuli were generated with the help of a HA simulator and presented via headphones to 60 older, habitual HA users who had previously been profiled based on a data-driven approach (Sanchez-Lopez et al., 2019). The four auditory profiles differed significantly in terms of mean aided SRT50 and interacted significantly with the HA processing strategies for speech recognition in one spatial condition. Moreover, the correlation-pattern between the speech recognition scores and subjective ratings differed among the auditory profiles. |
Sanchez-Lopez, Raul; Fereczkowski, Michal; Neher, Tobias; Santurette, Sébastien; Dau, Torsten Robust Data-Driven Auditory Profiling Towards Precision Audiology Journal Article Trends in Hearing, 24 , pp. 1-19, 2020. @article{doi:10.1177/2331216520973539, title = {Robust Data-Driven Auditory Profiling Towards Precision Audiology}, author = {Raul Sanchez-Lopez and Michal Fereczkowski and Tobias Neher and Sébastien Santurette and Torsten Dau}, url = {https://doi.org/10.1177%2F2331216520973539}, doi = {10.1177/2331216520973539}, year = {2020}, date = {2020-01-01}, journal = {Trends in Hearing}, volume = {24}, pages = {1-19}, abstract = {The sources and consequences of a sensorineural hearing loss are diverse. While several approaches have aimed at disentangling the physiological and perceptual consequences of different etiologies, hearing deficit characterization and rehabilitation have been dominated by the results from pure-tone audiometry. Here, we present a novel approach based on data-driven profiling of perceptual auditory deficits that attempts to represent auditory phenomena that are usually hidden by, or entangled with, audibility loss. We hypothesize that the hearing deficits of a given listener, both at hearing threshold and at suprathreshold sound levels, result from two independent types of “auditory distortions.” In this two-dimensional space, four distinct “auditory profiles” can be identified. To test this hypothesis, we gathered a data set consisting of a heterogeneous group of listeners that were evaluated using measures of speech intelligibility, loudness perception, binaural processing abilities, and spectrotemporal resolution. The subsequent analysis revealed that distortion type-I was associated with elevated hearing thresholds at high frequencies and reduced temporal masking release and was significantly correlated with elevated speech reception thresholds in noise. Distortion type-II was associated with low-frequency hearing loss and abnormally steep loudness functions. The auditory profiles represent four robust subpopulations of hearing-impaired listeners that exhibit different degrees of perceptual distortions. The four auditory profiles may provide a valuable basis for improved hearing rehabilitation, for example, through profile-based hearing-aid fitting.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } The sources and consequences of a sensorineural hearing loss are diverse. While several approaches have aimed at disentangling the physiological and perceptual consequences of different etiologies, hearing deficit characterization and rehabilitation have been dominated by the results from pure-tone audiometry. Here, we present a novel approach based on data-driven profiling of perceptual auditory deficits that attempts to represent auditory phenomena that are usually hidden by, or entangled with, audibility loss. We hypothesize that the hearing deficits of a given listener, both at hearing threshold and at suprathreshold sound levels, result from two independent types of “auditory distortions.” In this two-dimensional space, four distinct “auditory profiles” can be identified. To test this hypothesis, we gathered a data set consisting of a heterogeneous group of listeners that were evaluated using measures of speech intelligibility, loudness perception, binaural processing abilities, and spectrotemporal resolution. The subsequent analysis revealed that distortion type-I was associated with elevated hearing thresholds at high frequencies and reduced temporal masking release and was significantly correlated with elevated speech reception thresholds in noise. Distortion type-II was associated with low-frequency hearing loss and abnormally steep loudness functions. The auditory profiles represent four robust subpopulations of hearing-impaired listeners that exhibit different degrees of perceptual distortions. The four auditory profiles may provide a valuable basis for improved hearing rehabilitation, for example, through profile-based hearing-aid fitting. |
2019 |
Sanchez-Lopez, Raul; Nielsen, Silje; Cañete, Oscar; Fereczkowski, Michal; Wu, Mengfan; Neher, Tobias; Dau, Torsten; Santurette, Sebastién Proceedings of the 23rd International Congress on Acoustics (ICA 2019), Aachen, Germany, Sept 9-13 2019., pp. 3841-3848, International Commission of Acoustics 2019. @inproceedings{ica2019rsl, title = {A Clinical Test Battery for Better hEAring Rehabilitation (BEAR). Towards the prediction of individual auditory deficits and hearing-aid benefit}, author = {Raul Sanchez-Lopez and Silje Nielsen and Oscar Cañete and Michal Fereczkowski and Mengfan Wu and Tobias Neher and Torsten Dau and Sebastién Santurette}, url = {http://pub.dega-akustik.de/ICA2019/data/articles/000470.pdf}, year = {2019}, date = {2019-09-11}, booktitle = {Proceedings of the 23rd International Congress on Acoustics (ICA 2019), Aachen, Germany, Sept 9-13 2019.}, pages = {3841-3848}, organization = {International Commission of Acoustics}, abstract = {One aim of the Better hEAring Rehabilitation (BEAR) project is to define a new clinical profiling tool, a test-battery, for individualized hearing loss characterization. Recently, Sanchez-Lopez et al. (ISAAR 2019) proposed a test battery for hearing deficit characterization. The proposed tests were divided into six categories: audibility, middle-ear analysis, speech perception, binaural-processing abilities, loudness perception, and spectro-temporal resolution. The results of 54 listeners were analyzed using a data-driven approach (Sanchez-Lopez et al., 2018), which provided evidence for the existence of two independent sources of distortion and four different auditory profiles. The classification of the listeners into auditory profiles allows the prediction of the performance of the listeners on different psychoacoustic tasks as well as their expected performance while wearing hearing aids. For the classification, a decision tree with only the most predictive tests is desirable for a correct classification of the listeners. The present study aims to explore the optimal decision tree and to propose a reduced, reliable and time-efficient test battery that can classify listeners into the four auditory profiles in a clinical environment. The clinical test battery will be used in a large-scale study that will help implement a protocol for better hearing rehabilitation.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {inproceedings} } One aim of the Better hEAring Rehabilitation (BEAR) project is to define a new clinical profiling tool, a test-battery, for individualized hearing loss characterization. Recently, Sanchez-Lopez et al. (ISAAR 2019) proposed a test battery for hearing deficit characterization. The proposed tests were divided into six categories: audibility, middle-ear analysis, speech perception, binaural-processing abilities, loudness perception, and spectro-temporal resolution. The results of 54 listeners were analyzed using a data-driven approach (Sanchez-Lopez et al., 2018), which provided evidence for the existence of two independent sources of distortion and four different auditory profiles. The classification of the listeners into auditory profiles allows the prediction of the performance of the listeners on different psychoacoustic tasks as well as their expected performance while wearing hearing aids. For the classification, a decision tree with only the most predictive tests is desirable for a correct classification of the listeners. The present study aims to explore the optimal decision tree and to propose a reduced, reliable and time-efficient test battery that can classify listeners into the four auditory profiles in a clinical environment. The clinical test battery will be used in a large-scale study that will help implement a protocol for better hearing rehabilitation. |
Wu, Mengfan; Sanchez-Lopez, Raul; El-Haj-Ali, Mouhamad; Nielsen, Silje; Fereczkowski, Michal; Dau, Torsten; Santurette, Sebastién; Neher, Tobias Proceedings of the 23rd International Congress on Acoustics (ICA 2019), Aachen, Germany, Sept 9-13 2019., pp. 3849-3856, 2019. @inproceedings{ica2019mw, title = {Assessing the interaction between different auditory profiles and benefit from six hearing aid processing strategies: Insights from the Better hEAring Rehabilitation (BEAR) project}, author = {Mengfan Wu and Raul Sanchez-Lopez and Mouhamad El-Haj-Ali and Silje Nielsen and Michal Fereczkowski and Torsten Dau and Sebastién Santurette and Tobias Neher}, url = {http://pub.dega-akustik.de/ICA2019/data/articles/000335.pdf}, year = {2019}, date = {2019-09-11}, booktitle = {Proceedings of the 23rd International Congress on Acoustics (ICA 2019), Aachen, Germany, Sept 9-13 2019.}, pages = {3849-3856}, abstract = {The current study forms part of the Better hEAring Rehabilitation (BEAR) project, which aims at developing and evaluating new clinical tools for individual hearing loss characterization and hearing aid benefit assessment. The purpose of the current study was to assess the interaction between four different auditory profiles and two outcome measures of aided performance obtained for six selected hearing-aid processing strategies (Sanchez-Lopez et al., Euronoise 2018). Sixty older habitual hearing-aid users who participated in the study were previously classified into four auditory profiles based on a data-driven approach (Sanchez-Lopez et al., Trends in Hearing 2018). All stimuli were generated with the help of a hearing aid simulator and presented via headphones. Speech recognition in noise was assessed at fixed signal-to-noise ratios based on individual 50%-correct speech reception thresholds measured in a realistic noise environment. Subjective ratings of overall quality and noise annoyance were measured using a multiple stimulus comparison paradigm. It is hypothesized that the four auditory profiles will have different needs in terms of compensation so perceptual outcomes for the six hearing aid processing strategies are expected to be different.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {inproceedings} } The current study forms part of the Better hEAring Rehabilitation (BEAR) project, which aims at developing and evaluating new clinical tools for individual hearing loss characterization and hearing aid benefit assessment. The purpose of the current study was to assess the interaction between four different auditory profiles and two outcome measures of aided performance obtained for six selected hearing-aid processing strategies (Sanchez-Lopez et al., Euronoise 2018). Sixty older habitual hearing-aid users who participated in the study were previously classified into four auditory profiles based on a data-driven approach (Sanchez-Lopez et al., Trends in Hearing 2018). All stimuli were generated with the help of a hearing aid simulator and presented via headphones. Speech recognition in noise was assessed at fixed signal-to-noise ratios based on individual 50%-correct speech reception thresholds measured in a realistic noise environment. Subjective ratings of overall quality and noise annoyance were measured using a multiple stimulus comparison paradigm. It is hypothesized that the four auditory profiles will have different needs in terms of compensation so perceptual outcomes for the six hearing aid processing strategies are expected to be different. |
2018 |
Lopez, Raul Sanchez; Bianchi, Federica; Fereczkowski, Michal; Santurette, Sébastien; Dau, Torsten Data-Driven Approach for Auditory Profiling and Characterization of Individual Hearing Loss Journal Article Trends of Hearing, 22 (ISAAR special issue), pp. 1-12, 2018. @article{TiH2018a, title = {Data-Driven Approach for Auditory Profiling and Characterization of Individual Hearing Loss}, author = {Raul Sanchez Lopez and Federica Bianchi and Michal Fereczkowski and Sébastien Santurette and Torsten Dau}, url = {https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/2331216518807400}, doi = {10.1177/2331216518807400}, year = {2018}, date = {2018-11-01}, journal = {Trends of Hearing}, volume = {22}, number = {ISAAR special issue}, pages = {1-12}, abstract = {Pure-tone audiometry still represents the main measure to characterize individual hearing loss and the basis for hearing-aid fitting. However, the perceptual consequences of hearing loss are typically associated not only with a loss of sensitivity but also with a loss of clarity that is not captured by the audiogram. A detailed characterization of a hearing loss may be complex and needs to be simplified to efficiently explore the specific compensation needs of the individual listener. Here, it is hypothesized that any listener’s hearing profile can be characterized along two dimensions of distortion: Type I and Type II. While Type I can be linked to factors affecting audibility, Type II reflects non-audibility-related distortions. To test this hypothesis, the individual performance data from two previous studies were reanalyzed using an unsupervised-learning technique to identify extreme patterns in the data, thus forming the basis for different auditory profiles. Next, a decision tree was determined to classify the listeners into one of the profiles. The analysis provides evidence for the existence of four profiles in the data. The most significant predictors for profile identification were related to binaural processing, auditory nonlinearity, and speech-in-noise perception. This approach could be valuable for analyzing other data sets to select the most relevant tests for auditory profiling and propose more efficient hearing-deficit compensation strategies.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } Pure-tone audiometry still represents the main measure to characterize individual hearing loss and the basis for hearing-aid fitting. However, the perceptual consequences of hearing loss are typically associated not only with a loss of sensitivity but also with a loss of clarity that is not captured by the audiogram. A detailed characterization of a hearing loss may be complex and needs to be simplified to efficiently explore the specific compensation needs of the individual listener. Here, it is hypothesized that any listener’s hearing profile can be characterized along two dimensions of distortion: Type I and Type II. While Type I can be linked to factors affecting audibility, Type II reflects non-audibility-related distortions. To test this hypothesis, the individual performance data from two previous studies were reanalyzed using an unsupervised-learning technique to identify extreme patterns in the data, thus forming the basis for different auditory profiles. Next, a decision tree was determined to classify the listeners into one of the profiles. The analysis provides evidence for the existence of four profiles in the data. The most significant predictors for profile identification were related to binaural processing, auditory nonlinearity, and speech-in-noise perception. This approach could be valuable for analyzing other data sets to select the most relevant tests for auditory profiling and propose more efficient hearing-deficit compensation strategies. |
Sanchez-Lopez, Raul; Bianchi, Federica; Fereczkowski, Michal; Piechowiak, Tobias; Hau, Ole; Pedersen, Michael Syskind; Behrens, Thomas; Neher, Tobias; Dau, Torsten; Santurette, Sébastien Technical evaluation of hearing-aid fitting parameters for different auditory profiles Conference In Proceedings of Euronoise 2018, Crete, Greece, 27-31 May 2018, pp. 381-388, 2018, ISSN: 2226-5147. @conference{euronoise2018, title = {Technical evaluation of hearing-aid fitting parameters for different auditory profiles}, author = {Raul Sanchez-Lopez and Federica Bianchi and Michal Fereczkowski and Tobias Piechowiak and Ole Hau and Michael Syskind Pedersen and Thomas Behrens and Tobias Neher and Torsten Dau and Sébastien Santurette}, url = {http://www.euronoise2018.eu/component/contentbuilder/details/10/83/euronoise-2018-technical-evaluation-of-hearing-aid-fitting-parameters-for-different-auditory-profiles?Itemid=259}, issn = { 2226-5147}, year = {2018}, date = {2018-05-30}, booktitle = {In Proceedings of Euronoise 2018, Crete, Greece, 27-31 May 2018, pp. 381-388}, abstract = {Hearing-aid users have reported an increased satisfaction since digital technology and advanced signal processing became available in hearing aids. However, many users still experience difficulties in noisy environments and in complex listening scenarios. Although numerous parameters can be adjusted to provide an individualized hearing solution, hearing-aid fitting currently consists of: 1) the gain prescription and adjustment based on the pure-tone audiogram, 2) the activation of advanced features on-demand, such as beamforming and noise reduction. In a previous study [1], a novel approach for auditory profiling was suggested, where the hearing deficits were characterized according to two types of distortion. This allowed the classification of listeners into four auditory profiles according to a high/low degree of hearing distortions along the two dimensions. The aim of the present study was to evaluate different hearing-aid compensation strategies that may fit the needs of different auditory profiles via technical measures. A hearing-aid simulator, consisting of beamforming, noise reduction, and dynamic range compression, was used to test which parameter spaces and outcome measures may be of interest for a “profile-based hearing-aid fitting”. The simulator consists of two dummy behind-the-ear hearing aids and off-line sound processing performed on a personal computer. Technical measures, such as signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) improvement, envelope degradation, and a metric of spectral distortions, were used to evaluate the effects of different signal processing strategies on the signal at the output of the simulator. Several parameter settings were evaluated using speech in the presence of various interferers at different SNRs. Here, the results of this technical evaluation are presented and discussed, with a view towards identifying the effective compensation strategies for different auditory profiles.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {conference} } Hearing-aid users have reported an increased satisfaction since digital technology and advanced signal processing became available in hearing aids. However, many users still experience difficulties in noisy environments and in complex listening scenarios. Although numerous parameters can be adjusted to provide an individualized hearing solution, hearing-aid fitting currently consists of: 1) the gain prescription and adjustment based on the pure-tone audiogram, 2) the activation of advanced features on-demand, such as beamforming and noise reduction. In a previous study [1], a novel approach for auditory profiling was suggested, where the hearing deficits were characterized according to two types of distortion. This allowed the classification of listeners into four auditory profiles according to a high/low degree of hearing distortions along the two dimensions. The aim of the present study was to evaluate different hearing-aid compensation strategies that may fit the needs of different auditory profiles via technical measures. A hearing-aid simulator, consisting of beamforming, noise reduction, and dynamic range compression, was used to test which parameter spaces and outcome measures may be of interest for a “profile-based hearing-aid fitting”. The simulator consists of two dummy behind-the-ear hearing aids and off-line sound processing performed on a personal computer. Technical measures, such as signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) improvement, envelope degradation, and a metric of spectral distortions, were used to evaluate the effects of different signal processing strategies on the signal at the output of the simulator. Several parameter settings were evaluated using speech in the presence of various interferers at different SNRs. Here, the results of this technical evaluation are presented and discussed, with a view towards identifying the effective compensation strategies for different auditory profiles. |
2017 |
van Hauen, Sigurd Møller; Rukjær, Andreas Harbo; Ordoñez, Rodrigo; Hammershøi, Dorte Estimating auditory filter bandwidth using distortion product otoacoustic emissions Inproceedings Santurette, Sébastien; Dau, Torsten; Christensen-Dalsgaard, Jakob; Tranebjærg, Lisbeth; Poulsen, Torben (Ed.): Proceedings of the International Symposium on Auditory and Audiological Research: Vol. 6: Adaptive Processes in Hearing, pp. 263-270, The Danavox Jubilee Foundation 2017, ISBN: 978-87-990013-6-1. @inproceedings{SigurdISAAR2017, title = {Estimating auditory filter bandwidth using distortion product otoacoustic emissions}, author = {Sigurd Møller van Hauen and Andreas Harbo Rukjær and Rodrigo Ordoñez and Dorte Hammershøi}, editor = {Sébastien Santurette and Torsten Dau and Jakob Christensen-Dalsgaard and Lisbeth Tranebjærg and Torben Poulsen}, url = {https://proceedings.isaar.eu/index.php/isaarproc/article/view/2017-32}, isbn = {978-87-990013-6-1}, year = {2017}, date = {2017-08-23}, booktitle = {Proceedings of the International Symposium on Auditory and Audiological Research: Vol. 6: Adaptive Processes in Hearing}, pages = {263-270}, organization = {The Danavox Jubilee Foundation}, abstract = {The basic frequency selectivity in the listener’s hearing is often characterized by auditory filters. These filters are determined through listening tests, which estimate the masking threshold as a function of frequency of the tone and the bandwidth of the masking sound. The auditory filters have been shown to be wider for listeners with sensorineural impairment. In a recent study (Christensen et al., 2017) it was demonstrated on group basis that the distortion product stimulus ratio that provided the strongest 2 f1− f2 component at low frequencies had a strong correlation to the theoretical relation between frequency and auditory filter bandwidth, described by the equivalent rectangular bandwidth (ERB, Glasberg and Moore, 1990). The purpose of the present study is to test whether a similar correlation exists on an individual basis at normal audiometric frequencies. The optimal 2 f1 − f2 DPOAE ratio is determined for stimulus ratios between 1.1 and 1.6, at fixed primary levels (L1/L2 = 65/45 dB SPL). The auditory filters are determined using notched-noise method in a two alternative forced choice experiment with noise levels at 40 dB SPL/Hz. Optimal ratios and auditory filters are determined at 1, 2, and 4 kHz for 10 young normal-hearing subjects.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {inproceedings} } The basic frequency selectivity in the listener’s hearing is often characterized by auditory filters. These filters are determined through listening tests, which estimate the masking threshold as a function of frequency of the tone and the bandwidth of the masking sound. The auditory filters have been shown to be wider for listeners with sensorineural impairment. In a recent study (Christensen et al., 2017) it was demonstrated on group basis that the distortion product stimulus ratio that provided the strongest 2 f1− f2 component at low frequencies had a strong correlation to the theoretical relation between frequency and auditory filter bandwidth, described by the equivalent rectangular bandwidth (ERB, Glasberg and Moore, 1990). The purpose of the present study is to test whether a similar correlation exists on an individual basis at normal audiometric frequencies. The optimal 2 f1 − f2 DPOAE ratio is determined for stimulus ratios between 1.1 and 1.6, at fixed primary levels (L1/L2 = 65/45 dB SPL). The auditory filters are determined using notched-noise method in a two alternative forced choice experiment with noise levels at 40 dB SPL/Hz. Optimal ratios and auditory filters are determined at 1, 2, and 4 kHz for 10 young normal-hearing subjects. |
Lopez, Raul Sanchez; Bianchi, Federica; Fereczkowski, Michal; Santurette, Sébastien; Dau, Torsten Data-driven approach for auditory profiling Inproceedings Santurette, Sébastien; Dau, Torsten; Christensen-Dalsgaard, Jakob; Tranebjærg, Lisbeth; Poulsen, Torben (Ed.): Proceedings of the International Symposium on Auditory and Audiological Research: Vol. 6: Adaptive Processes in Hearing, pp. 247-254, The Danavox Jubilee Foundation, 2017, ISBN: 978-87-990013-6-1. @inproceedings{820875598dff4bf4b7060bb84277a3b8, title = {Data-driven approach for auditory profiling}, author = {Raul Sanchez Lopez and Federica Bianchi and Michal Fereczkowski and Sébastien Santurette and Torsten Dau}, editor = {Sébastien Santurette and Torsten Dau and Jakob Christensen-Dalsgaard and Lisbeth Tranebjærg and Torben Poulsen}, url = {http://orbit.dtu.dk/files/140683531/ISAAR17_rsalo.pdf}, isbn = {978-87-990013-6-1}, year = {2017}, date = {2017-01-01}, booktitle = {Proceedings of the International Symposium on Auditory and Audiological Research: Vol. 6: Adaptive Processes in Hearing}, pages = {247-254}, publisher = {The Danavox Jubilee Foundation}, abstract = {Nowadays, the pure-tone audiogram is the main tool used to characterizehearing loss and to fit hearing aids. However, the perceptual consequencesof hearing loss are typically not only associated with a loss of sensitivity, butalso with a clarity loss that is not captured by the audiogram. A detailedcharacterization of hearing loss has to be simplified to efficiently explore thespecific compensation needs of the individual listener. We hypothesized thatany listener’s hearing can be characterized along two dimensions of distortion:type I and type II. While type I can be linked to factors affecting audibility,type II reflects non-audibility-related distortions. To test our hypothesis,the individual performance data from two previous studies were re-analyzedusing an archetypal analysis. Unsupervised learning was used to identifyextreme patterns in the data which form the basis for different auditoryprofiles. Next, a decision tree was determined to classify the listeners intoone of the profiles. The new analysis provides evidence for the existenceof four profiles in the data. The most significant predictors for profileidentification were related to binaural processing, auditory non-linearity andspeech-in-noise perception. The current approach is promising for analyzingother existing data sets in order to select the most relevant tests for auditoryprofiling.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {inproceedings} } Nowadays, the pure-tone audiogram is the main tool used to characterizehearing loss and to fit hearing aids. However, the perceptual consequencesof hearing loss are typically not only associated with a loss of sensitivity, butalso with a clarity loss that is not captured by the audiogram. A detailedcharacterization of hearing loss has to be simplified to efficiently explore thespecific compensation needs of the individual listener. We hypothesized thatany listener’s hearing can be characterized along two dimensions of distortion:type I and type II. While type I can be linked to factors affecting audibility,type II reflects non-audibility-related distortions. To test our hypothesis,the individual performance data from two previous studies were re-analyzedusing an archetypal analysis. Unsupervised learning was used to identifyextreme patterns in the data which form the basis for different auditoryprofiles. Next, a decision tree was determined to classify the listeners intoone of the profiles. The new analysis provides evidence for the existenceof four profiles in the data. The most significant predictors for profileidentification were related to binaural processing, auditory non-linearity andspeech-in-noise perception. The current approach is promising for analyzingother existing data sets in order to select the most relevant tests for auditoryprofiling. |
2016 |
Sanchez, Raul H; Dau, Torsten Modeling spectro - temporal modulation perception in normal - hearing listeners Inproceedings Proceedings of Inter-Noise 2016, Hamburg, Germany, August 21-24, 2018, pp. 1729-1740, 2016. @inproceedings{7eefad4dd8644766af1393e54a034dc1, title = {Modeling spectro - temporal modulation perception in normal - hearing listeners}, author = {Raul H. Sanchez and Torsten Dau}, url = {http://pub.dega-akustik.de/IN2016/data/articles/000953.pdf}, year = {2016}, date = {2016-08-24}, booktitle = {Proceedings of Inter-Noise 2016, Hamburg, Germany, August 21-24, 2018}, pages = {1729-1740}, abstract = {Current clinical methods determine 2 f1 − f2 distortion product oto-acoustic emission (DPAOE) levels at discrete frequencies, and often only at the audiometric standard frequencies in order to save time. The measured result is known to be a superposition of at least two components, the generator component originating from a region around the primary f2, and the reflection component from the 2 f1 − f2 site. Distinct interference patterns in high resolution DPOAE data reveal that these two components can be of similar magnitude, and periodically cancel each other entirely. When measurements are made at only few frequencies, there is a risk to find one or more low amplitude measurement, even in a healthy ear with otherwise high emissions. In the present study, data from previous studies measured with a high frequency resolution is used for simulating a better use of measurements at and around the audiometric frequency. A ”local” model of the two component superposition is applied, and the trade-off between measurement time, and robustness of the measure is discussed.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {inproceedings} } Current clinical methods determine 2 f1 − f2 distortion product oto-acoustic emission (DPAOE) levels at discrete frequencies, and often only at the audiometric standard frequencies in order to save time. The measured result is known to be a superposition of at least two components, the generator component originating from a region around the primary f2, and the reflection component from the 2 f1 − f2 site. Distinct interference patterns in high resolution DPOAE data reveal that these two components can be of similar magnitude, and periodically cancel each other entirely. When measurements are made at only few frequencies, there is a risk to find one or more low amplitude measurement, even in a healthy ear with otherwise high emissions. In the present study, data from previous studies measured with a high frequency resolution is used for simulating a better use of measurements at and around the audiometric frequency. A ”local” model of the two component superposition is applied, and the trade-off between measurement time, and robustness of the measure is discussed. |
Other
2022 |
Sanchez-Lopez, Raul; Fereczkowski, Michal; Wu, Mengfan; Santurette, Sébastien; Baumann, Monika; Kowalewski, Borys; Piechowiak, Tobias; Ravn, Gert; Narayanan, Sreeram Kaithali; Dau, Torsten; Neher, Tobias Towards auditory profile-based hearing-aid fittings: BEAR rationale and clinical implementation Inproceedings Oral presentation at the Joint Euroregio Baltic Nordic Acoustics Meeting, Aalborg, Denmark, 2022. @inproceedings{raul_ERBNAM20222, title = {Towards auditory profile-based hearing-aid fittings: BEAR rationale and clinical implementation}, author = {Raul Sanchez-Lopez and Michal Fereczkowski and Mengfan Wu and Sébastien Santurette and Monika Baumann and Borys Kowalewski and Tobias Piechowiak and Gert Ravn and Sreeram Kaithali Narayanan and Torsten Dau and Tobias Neher}, url = {https://www.conforg.fr/bin/time_table?dir=erbnam2022}, year = {2022}, date = {2022-05-09}, booktitle = {Oral presentation at the Joint Euroregio Baltic Nordic Acoustics Meeting, Aalborg, Denmark}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {inproceedings} } |
2021 |
Sanchez-Lopez, Raul; Wu, Mengfan; Fereczkowski, Michal; Santurette, Sébastien; Dau, Torsten; Neher, Tobias Towards auditory profile-based hearing-aid fittings: Insights from the BEAR project Inproceedings Oral presentation at the International Symposium on Auditory and Audiological Research: Vol 8: The Auditory System Throughout Life – Models, Mechanisms, and Interventions, 2021, 2021. @inproceedings{raul2_ISAAR2021, title = {Towards auditory profile-based hearing-aid fittings: Insights from the BEAR project}, author = {Raul Sanchez-Lopez and Mengfan Wu and Michal Fereczkowski and Sébastien Santurette and Torsten Dau and Tobias Neher}, url = {https://isaar.eu/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Programme-book-ISAAR-2021.pdf}, year = {2021}, date = {2021-08-27}, booktitle = {Oral presentation at the International Symposium on Auditory and Audiological Research: Vol 8: The Auditory System Throughout Life – Models, Mechanisms, and Interventions, 2021}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {inproceedings} } |
2019 |
Sanchez-Lopez, Raul; Fereczkowski, Michal; Neher, Tobias; Santurette, Sebastién; Dau, Torsten Poster presentation at the International Symposium on Auditory and Audiological Research: Vol. 7: Auditory Learning in Biological and Artificial Systems, (SP.65), The Danavox Jubilee Foundation 2019. @conference{isaar2019rsl, title = {Robust auditory profiling: Improved data-driven method and profile definitions for better hearing rehabilitation}, author = {Raul Sanchez-Lopez and Michal Fereczkowski and Tobias Neher and Sebastién Santurette and Torsten Dau}, url = {https://whova.com/embedded/speaker_session_detail/isaar_201908/700951/}, year = {2019}, date = {2019-08-21}, booktitle = {Poster presentation at the International Symposium on Auditory and Audiological Research: Vol. 7: Auditory Learning in Biological and Artificial Systems}, number = {SP.65}, organization = {The Danavox Jubilee Foundation}, abstract = {Currently, clinical characterization of hearing deficits for hearing-aid fitting is based on the pure-tone audiogram. Implicitly, this assumes that the audiogram can predict performance in complex, supra-threshold tasks. Sanchez-Lopez et al. (2018) hypothesized that the hearing deficits of a given listener, both at threshold and supra-threshold levels, result from two independent types of auditory distortions. The authors performed a data-driven analysis of two large datasets with results from several tests, which led to the identification of four auditory profiles. However, the definition of the two types of distortion was challenged by differences between the two datasets in terms of the tests and listeners used. In the Better hEAring Rehabilitation (BEAR) project, a new dataset was generated with the aim of overcoming these limitations. A heterogeneous group of listeners was tested using measures of speech intelligibility, loudness perception, binaural processing abilities and spectro-temporal resolution. Consequently, the auditory profiles of Sanchez-Lopez et al. (2018) were refined. The resultant findings are discussed in connection to previous approaches for hearing-loss classification. The updated auditory profiles, together with the investigation of optimal hearing-aid compensation strategies, may form a solid basis for efficient hearing-aid fitting.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {conference} } Currently, clinical characterization of hearing deficits for hearing-aid fitting is based on the pure-tone audiogram. Implicitly, this assumes that the audiogram can predict performance in complex, supra-threshold tasks. Sanchez-Lopez et al. (2018) hypothesized that the hearing deficits of a given listener, both at threshold and supra-threshold levels, result from two independent types of auditory distortions. The authors performed a data-driven analysis of two large datasets with results from several tests, which led to the identification of four auditory profiles. However, the definition of the two types of distortion was challenged by differences between the two datasets in terms of the tests and listeners used. In the Better hEAring Rehabilitation (BEAR) project, a new dataset was generated with the aim of overcoming these limitations. A heterogeneous group of listeners was tested using measures of speech intelligibility, loudness perception, binaural processing abilities and spectro-temporal resolution. Consequently, the auditory profiles of Sanchez-Lopez et al. (2018) were refined. The resultant findings are discussed in connection to previous approaches for hearing-loss classification. The updated auditory profiles, together with the investigation of optimal hearing-aid compensation strategies, may form a solid basis for efficient hearing-aid fitting. |
Wu, Mengfan; Sanchez-Lopez, Raul; El-Haj-Ali, Mouhamad; Nielsen, Silje Grini; Fereczkowski, Michal; Dau, Torsten; Santurette, Sebastién; Neher, Tobias Poster presentation at the International Symposium on Auditory and Audiological Research: Vol. 7: Auditory Learning in Biological and Artificial Systems, (SP.77), The Danavox Jubilee Foundation 2019. @conference{isaar2019mw, title = {Evaluation of six hearing-aid processing strategies from the perspective of auditory profiling: Insights from the BEAR project}, author = {Mengfan Wu and Raul Sanchez-Lopez and Mouhamad El-Haj-Ali and Silje Grini Nielsen and Michal Fereczkowski and Torsten Dau and Sebastién Santurette and Tobias Neher}, url = {https://whova.com/embedded/speaker_session_detail/isaar_201908/700958/}, year = {2019}, date = {2019-08-21}, booktitle = {Poster presentation at the International Symposium on Auditory and Audiological Research: Vol. 7: Auditory Learning in Biological and Artificial Systems}, number = {SP.77}, organization = {The Danavox Jubilee Foundation}, abstract = {The current study forms part of the Better hEAring Rehabilitation (BEAR) project, which aims at developing new clinical tools for characterizing individual hearing loss and for assessing hearing-aid (HA) benefit. Its purpose was to evaluate the interaction between four auditory profiles and three measures of HA outcome obtained for six HA processing strategies. Measurements were carried out in a realistic noise environment at signal-to-noise ratios that were set based on individual speech reception thresholds ('test SNRs'). Speech recognition scores and ratings of overall quality and noise annoyance were collected in two spatial conditions. The stimuli were generated with the help of a HA simulator and presented via headphones to 60 older habitual HA users who had previously been profiled based on a data-driven approach (Sanchez-Lopez et al., Trends in Hearing 2018). The four auditory profiles differed significantly in terms of the test SNRs and interacted significantly with the HA processing strategies for speech recognition in one spatial condition. Moreover, the correlations between the speech recognition scores and subjective ratings differed among the auditory profiles. However, the HA processing strategies leading to the best outcomes were similar across the four auditory profiles.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {conference} } The current study forms part of the Better hEAring Rehabilitation (BEAR) project, which aims at developing new clinical tools for characterizing individual hearing loss and for assessing hearing-aid (HA) benefit. Its purpose was to evaluate the interaction between four auditory profiles and three measures of HA outcome obtained for six HA processing strategies. Measurements were carried out in a realistic noise environment at signal-to-noise ratios that were set based on individual speech reception thresholds ('test SNRs'). Speech recognition scores and ratings of overall quality and noise annoyance were collected in two spatial conditions. The stimuli were generated with the help of a HA simulator and presented via headphones to 60 older habitual HA users who had previously been profiled based on a data-driven approach (Sanchez-Lopez et al., Trends in Hearing 2018). The four auditory profiles differed significantly in terms of the test SNRs and interacted significantly with the HA processing strategies for speech recognition in one spatial condition. Moreover, the correlations between the speech recognition scores and subjective ratings differed among the auditory profiles. However, the HA processing strategies leading to the best outcomes were similar across the four auditory profiles. |
Wu, Mengfan; Sanchez-Lopez, Raul; El-Haj-Ali, Mouhamad; Nielsen, Silje Grini; Fereczkowski, Michal; Bianchi, Federica; Dau, Torsten; Santurette, Sebastién; Neher, Tobias Presentation at the 14th Congress of the European Federation of Audiology Societies (EFAS 2019), Lisbon, Portugal, 22-25 May 2019, (03875), European Federation of Audiology Societies 2019. @conference{EFAS2019MW, title = {Hearing aid processing strategies for listeners with different auditory profiles: Insights from the BEAR project}, author = {Mengfan Wu and Raul Sanchez-Lopez and Mouhamad El-Haj-Ali and Silje Grini Nielsen and Michal Fereczkowski and Federica Bianchi and Torsten Dau and Sebastién Santurette and Tobias Neher}, url = {https://fff0e2ea-6f01-41b9-b0dd-7dbdf3580dbb.filesusr.com/ugd/09d8d3_dc3fb64898554097a7427d3d03a1f290.pdf}, year = {2019}, date = {2019-05-22}, booktitle = {Presentation at the 14th Congress of the European Federation of Audiology Societies (EFAS 2019), Lisbon, Portugal, 22-25 May 2019}, number = {03875}, organization = {European Federation of Audiology Societies}, abstract = {Background, The Better hEAring Rehabilitation (BEAR) project pursues the development and evaluation of new, clinically feasible strategies for individual hearing loss diagnosis and hearing aid (HA) fitting. Two essential elements of this research are the design of a new diagnostic test battery for identifying different auditory profiles and linking those profiles to different HA processing strategies. The current study focused on establishing links between four auditory profiles and the benefit from six HA processing strategies. Material and methods, Sixty older individuals with bilateral mild-to-severe sensorineural hearing losses from a clinical population of HA users participated. Speech-in-noise stimuli were generated with the help of a HA simulator that included directional processing, noise reduction and dynamic range compression. Stimulus presentation was via headphones. Six HA settings differing in terms of signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) improvement and temporal and spectral speech distortions were selected for testing based on a comprehensive technical evaluation of different HA parameter settings. Speech-in-noise perception was assessed at fixed SNRs that were chosen based on individual speech reception threshold measurements. In addition, overall preference and noise annoyance were assessed using a multiple stimulus comparison paradigm. Results, We hypothesize that the perceptual outcomes from the six HA settings will differ across the different auditory profiles. More specifically, we expect listeners showing high sensitivity to temporal and spectral signal changes to perform best with and/or to prefer HA settings that preserve those cues. In contrast, we expect listeners showing low sensitivity to temporal and spectral signal changes to perform best with settings that maximize SNR improvement, independent of any additional signal distortions. Conclusions, We anticipate that the findings from the current study will provide the basis for the implementation of more individualized HA fitting strategies to be tested subsequently in wearable HAs.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {conference} } Background, The Better hEAring Rehabilitation (BEAR) project pursues the development and evaluation of new, clinically feasible strategies for individual hearing loss diagnosis and hearing aid (HA) fitting. Two essential elements of this research are the design of a new diagnostic test battery for identifying different auditory profiles and linking those profiles to different HA processing strategies. The current study focused on establishing links between four auditory profiles and the benefit from six HA processing strategies. Material and methods, Sixty older individuals with bilateral mild-to-severe sensorineural hearing losses from a clinical population of HA users participated. Speech-in-noise stimuli were generated with the help of a HA simulator that included directional processing, noise reduction and dynamic range compression. Stimulus presentation was via headphones. Six HA settings differing in terms of signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) improvement and temporal and spectral speech distortions were selected for testing based on a comprehensive technical evaluation of different HA parameter settings. Speech-in-noise perception was assessed at fixed SNRs that were chosen based on individual speech reception threshold measurements. In addition, overall preference and noise annoyance were assessed using a multiple stimulus comparison paradigm. Results, We hypothesize that the perceptual outcomes from the six HA settings will differ across the different auditory profiles. More specifically, we expect listeners showing high sensitivity to temporal and spectral signal changes to perform best with and/or to prefer HA settings that preserve those cues. In contrast, we expect listeners showing low sensitivity to temporal and spectral signal changes to perform best with settings that maximize SNR improvement, independent of any additional signal distortions. Conclusions, We anticipate that the findings from the current study will provide the basis for the implementation of more individualized HA fitting strategies to be tested subsequently in wearable HAs. |
Sanchez-Lopez, Raul; Nielsen, Silje Grini; Ej-Haj-Ali, Mouhamad; Cañete, Oscar; Wu, Mengfan; Fereczkowski, Michal; Bianchi, Federica; Neher, Tobias; Dau, Torsten; Santurette, Sebastién Presentation at the 14th Congress of the European Federation of Audiology Societies (EFAS 2019), Lisbon, Portugal, 22-25 May 2019, (03921), European Federation of Audiology Societies 2019. @conference{EFAS2019RSL, title = {Auditory profiling as a tool for characterizing individual hearing deficits: Data-driven analysis of the results of the BEAR Test Battery}, author = {Raul Sanchez-Lopez and Silje Grini Nielsen and Mouhamad Ej-Haj-Ali and Oscar Cañete and Mengfan Wu and Michal Fereczkowski and Federica Bianchi and Tobias Neher and Torsten Dau and Sebastién Santurette}, url = {https://fff0e2ea-6f01-41b9-b0dd-7dbdf3580dbb.filesusr.com/ugd/09d8d3_dc3fb64898554097a7427d3d03a1f290.pdf}, year = {2019}, date = {2019-05-22}, booktitle = {Presentation at the 14th Congress of the European Federation of Audiology Societies (EFAS 2019), Lisbon, Portugal, 22-25 May 2019}, number = {03921}, organization = {European Federation of Audiology Societies}, abstract = {Background: One aim of the Better hEAring Rehabilitation (BEAR) project is to define a new clinical profiling tool, a test-battery, for individualized hearing loss characterization. Whereas the loss of sensitivity can be efficiently assessed by pure-tone audiometry, it still remains a challenge to address supra-threshold hearing deficits using appropriate clinical diagnostic tools. In contrast to the classical attenuation-distortion model, the proposed BEAR approach is based on the hypothesis that any listener’s hearing can be characterized along two dimensions reflecting largely independent types of perceptual distortions. Recently, a data-driven approach (Sanchez-Lopez et al., 2018) provided evidence consistent with the existence of two independent sources of distortion, and thus different auditory profiles. Method: Based on considerations of feasibility, time efficiency and evidence from literature, 11 tests were selected for the clinical test battery. The proposed tests were divided into six categories: audibility, middle-ear analysis, speech perception, binaural-processing abilities, loudness perception, and spectro-temporal resolution. Fifty-seven listeners with symmetric, mild-to-severe sensorineural hearing loss were selected from a clinical population of hearing-aid users who completed all tests included in the battery. The participants were tested in a clinical environment and did not receive systematic training for any of the tasks. Results: The analysis of the preliminary results will focus on the ability of each test to pinpoint individual differences among the participants, relationships among the different tests, and determining their potential use in clinical settings. Importantly, a parallel study will evaluate the extent to which the outcomes of these tests can be used for hearing-aid fitting. Conclusion: Based on the results of a data-driven analysis for auditory profiling, the test battery will be refined and implemented as a clinical profiling tool in audiology clinics.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {conference} } Background: One aim of the Better hEAring Rehabilitation (BEAR) project is to define a new clinical profiling tool, a test-battery, for individualized hearing loss characterization. Whereas the loss of sensitivity can be efficiently assessed by pure-tone audiometry, it still remains a challenge to address supra-threshold hearing deficits using appropriate clinical diagnostic tools. In contrast to the classical attenuation-distortion model, the proposed BEAR approach is based on the hypothesis that any listener’s hearing can be characterized along two dimensions reflecting largely independent types of perceptual distortions. Recently, a data-driven approach (Sanchez-Lopez et al., 2018) provided evidence consistent with the existence of two independent sources of distortion, and thus different auditory profiles. Method: Based on considerations of feasibility, time efficiency and evidence from literature, 11 tests were selected for the clinical test battery. The proposed tests were divided into six categories: audibility, middle-ear analysis, speech perception, binaural-processing abilities, loudness perception, and spectro-temporal resolution. Fifty-seven listeners with symmetric, mild-to-severe sensorineural hearing loss were selected from a clinical population of hearing-aid users who completed all tests included in the battery. The participants were tested in a clinical environment and did not receive systematic training for any of the tasks. Results: The analysis of the preliminary results will focus on the ability of each test to pinpoint individual differences among the participants, relationships among the different tests, and determining their potential use in clinical settings. Importantly, a parallel study will evaluate the extent to which the outcomes of these tests can be used for hearing-aid fitting. Conclusion: Based on the results of a data-driven analysis for auditory profiling, the test battery will be refined and implemented as a clinical profiling tool in audiology clinics. |
2018 |
Wu, Mengfan; El-Haj-Ali, Mouhamad; Sanchez-Lopez, Raul; Fereczkowski, Michal; Bianchi, Federica; Dau, Torsten; Santurette, Sébastien; Neher, Tobias Poster presentation at Danish Technical Audiological Society's annual meeting, 5-6 Oct 2018. Hotel Vejlefjord, Stouby, Denmark, 2018. @conference{DTAS2018b, title = {Hearing aid processing strategies for listeners with different auditory profiles: Insights from the BEAR project}, author = {Mengfan Wu and Mouhamad El-Haj-Ali and Raul Sanchez-Lopez and Michal Fereczkowski and Federica Bianchi and Torsten Dau and Sébastien Santurette and Tobias Neher}, url = {http://www.dtas.dk/DTAS_Program_2018.pdf}, year = {2018}, date = {2018-10-05}, booktitle = {Poster presentation at Danish Technical Audiological Society's annual meeting, 5-6 Oct 2018. Hotel Vejlefjord, Stouby, Denmark}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {conference} } |
Sanchez-Lopez, Raul; Bianchi, Federica; Fereczkowski, Michal; Piechowiak, Tobias; Hau, Ole; Pedersen, Michael Syskind; Behrens, Thomas; Neher, Tobias; Dau, Torsten; Santurette, Sébastien Technical evaluation of hearing-aid fitting parameters for different auditory profiles Conference Poster presentation at Danish Technical Audiological Society's annual meeting, 5-6 Oct 2018. Hotel Vejlefjord, Stouby, Denmark, 2018. @conference{DTAS2018bb, title = {Technical evaluation of hearing-aid fitting parameters for different auditory profiles}, author = {Raul Sanchez-Lopez and Federica Bianchi and Michal Fereczkowski and Tobias Piechowiak and Ole Hau and Michael Syskind Pedersen and Thomas Behrens and Tobias Neher and Torsten Dau and Sébastien Santurette}, url = {http://www.dtas.dk/DTAS_Program_2018.pdf}, year = {2018}, date = {2018-10-05}, booktitle = {Poster presentation at Danish Technical Audiological Society's annual meeting, 5-6 Oct 2018. Hotel Vejlefjord, Stouby, Denmark}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {conference} } |
Sanchez-Lopez, Raul; Fereczkowski, Michal; Bianchi, Federica; El-Haj-Ali, Mouhamad; Neher, Tobias; Dau, Torsten; Santurette, Sébastien Auditory tests for characterizing individual hearing deficits: The BEAR test battery Conference Poster at International Hearing Aid Research Conference (IHCON 2018), Lake Tahoe, California, US, 15-19 Aug 2018, (C3-P-27), 2018. @conference{IHCON2018b, title = {Auditory tests for characterizing individual hearing deficits: The BEAR test battery}, author = {Raul Sanchez-Lopez and Michal Fereczkowski and Federica Bianchi and Mouhamad El-Haj-Ali and Tobias Neher and Torsten Dau and Sébastien Santurette}, url = {https://ihcon.org/files/ihcon/files/final_final_ihcon_2018_program_0.pdf}, year = {2018}, date = {2018-08-17}, booktitle = {Poster at International Hearing Aid Research Conference (IHCON 2018), Lake Tahoe, California, US, 15-19 Aug 2018}, number = {C3-P-27}, pages = {49}, abstract = {The Better hEAring Rehabilitation (BEAR) project seeks to develop and assess new clinically feasible strategies for individualized hearing-loss diagnosis and hearing-aid fitting. The aim is to improve current clinical practice, where the fitting process relies on the pure-tone audiogram and trial-and-error methods. These usually result in inconsistent practices and patient dissatisfaction and inefficient service. Existing evidence suggests that the audiogram does not sufficiently describe supra-threshold performance of hearing-impaired listeners. Detailed characterization of hearing deficits can be complex. Therefore, one aim of the BEAR project is to design a hearing test battery for classification of listeners into a small number of auditory profiles. If successful, this BEAR test battery may be refined and reduced to form the basis for improved profile-based hearing-aid fitting protocols. Method: Based on the reanalysis of existing auditory profiling data and on criteria of their feasibility, time efficiency, and evidence from the literature, eleven potential tests for inclusion in a clinical test battery were selected. The proposed tests were divided into six categories: audibility, middle-ear analysis, speech perception, binaural-processing abilities, loudness perception, and spectro-temporal resolution. Thirty hearing-impaired listeners with symmetric mild to severe sensorineural hearing loss were selected from a clinical population of hearing-aid users. All listeners performed every test included in the battery. The participants were tested in a clinical environment and did not receive systematic training on any of the tasks. Results: The considered tests have so far shown potential for auditory profiling. The analysis of the preliminary results will focus on the ability of each test to pinpoint individual differences among the participants, interrelations among the tests, as well as their usability for the target clinical population. Importantly, a parallel study will evaluate the extent to which the outcomes of these tests can be used for hearing-aid fitting. Finally, the current test battery will be refined for implementation in clinical practice, based on the results of a data-driven analysis for auditory profiling.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {conference} } The Better hEAring Rehabilitation (BEAR) project seeks to develop and assess new clinically feasible strategies for individualized hearing-loss diagnosis and hearing-aid fitting. The aim is to improve current clinical practice, where the fitting process relies on the pure-tone audiogram and trial-and-error methods. These usually result in inconsistent practices and patient dissatisfaction and inefficient service. Existing evidence suggests that the audiogram does not sufficiently describe supra-threshold performance of hearing-impaired listeners. Detailed characterization of hearing deficits can be complex. Therefore, one aim of the BEAR project is to design a hearing test battery for classification of listeners into a small number of auditory profiles. If successful, this BEAR test battery may be refined and reduced to form the basis for improved profile-based hearing-aid fitting protocols. Method: Based on the reanalysis of existing auditory profiling data and on criteria of their feasibility, time efficiency, and evidence from the literature, eleven potential tests for inclusion in a clinical test battery were selected. The proposed tests were divided into six categories: audibility, middle-ear analysis, speech perception, binaural-processing abilities, loudness perception, and spectro-temporal resolution. Thirty hearing-impaired listeners with symmetric mild to severe sensorineural hearing loss were selected from a clinical population of hearing-aid users. All listeners performed every test included in the battery. The participants were tested in a clinical environment and did not receive systematic training on any of the tasks. Results: The considered tests have so far shown potential for auditory profiling. The analysis of the preliminary results will focus on the ability of each test to pinpoint individual differences among the participants, interrelations among the tests, as well as their usability for the target clinical population. Importantly, a parallel study will evaluate the extent to which the outcomes of these tests can be used for hearing-aid fitting. Finally, the current test battery will be refined for implementation in clinical practice, based on the results of a data-driven analysis for auditory profiling. |
Dau, Torsten Auditory processing models and their potential application in hearing technology Conference Invited presentation at International Hearing Aid Research Conference (IHCON 2018), Lake Tahoe, California, US, 15-19 Aug 2018, (C4-0-1), 2018. @conference{IHCON2018cb, title = {Auditory processing models and their potential application in hearing technology}, author = {Torsten Dau}, url = {https://ihcon.org/files/ihcon/files/final_final_ihcon_2018_program_0.pdf}, year = {2018}, date = {2018-08-17}, booktitle = {Invited presentation at International Hearing Aid Research Conference (IHCON 2018), Lake Tahoe, California, US, 15-19 Aug 2018}, number = {C4-0-1}, pages = {52-53}, abstract = {Auditory processing models provide a powerful framework to both represent and interpret the results from a variety of experiments and to further understand the functioning of different parts of the auditory system. An important category of functional computational models seeks to capture the essential signal transformations along the auditory pathway, rather than their specific physiological substrates, and helps generate hypotheses that can be quantitatively tested for complex systems at different functional levels. These models can also help determine how a deficit in one or more functional components affects the overall operation of the system. The first part of this presentation describes some current trends in quantitative modeling of speech perception in challenging acoustic conditions, inspired by coding principles from physiology at periphery and mid-brain stages of processing. While such models can account reasonably well for speech intelligibility data from normal-hearing listeners, the prediction of data from individual hearing-impaired or aided listeners remains challenging. The second part considers compensation strategies in hearing instruments inspired by auditory models. Current compensation schemes, such as dynamic range compression, loudness compensation or speech enhancement, aim at processing the signal such that the perception of the aided signal in the hearing-impaired listener matches the perception of a normalhearing listener. While some approaches are promising, nonlinear system compensation is generally difficult to achieve in real-life situations and real-time applications. Moreover, even for the case of a purely peripheral impairment, consequences at more central stages can be manifold and complex and are typically less well understood. Current compensation strategies aim to restore peripheral processing but the restoration of cues at central stages may be equally relevant to consider. This, in turn, requires models that accurately capture such higher-level processing. Some modeling perspectives are finally described that attempt to bridge this gap between peripheral/midbrain and central processing using artificial neural network architectures. Such networks are optimized to solve real-world auditory tasks, such as speech recognition, and are currently matching the performance of human listeners. The degree to which task-optimized models can be viewed as models of the ‘real’ biological system are discussed. Overall, it is argued that the primary relevance of computational auditory signal-processing models remains the description of the transformations of the acoustical input signal into its essential ‘internal’ representations. More detailed descriptions of this process may, in turn, allow for more sophisticated hearing-aid compensation strategies to be developed.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {conference} } Auditory processing models provide a powerful framework to both represent and interpret the results from a variety of experiments and to further understand the functioning of different parts of the auditory system. An important category of functional computational models seeks to capture the essential signal transformations along the auditory pathway, rather than their specific physiological substrates, and helps generate hypotheses that can be quantitatively tested for complex systems at different functional levels. These models can also help determine how a deficit in one or more functional components affects the overall operation of the system. The first part of this presentation describes some current trends in quantitative modeling of speech perception in challenging acoustic conditions, inspired by coding principles from physiology at periphery and mid-brain stages of processing. While such models can account reasonably well for speech intelligibility data from normal-hearing listeners, the prediction of data from individual hearing-impaired or aided listeners remains challenging. The second part considers compensation strategies in hearing instruments inspired by auditory models. Current compensation schemes, such as dynamic range compression, loudness compensation or speech enhancement, aim at processing the signal such that the perception of the aided signal in the hearing-impaired listener matches the perception of a normalhearing listener. While some approaches are promising, nonlinear system compensation is generally difficult to achieve in real-life situations and real-time applications. Moreover, even for the case of a purely peripheral impairment, consequences at more central stages can be manifold and complex and are typically less well understood. Current compensation strategies aim to restore peripheral processing but the restoration of cues at central stages may be equally relevant to consider. This, in turn, requires models that accurately capture such higher-level processing. Some modeling perspectives are finally described that attempt to bridge this gap between peripheral/midbrain and central processing using artificial neural network architectures. Such networks are optimized to solve real-world auditory tasks, such as speech recognition, and are currently matching the performance of human listeners. The degree to which task-optimized models can be viewed as models of the ‘real’ biological system are discussed. Overall, it is argued that the primary relevance of computational auditory signal-processing models remains the description of the transformations of the acoustical input signal into its essential ‘internal’ representations. More detailed descriptions of this process may, in turn, allow for more sophisticated hearing-aid compensation strategies to be developed. |
Sanchez-Lopez, Raul; Fereczkowski, Michal; Bianchi, Federica; Santurette, Sébastien; Dau, Torsten Data-driven auditory profiling as a tool for defining Better hEAring Rehabilitation (BEAR) Conference Poster at International Hearing Aid Research Conference (IHCON 2018), Lake Tahoe, California, US, 15-19 Aug 2018, (B3-P-04), 2018. @conference{IHCON2018a, title = {Data-driven auditory profiling as a tool for defining Better hEAring Rehabilitation (BEAR)}, author = {Raul Sanchez-Lopez and Michal Fereczkowski and Federica Bianchi and Sébastien Santurette and Torsten Dau}, url = {https://ihcon.org/files/ihcon/files/final_final_ihcon_2018_program_0.pdf}, year = {2018}, date = {2018-08-16}, booktitle = {Poster at International Hearing Aid Research Conference (IHCON 2018), Lake Tahoe, California, US, 15-19 Aug 2018}, number = {B3-P-04}, pages = {32}, abstract = {Background: While the audiogram still stands as the main tool for selecting hearing-aid compensation strategies in audiological clinics, there is ample evidence that loss of hearing sensitivity cannot fully account for common difficulties encountered by people with sensorineural hearing loss, such as understanding speech in noisy environments. Forty years after R. Plomp proposed his attenuation-distortion model of hearing impairment, it remains a challenge to address the distortion component, mainly related to suprathreshold deficits, via adequate clinical diagnostics and corresponding hearing-aid compensation strategies. Inspired by the different auditory profiling approaches used in the literature, a major aim of the Better hEAring Rehabilitation (BEAR) project is to define a new clinical profiling tool, a test battery, for individualized hearing loss characterization. Methods: The proposed BEAR approach is based on the hypothesis that any listener’s hearing can be characterized along two dimensions reflecting largely independent types of perceptual distortions. In order to keep the approach as neutral as possible, no a priori assumption was made about the nature of the two distortion types. Instead, a statistical analysis method, combining unsupervised and supervised learning, was applied to existing data. The aim was to provide a tool to help define the two distortion types, such that potentially relevant tests for classifying listeners into different auditory profiles could be identified. So far, the data from two auditory profiling studies were reanalyzed based on this approach. First, an unsupervised-learning technique including archetypal analysis was used to identify extreme patterns in the data, forming the basis for different auditory profiles. Next, a decision tree was determined to classify the listeners into one of the profiles. Results: The data-driven analysis provided consistent evidence for the existence of two independent sources of distortion, and thus different auditory profiles, in the data. The results suggested that the first distortion type was related to loss of sensitivity at high frequencies as well as reduced peripheral compression and frequency selectivity, while the second distortion type was linked to binaural temporal-fine-structure processing abilities as well as low-frequency sensitivity loss. The audiogram was not found to reflect an independent dimension on its own, and the most informative predictors for profile identification beyond the audiogram were related to temporal processing, binaural processing, compressive peripheral nonlinearity, and speech-in-noise perception. The current approach can be used to analyze other existing data sets and may help define an optimal test battery to achieve efficient clinical auditory profiling.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {conference} } Background: While the audiogram still stands as the main tool for selecting hearing-aid compensation strategies in audiological clinics, there is ample evidence that loss of hearing sensitivity cannot fully account for common difficulties encountered by people with sensorineural hearing loss, such as understanding speech in noisy environments. Forty years after R. Plomp proposed his attenuation-distortion model of hearing impairment, it remains a challenge to address the distortion component, mainly related to suprathreshold deficits, via adequate clinical diagnostics and corresponding hearing-aid compensation strategies. Inspired by the different auditory profiling approaches used in the literature, a major aim of the Better hEAring Rehabilitation (BEAR) project is to define a new clinical profiling tool, a test battery, for individualized hearing loss characterization. Methods: The proposed BEAR approach is based on the hypothesis that any listener’s hearing can be characterized along two dimensions reflecting largely independent types of perceptual distortions. In order to keep the approach as neutral as possible, no a priori assumption was made about the nature of the two distortion types. Instead, a statistical analysis method, combining unsupervised and supervised learning, was applied to existing data. The aim was to provide a tool to help define the two distortion types, such that potentially relevant tests for classifying listeners into different auditory profiles could be identified. So far, the data from two auditory profiling studies were reanalyzed based on this approach. First, an unsupervised-learning technique including archetypal analysis was used to identify extreme patterns in the data, forming the basis for different auditory profiles. Next, a decision tree was determined to classify the listeners into one of the profiles. Results: The data-driven analysis provided consistent evidence for the existence of two independent sources of distortion, and thus different auditory profiles, in the data. The results suggested that the first distortion type was related to loss of sensitivity at high frequencies as well as reduced peripheral compression and frequency selectivity, while the second distortion type was linked to binaural temporal-fine-structure processing abilities as well as low-frequency sensitivity loss. The audiogram was not found to reflect an independent dimension on its own, and the most informative predictors for profile identification beyond the audiogram were related to temporal processing, binaural processing, compressive peripheral nonlinearity, and speech-in-noise perception. The current approach can be used to analyze other existing data sets and may help define an optimal test battery to achieve efficient clinical auditory profiling. |
Wu, Mengfan; El-Haj-Ali, Mouhamad; Sanchez-Lopez, Raul; Fereczkowski, Michal; Bianchi, Federica; Dau, Torsten; Santurette, Sébastien; Neher, Tobias Presentation at International Hearing Aid Research Conference (IHCON 2018), Lake Tahoe, California, US, 15-19 Aug 2018, (B3-0-2), 2018. @conference{IHCON2018c, title = {Hearing aid processing strategies for listeners with different auditory profiles: Insights from the BEAR project}, author = {Mengfan Wu and Mouhamad El-Haj-Ali and Raul Sanchez-Lopez and Michal Fereczkowski and Federica Bianchi and Torsten Dau and Sébastien Santurette and Tobias Neher}, url = {https://ihcon.org/files/ihcon/files/final_final_ihcon_2018_program_0.pdf}, year = {2018}, date = {2018-08-16}, booktitle = {Presentation at International Hearing Aid Research Conference (IHCON 2018), Lake Tahoe, California, US, 15-19 Aug 2018}, number = {B3-0-2}, pages = {29}, abstract = {Background: The Better hEAring Rehabilitation (BEAR) project pursues the development and evaluation of new clinically feasible strategies for individual hearing loss diagnosis and hearing aid fitting. Two essential elements of this research are the design of a new diagnostic test battery for identifying different auditory profiles and linking those profiles to hearing aid processing strategies. The current study focused on establishing links between four auditory profiles and benefit from six hearing aid processing strategies. Methods: Participants were 30 older individuals with bilateral mild-to-severe sensorineural hearing losses who were selected from a clinical population of hearing aid users. Speech-in-noise stimuli were generated with the help of a hearing aid simulator that included directional processing, noise reduction and dynamic range compression. Stimulus presentation was via headphones. Six hearing aid settings that differed in terms of signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) improvement and temporal and spectral speech distortions were selected for testing based on a comprehensive technical evaluation of different parameterisations of the hearing aid simulator. Speech-in-noise perception was assessed at fixed input SNRs that were selected based on individual speech reception threshold (SRT50) measurements. Participants were required to recognize five-word, low-context sentences embedded in two realistic noise backgrounds. In addition, overall preference and noise annoyance were assessed using a multiple stimulus comparison paradigm. Results: We hypothesize that the perceptual outcomes from the six hearing aid settings will differ across listeners with different auditory profiles. More specifically, we expect listeners showing high sensitivity to temporal and spectral differences to perform best with and/or to favour hearing aid settings that preserve those cues. In contrast, we expect listeners showing low sensitivity to temporal and spectral differences to perform best with and/or to favour settings that maximize SNR improvement, independent of any additional speech distortions. Altogether, we anticipate that these findings will provide the basis for more individualized fitting strategies to be implemented in wearable hearing aids.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {conference} } Background: The Better hEAring Rehabilitation (BEAR) project pursues the development and evaluation of new clinically feasible strategies for individual hearing loss diagnosis and hearing aid fitting. Two essential elements of this research are the design of a new diagnostic test battery for identifying different auditory profiles and linking those profiles to hearing aid processing strategies. The current study focused on establishing links between four auditory profiles and benefit from six hearing aid processing strategies. Methods: Participants were 30 older individuals with bilateral mild-to-severe sensorineural hearing losses who were selected from a clinical population of hearing aid users. Speech-in-noise stimuli were generated with the help of a hearing aid simulator that included directional processing, noise reduction and dynamic range compression. Stimulus presentation was via headphones. Six hearing aid settings that differed in terms of signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) improvement and temporal and spectral speech distortions were selected for testing based on a comprehensive technical evaluation of different parameterisations of the hearing aid simulator. Speech-in-noise perception was assessed at fixed input SNRs that were selected based on individual speech reception threshold (SRT50) measurements. Participants were required to recognize five-word, low-context sentences embedded in two realistic noise backgrounds. In addition, overall preference and noise annoyance were assessed using a multiple stimulus comparison paradigm. Results: We hypothesize that the perceptual outcomes from the six hearing aid settings will differ across listeners with different auditory profiles. More specifically, we expect listeners showing high sensitivity to temporal and spectral differences to perform best with and/or to favour hearing aid settings that preserve those cues. In contrast, we expect listeners showing low sensitivity to temporal and spectral differences to perform best with and/or to favour settings that maximize SNR improvement, independent of any additional speech distortions. Altogether, we anticipate that these findings will provide the basis for more individualized fitting strategies to be implemented in wearable hearing aids. |
Santurette, Sébastien; Bianchi, Federica; Dau, Torsten Effects of musical training and hearing loss on pitch discrimination Conference Proceedings of the Baltic Nordic Acoustical Meeting 2018, Reykjavik, Iceland 15-18 Apr, 2018. , 2018. @conference{BNAM2018a, title = {Effects of musical training and hearing loss on pitch discrimination}, author = {Sébastien Santurette and Federica Bianchi and Torsten Dau}, url = {https://events.artegis.com/urlhost/artegis/customers/1571/.lwtemplates/layout/default/events_public/12612//Papers/2025392_SanturetteBianchiDau_BNAM2018.pdf}, year = {2018}, date = {2018-04-15}, booktitle = {Proceedings of the Baltic Nordic Acoustical Meeting 2018, Reykjavik, Iceland 15-18 Apr, 2018. }, pages = {1-6}, abstract = {Our ability to perceive the pitch of complex sounds is essential for melody perception and for our enjoyment of music. It also plays an important role in speech perception to convey intonation and sometimes meaning, e.g., in tonal languages, and greatly helps segregation of competing sound sources. Humans are able to discriminate very small changes in the pitch of complex harmonic sounds, with fundamental frequency difference limens (F0DLs) that can be smaller than 1% of the fundamental frequency (F0). However, performance in such pitch discrimination tasks is known to depend on the harmonic content of the sound and whether the harmonics are resolved by the auditory frequency analysis operated by cochlear processing. F0DLs are also heavily influenced by the amount of musical training received by the listener and by the spectrotemporal auditory processing deficits that often accompany sensorineural hearing loss. This paper reviews the latest evidence for how musical training and hearing loss affect pitch discrimination performance, based on behavioral F0DL experiments with complex tones containing either resolved or unresolved harmonics, carried out in listeners with different degrees of hearing loss and musicianship. A better understanding of the interaction between these two factors is crucial to determine whether auditory training based on musical tasks or targeted towards specific auditory cues may be useful to hearing-impaired patients undergoing hearing rehabilitation.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {conference} } Our ability to perceive the pitch of complex sounds is essential for melody perception and for our enjoyment of music. It also plays an important role in speech perception to convey intonation and sometimes meaning, e.g., in tonal languages, and greatly helps segregation of competing sound sources. Humans are able to discriminate very small changes in the pitch of complex harmonic sounds, with fundamental frequency difference limens (F0DLs) that can be smaller than 1% of the fundamental frequency (F0). However, performance in such pitch discrimination tasks is known to depend on the harmonic content of the sound and whether the harmonics are resolved by the auditory frequency analysis operated by cochlear processing. F0DLs are also heavily influenced by the amount of musical training received by the listener and by the spectrotemporal auditory processing deficits that often accompany sensorineural hearing loss. This paper reviews the latest evidence for how musical training and hearing loss affect pitch discrimination performance, based on behavioral F0DL experiments with complex tones containing either resolved or unresolved harmonics, carried out in listeners with different degrees of hearing loss and musicianship. A better understanding of the interaction between these two factors is crucial to determine whether auditory training based on musical tasks or targeted towards specific auditory cues may be useful to hearing-impaired patients undergoing hearing rehabilitation. |
Dau, Torsten From data-driven auditory profiling to scene-aware signal processing in hearing aids Conference 21st Annual Meeting of the German Audiological Society, Halle, Germany, Feb. 28 - March 3, 2018. @conference{DAGA2017b, title = {From data-driven auditory profiling to scene-aware signal processing in hearing aids}, author = {Torsten Dau}, year = {2018}, date = {2018-02-28}, booktitle = {21st Annual Meeting of the German Audiological Society, Halle, Germany, Feb. 28 - March 3}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {conference} } |
2017 |
Lopez, Raul Sanchez; Bianchi, Federica; Fereczkowski, Michal; Santurette, Sébastien; Dau, Torsten An extended test battery for characterizing hearing deficits Conference Dansk Teknisk Audiologisk Årsmøde, Vejle, Danmark, 9-10 september, 2017. @conference{RaulDTAS2017, title = {An extended test battery for characterizing hearing deficits}, author = {Raul Sanchez Lopez and Federica Bianchi and Michal Fereczkowski and Sébastien Santurette and Torsten Dau }, year = {2017}, date = {2017-09-09}, booktitle = {Dansk Teknisk Audiologisk Årsmøde, Vejle, Danmark, 9-10 september}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {conference} } |
Dau, Torsten Bridging the gap from sound processors to brain processors Conference “High-Tech Summit” Copenhagen 2017 – Empowering Society and Creating Value” Conference at the Technical University of Denmark, 1. September, 2017. @conference{high-tech2017, title = {Bridging the gap from sound processors to brain processors}, author = {Torsten Dau}, year = {2017}, date = {2017-09-01}, booktitle = {“High-Tech Summit” Copenhagen 2017 – Empowering Society and Creating Value” Conference at the Technical University of Denmark, 1. September}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {conference} } |
Lopez, Raul Sanchez; Bianchi, Federica; Fereczkowski, Michal; Santurette, Sébastien; Dau, Torsten Auditory profiling through computational data analysis Conference Poster presented at the 1st International Workshop on Challenges in Hearing Assistive Technology (CHAT-2017), Stockholm, Sweden, 2017. @conference{CHAT2017, title = {Auditory profiling through computational data analysis}, author = {Raul Sanchez Lopez and Federica Bianchi and Michal Fereczkowski and Sébastien Santurette and Torsten Dau}, year = {2017}, date = {2017-08-19}, booktitle = {Poster presented at the 1st International Workshop on Challenges in Hearing Assistive Technology (CHAT-2017), Stockholm, Sweden}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {conference} } |
2016 |
Lopez, Raul Sanchez; Bianchi, Federica; Santurette, Sébastien; Dau, Torsten Archetypal analysis of auditory profiling data towards a clinical test battery Conference Poster presented at ARCHES/ICANHEAR 21-23 Nov 2016, Zurich, Switzerland, (AP-10), 2016. @conference{Lopez2016, title = {Archetypal analysis of auditory profiling data towards a clinical test battery}, author = {Raul Sanchez Lopez and Federica Bianchi and Sébastien Santurette and Torsten Dau}, url = {https://www.uzh.ch/orl/Sanchez.pdf}, year = {2016}, date = {2016-11-21}, booktitle = {Poster presented at ARCHES/ICANHEAR 21-23 Nov 2016, Zurich, Switzerland}, number = {AP-10}, abstract = {Nowadays, the pure-tone audiogram is the main tool used to characterize the degree of hearing loss and for hearing-aid fitting. However, the perceptual consequences of hearing loss are typically associated not only to a loss of sensitivity, but also to a loss of clarity (distortions) that is not captured by the audiogram. Here, we hypothesize that any listener’s hearing can be characterized along two dimensions: audibility-related and nonaudibility-related distortions. In this space, four profiles can be identified: normalhearing, sensitivity loss, hearing loss with clarity loss and normal-hearing with clarity loss (hidden hearing loss). Recently, Thorup et al. (2016) proposed an extended auditory profile beyond the audiogram for hearing aid candidates. A new analysis of these data using archetypal analysis is presented here to evaluate our hypothesis. This technique uses unsupervised learning for identifying extreme patterns in the data, which would correspond to different profiles. Results provided consistent evidence of the existence of different “Auditory Profiles” in the data. The most sensitive tests for the classification of the hearing-impaired listeners were related to temporal processing, loudness, cognition, and speech perception. The current approach seems promising for analyzing other existing data sets in order to select the most relevant tests for auditory profiling. }, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {conference} } Nowadays, the pure-tone audiogram is the main tool used to characterize the degree of hearing loss and for hearing-aid fitting. However, the perceptual consequences of hearing loss are typically associated not only to a loss of sensitivity, but also to a loss of clarity (distortions) that is not captured by the audiogram. Here, we hypothesize that any listener’s hearing can be characterized along two dimensions: audibility-related and nonaudibility-related distortions. In this space, four profiles can be identified: normalhearing, sensitivity loss, hearing loss with clarity loss and normal-hearing with clarity loss (hidden hearing loss). Recently, Thorup et al. (2016) proposed an extended auditory profile beyond the audiogram for hearing aid candidates. A new analysis of these data using archetypal analysis is presented here to evaluate our hypothesis. This technique uses unsupervised learning for identifying extreme patterns in the data, which would correspond to different profiles. Results provided consistent evidence of the existence of different “Auditory Profiles” in the data. The most sensitive tests for the classification of the hearing-impaired listeners were related to temporal processing, loudness, cognition, and speech perception. The current approach seems promising for analyzing other existing data sets in order to select the most relevant tests for auditory profiling. |
Lopez, Raul Sanchez; Fereczkowski, Michal; Santurette, Sébastien; Dau, Torsten Poster presented at Danish Technical Audiological Society's annual meeting, 9-10 Sep 2016, Hotel Vejlefjord, Stouby, Denmark, 2016. @conference{57d1c0d07c8542ea9ab3c8c59714189a, title = {Spectro-temporal modulation sensitivity and discrimination in normal hearing and hearing-impaired listeners}, author = {Raul Sanchez Lopez and Michal Fereczkowski and Sébastien Santurette and Torsten Dau}, url = {http://www.dtas.dk/program2016.pdf}, year = {2016}, date = {2016-09-09}, booktitle = {Poster presented at Danish Technical Audiological Society's annual meeting, 9-10 Sep 2016, Hotel Vejlefjord, Stouby, Denmark}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {conference} } |
University Hospitals
Odense University Hospital
Rikke Schnack-Petersen
rikke.schnack-petersen@rsyd.dk
Aalborg University Hospital
Michael Gaihede
mlg@rn.dk
Copenhagen University Hospital
Jesper Borchorst Yde
jesper.borchorst.yde.01@regionh.dk
Academia
University of Southen Denmark
Jesper Hvass Schmidt
jesper.schmidt@rsyd.dk
Aalborg University
Dorte Hammershøi
dh@es.aau.dk
Technical University of Denmark
Torsten Dau
tdau@dtu.dk
Tech Service
Industry
Oticon
Karen Wibling Solgård
kaws@oticon.dk
GN Resound
Nikolai Bisgaard
nbisgaard@gnresound.com
WSAudiology
Filip Marchman Rønne
filip.roenne@wsa.com
