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.
Post Doc
Technical University of Denmark
Raul Sanchez Lopez
Raul Sanchez Lopez is a certified Hearing Aid Audiologist from IES Moratalaz (2005), and has worked as an audiologist for more than 10 years. He studied Telecommunication within Audio and Video at University of Madrid in Spain, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in 2013. In 2015, he received a Master of Science in Engineering Acoustics from the Danish Technical University in Denmark, where he on August 14, 2020 defended his PhD degree on "Clinical auditory profiling and profile-based hearing-aid fitting". In 2020 he started working at Interacoustics, while continuing part-time as Post Doc at DTU.
Work Area
Raul contributes primarily to the work on new strategies for profiling and fitting for treating potential hearing aid users.
Resources
Publications
2024 |
Cañete, Oscar M; Loquet, Gérard; Sanchez-Lopez, Raul; Hougaard, Dan Dupont; Schnack-Petersen, Rikke; Gaihede, Michael; Schmidt, Jesper H; Hammershøi, Dorte; Neher, Tobias Auditory Profile-Based Hearing Aid Fitting: Self-Reported Benefit for First-Time Hearing Aid Users Journal Article Audiological Research, 14 (1), pp. 183-195, 2024. @article{AdiolRes2024, title = {Auditory Profile-Based Hearing Aid Fitting: Self-Reported Benefit for First-Time Hearing Aid Users}, author = {Oscar M Cañete and Gérard Loquet and Raul Sanchez-Lopez and Dan Dupont Hougaard and Rikke Schnack-Petersen and Michael Gaihede and Jesper H Schmidt and Dorte Hammershøi and Tobias Neher}, url = {https://www.mdpi.com/2039-4349/14/1/17}, doi = {10.3390/audiolres14010017}, year = {2024}, date = {2024-02-08}, journal = {Audiological Research}, volume = {14}, number = {1}, pages = {183-195}, abstract = {Background: Although hearing aids (HAs) can compensate for reduced audibility, functional outcomes and benefits vary widely across individuals. As part of the Danish ‘Better hEAring Rehabilitation’ (BEAR) project, four distinct auditory profiles differing in terms of audiometric thresholds and supra-threshold hearing abilities were recently identified. Additionally, profile-specific HA-fitting strategies were proposed. The aim of the current study was to evaluate the self-reported benefit of these profile-based HA fittings in a group of new HA users. Methods: A total of 205 hearing-impaired older adults were recruited from two Danish university hospitals. Participants were randomly allocated to one of two treatment groups: (1) NAL-NL2 gain prescription combined with default advanced feature settings (‘reference fitting’) or (2) auditory profile-based fitting with tailored gain prescription and advanced feature settings (‘BEAR fitting’). Two months after treatment, the participants completed the benefit version of the short form of the Speech, Spatial, and Qualities of Hearing Scale (SSQ12-B) and the International Outcome Inventory for Hearing Aids (IOI-HA) questionnaire. Results: Overall, participants reported a clear benefit from HA treatment. However, no significant differences in the SSQ12-B or IOI-HA scores between the reference and BEAR fittings were found. Conclusion: First-time users experience clear benefits from HA treatment. Auditory profile-based HA fitting warrants further investigation.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } Background: Although hearing aids (HAs) can compensate for reduced audibility, functional outcomes and benefits vary widely across individuals. As part of the Danish ‘Better hEAring Rehabilitation’ (BEAR) project, four distinct auditory profiles differing in terms of audiometric thresholds and supra-threshold hearing abilities were recently identified. Additionally, profile-specific HA-fitting strategies were proposed. The aim of the current study was to evaluate the self-reported benefit of these profile-based HA fittings in a group of new HA users. Methods: A total of 205 hearing-impaired older adults were recruited from two Danish university hospitals. Participants were randomly allocated to one of two treatment groups: (1) NAL-NL2 gain prescription combined with default advanced feature settings (‘reference fitting’) or (2) auditory profile-based fitting with tailored gain prescription and advanced feature settings (‘BEAR fitting’). Two months after treatment, the participants completed the benefit version of the short form of the Speech, Spatial, and Qualities of Hearing Scale (SSQ12-B) and the International Outcome Inventory for Hearing Aids (IOI-HA) questionnaire. Results: Overall, participants reported a clear benefit from HA treatment. However, no significant differences in the SSQ12-B or IOI-HA scores between the reference and BEAR fittings were found. Conclusion: First-time users experience clear benefits from HA treatment. Auditory profile-based HA fitting warrants further investigation. |
Fereczkowski, Michal; Sanchez-Lopez, Raul H; Christiansen, Stine; Neher, Tobias Amplitude Compression for Preventing Rollover at Above-Conversational Speech Levels Journal Article Trends in Hearing, 28 , 2024. @article{Michal2024, title = {Amplitude Compression for Preventing Rollover at Above-Conversational Speech Levels}, author = {Michal Fereczkowski and Raul H Sanchez-Lopez and Stine Christiansen and Tobias Neher}, doi = {10.1177/23312165231224597}, year = {2024}, date = {2024-01-08}, journal = {Trends in Hearing}, volume = {28}, abstract = {Hearing aids provide nonlinear amplification to improve speech audibility and loudness perception. While more audibility typically increases speech intelligibility at low levels, the same is not true for above-conversational levels, where decreases in intelligibility (“rollover”) can occur. In a previous study, we found rollover in speech intelligibility measurements made in quiet for 35 out of 74 test ears with a hearing loss. Furthermore, we found rollover occurrence in quiet to be associated with poorer speech intelligibility in noise as measured with linear amplification. Here, we retested 16 participants with rollover with three amplitude-compression settings. Two were designed to prevent rollover by applying slow- or fast-acting compression with a 5:1 compression ratio around the “sweet spot,” that is, the area in an individual performance-intensity function with high intelligibility and listening comfort. The third, reference setting used gains and compression ratios prescribed by the “National Acoustic Laboratories Non-Linear 1” rule. Speech intelligibility was assessed in quiet and in noise. Pairwise preference judgments were also collected. For speech levels of 70 dB SPL and above, slow-acting sweet-spot compression gave better intelligibility in quiet and noise than the reference setting. Additionally, the participants clearly preferred slow-acting sweet-spot compression over the other settings. At lower levels, the three settings gave comparable speech intelligibility, and the participants preferred the reference setting over both sweet-spot settings. Overall, these results suggest that, for listeners with rollover, slow-acting sweet-spot compression is beneficial at 70 dB SPL and above, while at lower levels clinically established gain targets are more suited.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } Hearing aids provide nonlinear amplification to improve speech audibility and loudness perception. While more audibility typically increases speech intelligibility at low levels, the same is not true for above-conversational levels, where decreases in intelligibility (“rollover”) can occur. In a previous study, we found rollover in speech intelligibility measurements made in quiet for 35 out of 74 test ears with a hearing loss. Furthermore, we found rollover occurrence in quiet to be associated with poorer speech intelligibility in noise as measured with linear amplification. Here, we retested 16 participants with rollover with three amplitude-compression settings. Two were designed to prevent rollover by applying slow- or fast-acting compression with a 5:1 compression ratio around the “sweet spot,” that is, the area in an individual performance-intensity function with high intelligibility and listening comfort. The third, reference setting used gains and compression ratios prescribed by the “National Acoustic Laboratories Non-Linear 1” rule. Speech intelligibility was assessed in quiet and in noise. Pairwise preference judgments were also collected. For speech levels of 70 dB SPL and above, slow-acting sweet-spot compression gave better intelligibility in quiet and noise than the reference setting. Additionally, the participants clearly preferred slow-acting sweet-spot compression over the other settings. At lower levels, the three settings gave comparable speech intelligibility, and the participants preferred the reference setting over both sweet-spot settings. Overall, these results suggest that, for listeners with rollover, slow-acting sweet-spot compression is beneficial at 70 dB SPL and above, while at lower levels clinically established gain targets are more suited. |
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. |
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 Clinical auditory profiling and profile-based hearing-aid fitting PhD Thesis PhD thesis, Hearing Systems, Technical University of Denmark, Denmark, 2020. @phdthesis{RSL_PhD, title = {Clinical auditory profiling and profile-based hearing-aid fitting}, author = {Raul Sanchez-Lopez }, url = {https://orbit.dtu.dk/files/238103846/Raul_Sanchez_thesis.pdf}, year = {2020}, date = {2020-08-14}, address = {Akademivej, 2800 Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark}, school = {PhD thesis, Hearing Systems, Technical University of Denmark, Denmark}, type = {PhD thesis}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {phdthesis} } |
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. |
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 |
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. |
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. |
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 |
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 Hacia una audiología de precisión:Fenotipado auditivo y el test automático de contraste audible Conference Hacia una audiología de precisión:Fenotipado auditivo y el test automático de contraste audible. XVII Jornada Internacional de la Asociación Argentina de Audiología (ASARA), Asociación Argentina de Audiología (ASARA) 2022. @conference{RSL2022Argentina, title = {Hacia una audiología de precisión:Fenotipado auditivo y el test automático de contraste audible}, author = {Raul Sanchez-Lopez}, year = {2022}, date = {2022-09-22}, booktitle = {Hacia una audiología de precisión:Fenotipado auditivo y el test automático de contraste audible. XVII Jornada Internacional de la Asociación Argentina de Audiología (ASARA)}, organization = {Asociación Argentina de Audiología (ASARA)}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {conference} } |
Fereczkowski, Michal; Christiansen, Stine; Sanchez-Lopez, Raul; Neher, Tobias Hearing-aid amplitude compression for listeners with rollover at above-conversational speech levels Inproceedings Oral presentation at the Joint Euroregio Baltic Nordic Acoustics Meeting, Aalborg, Denmark, 2022. @inproceedings{michal_ERBNAM2022, title = {Hearing-aid amplitude compression for listeners with rollover at above-conversational speech levels}, author = {Michal Fereczkowski and Stine Christiansen and Raul Sanchez-Lopez and Tobias Neher}, url = {https://www.conforg.fr/bin/time_table?dir=erbnam2022}, year = {2022}, date = {2022-05-10}, booktitle = {Oral presentation at the Joint Euroregio Baltic Nordic Acoustics Meeting, Aalborg, Denmark}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {inproceedings} } |
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} } |
Sanchez-Lopez, Raul; gerard Encina-Llamas, 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{raul3_Isaar2021, title = {Exploring auditory mechanisms of loudness. A modelling study on loudness-related deficits observed in different auditory profiles}, author = {Raul Sanchez-Lopez and gerard Encina-Llamas}, url = {https://isaar.eu/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Programme-book-ISAAR-2021.pdf}, year = {2021}, date = {2021-08-24}, 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} } |
Cañete, Oscar M; Stubberup, Amalie T; Petersen, Lotte S E; Sánchez, Raul; Nielsen, Jens Bo; Lund, Katja; Ordoñez, Rodrigo; Schmidt, Jesper H; Hougaard, Dan Dupont; Schnack-Petersen, Rikke; Gaihede, Michael; Hammershøi, Dorte; Loquet, Gérard Clinical implementation of the Better hEAring Rehabilitation (BEAR) new strategies to improve hearing aid fitting process Inproceedings Oral presentation at the International Symposium on Auditory and Audiological Research: Vol 8: The Auditory System Throughout Life – Models, Mechanisms, and Interventions, 2021. @inproceedings{oscar_ISAAR2021, title = {Clinical implementation of the Better hEAring Rehabilitation (BEAR) new strategies to improve hearing aid fitting process}, author = {Oscar M Cañete and Amalie T. Stubberup and Lotte S. E. Petersen and Raul Sánchez and Jens Bo Nielsen and Katja Lund and Rodrigo Ordoñez and Jesper H Schmidt and Dan Dupont Hougaard and Rikke Schnack-Petersen and Michael Gaihede and Dorte Hammershøi and Gérard Loquet}, url = {https://isaar.eu/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Programme-book-ISAAR-2021.pdf}, year = {2021}, date = {2021-08-23}, booktitle = {Oral presentation at the International Symposium on Auditory and Audiological Research: Vol 8: The Auditory System Throughout Life – Models, Mechanisms, and Interventions}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {inproceedings} } |
Pontoppidan, Niels H; Christensen, Jeppe H; Sanchez-Lopez, Raul; Bibas, Athanasios; Murdin, Louisa; Economou, Apostolis; Bamiou, Doris-Eva Modeling daily hearing instrument from EVOTION hearing instruments with audiometric profiles from 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. @inproceedings{NielsHP_ISAAR2021, title = {Modeling daily hearing instrument from EVOTION hearing instruments with audiometric profiles from BEAR project}, author = {Niels H. Pontoppidan and Jeppe H. Christensen and Raul Sanchez-Lopez and Athanasios Bibas and Louisa Murdin and Apostolis Economou and Doris-Eva Bamiou}, url = {https://isaar.eu/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Programme-book-ISAAR-2021.pdf}, year = {2021}, date = {2021-08-23}, booktitle = {Oral presentation at the International Symposium on Auditory and Audiological Research: Vol 8: The Auditory System Throughout Life – Models, Mechanisms, and Interventions}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {inproceedings} } |
2019 |
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. |
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; 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 |
Lopez, Raul Sanchez Towards a profile-based hearing-aid fitting Conference Hearing Systems Presentation Day, DTU, Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark, 12 Oct 2018., 2018. @conference{DTU2018a, title = {Towards a profile-based hearing-aid fitting}, author = {Raul Sanchez Lopez}, year = {2018}, date = {2018-10-12}, booktitle = {Hearing Systems Presentation Day, DTU, Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark, 12 Oct 2018.}, 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} } |
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; 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. |
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. |
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. |
Sánchez, Raul Hearing aids and hearing aid market. The limits of and scope between the clinic and supermarket. Where we are and where we are going Conference Roundtable discussion at the XV National Congress of the Spanish Association of Audiology, Toledo, Spain, May 24-26, 2018. @conference{AEDA2b, title = {Hearing aids and hearing aid market. The limits of and scope between the clinic and supermarket. Where we are and where we are going}, author = {Raul Sánchez}, year = {2018}, date = {2018-05-26}, booktitle = {Roundtable discussion at the XV National Congress of the Spanish Association of Audiology, Toledo, Spain, May 24-26}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {conference} } |
Sánchez, Raul Technical characteristics of hearing devices. Differences between hearing aids, personal sound amplifiers and hearables Conference Presentation at the XV National Congress of the Spanish Audiological Society, Toledo, Spain, May 24-26, 2018. @conference{AEDA1, title = {Technical characteristics of hearing devices. Differences between hearing aids, personal sound amplifiers and hearables}, author = {Raul Sánchez}, year = {2018}, date = {2018-05-26}, booktitle = {Presentation at the XV National Congress of the Spanish Audiological Society, Toledo, Spain, May 24-26}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {conference} } |
2017 |
Lopez, Raul Sanchez Auditory profiling through computational data analysis Conference Presentation at Hearing Systems presentation day, Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark, 12 October, 2017. @conference{DTU2017, title = {Auditory profiling through computational data analysis}, author = {Raul Sanchez Lopez}, year = {2017}, date = {2017-10-12}, booktitle = {Presentation at Hearing Systems presentation day, Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark, 12 October}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {conference} } |
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} } |
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
