• Speech Sciences
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• v.3
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• pp.50-56
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• 1998

Frequency transposition (FT) hearing system was designed for individuals with little or no residual hearing at high frequencies. This device compresses and shifts the wide-band, high frequency acoustic energy where important features for speech perception are concentrated to the audible, lower range of frequencies. The usefulness of the FT system was investigated for 12 patients (7 children and 5 adults) with severe-to-profound sensorineural hearing losses compared with conventional hearing aids. Results suggest that the hearing impaired can benefit from the FT system with appropriate selection criteria and auditory (re)habilitation program.

• The Journal of the Acoustical Society of Korea
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.61-67
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• 2000

Recent progress in digital and VLSI technology has offered new possibility fer noticeable advance of hearing aids. Yet, environmental noise remains one of the major problems to hearing aid users. This paper describes results which speech recognition performance and speech discrimination performance was measured for listeners with sensorineural hearing loss, while listeners in speech-band noise. In addition, to ameliorate hearing-aided environments of hearing impaired listeners, environmental noise reduction using speech enhancement techniques are investigated as a front-end of conventional hearing aids. Speech enhancement techniques are implemented in a realtime system equipped with DSP board. The clinical test results suggest that the speech enhancement technique may work in synergy with gain functions fer the greater SNR improvement as the preprocessing algorithm of digital hearing aids.

• Proceedings of the KOSOMBE Conference
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• v.1997 no.11
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• pp.83-86
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• 1997

To provide ameliorated aided environment to hearing impaired listeners, background noise reduction techniques are investigated as a front-end of conventional hearing aids, and their effects are tested in a subjective manner. Several speech enhancement schemes were implemented and preference tests or normal listeners are performed to select the best possible scheme or hearing impaired listeners. Results indicated that SDT scores without the speech enhancement scheme drop more sharply as SNR decreases than those with the speech enhancement techniques. SDT scores obtained or hearing impaired listeners with hearing aids showed large variability. However, all impaired listeners preferred noise suppressed sounds to unsuppressed ones.

• Korean Journal of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery
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• v.61 no.12
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• pp.705-709
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• 2018

It is challenging to achieve sufficient hearing gain in patients with mixed hearing loss. In chronic middle ear diseases, conventional passive reconstructive surgeries often result in suboptimal hearing gain and additional hearing aids may have limitations due to insufficient sound amplification, occlusion effect, acoustic feedback, and skin irritation. Middle ear implantation (MEI) using Vibrant Soundbridge (VSB) is another option for auditory rehabilitation in mixed hearing loss as well as sensorineural hearing loss. The floating mass transducer of VSB can be placed on various middle ear structures either directly or using different types of couplers in order to deliver vibratory mechanical energy to the cochlea. We report a patient who presented with bilateral mixed hearing loss due to chronic otitis media and had limitations using conventional hearing aids in the worse hearing ear. The patient was successfully treated with MEI using the Bell coupler together with middle ear surgery in a single step.

• Journal of rehabilitation welfare engineering & assistive technology
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.143-146
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• 2017

In this paper, a novel approach is proposed to improve the performance of speech/music classification using the recurrent neural network (RNN) in the enhanced voice services (EVS) of 3GPP for hearing aids. Feature vectors applied to the RNN are selected from the relevant parameters of the EVS for efficient speech/music classification. The performance of the proposed algorithm is evaluated under various conditions and large speech/music data. The proposed algorithm yields better results compared with the conventional scheme implemented in the EVS.

• Journal of Korea Multimedia Society
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.189-199
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• 2016

Many implantable hearing aids are being developed as alternatives to conventional hearing aids which has inconveniences for use and social stigma that make hearing-impaired people avoid to wear it. Particularly, the fully-implantable middle ear hearing devices (F-IMEHD) are being actively studied for mixed or sensorineural hearing impaired people. In development of F-IMEHD, the most difficult problem is improving the performance of implantable microphone. Recently, Cho et al. have studied the tympanic membrane installed microphone which has better sensitivity and is easier to operate on patient than the microphone implanted under the skin. But, it may cause howling problem due to the feedback signal via oval window and ossicle chain from the transducer on round window in the middle ear cavity, therefore, a feedback canceller is necessary. In this paper, we designed NLMS (normalized least mean square) adaptive feedback canceller for F-IMEHD with tympanic membrane installed microphone and a transducer implemented at round window, and computer simulation was performed to verify its operation. The designed adaptive feedback canceller has a delay filter, a 64 point FIR fixed filter and a 8-tap adaptive FIR filter. Computer simulation of the feedback path is modeled by using the data obtained through human cadaver experiment.

• Journal of rehabilitation welfare engineering & assistive technology
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.21-25
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• 2009

Generally, fully implantable middle ear hearing device (F-IMEHD) is implanted under the skin nearby human temporal bone with all components including implantable microphone and vibration transducer. The microphone and transducer have different characteristic before and after implant. Fitting process is performed for this characteristic change of them and proper performance of hearing aids for each patient. Conventional hearing aids and partially implantable hearing aids, they have wired connector for fitting process. However in case of F-IMEHD, it is difficult this wired connection, because all components of F-IMEHD is implanted. In this paper, fitting software that can be apply wireless fitting hardware for F-IMEHD has been designed and implemented. It can find out proper fitting parameter reflecting characteristics of the microphone and transducer for patients who has difficulty in hearing.

• The Journal of the Acoustical Society of Korea
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• v.24 no.7
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• pp.379-386
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• 2005

Among various kinds of hearing aids which have been developed so far. the conventional air conduction hearing aids have some problems such as the acoustic distortion, an howling effect due to acoustic feedback. Another type of hearing aid. the cochlear implant system can be applied to the profound imparied person. However. it shows the disadvantage that there is no possibility of recovery of the acoustic organ such as ossicle. On the other hand. the implantable middle ear heaving device directly vibratos the ossicular chain and has better sound qualify. good cosmetics for appearance. and wide frequency responses so that it can overcome the defects or the conventional hearing aids. In this paper, a mathematical modeling and a momentum equation derivation of the DET has been performed. For the optimization of the structure dimension generating maximal vibrating force of the DET. the computer simulation using a finite element analysis (FEA) software has been performed. Also. the vibrating transducer has been designed to make the frequency characteristics or the transducer be similar to those of the normal middle ear. Through the experimental results, the measured vibration characteristics of the DET has been evaluated to verify the performance for the application to implantable middle ear hearing devices.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.59-65
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• 2008

Nowadays, implantable hearing aids have been developed to solve the problems of conventional hearing aids. In case of fully implantable hearing aids, an implantable microphone is necessary to receive sound signal beneath the skin. Normally, an implantable microphone has poor frequency response characteristics in high frequency bands of acoustic signal due to the high frequency attenuation effect of skin after implantation to human body. In this paper, the implantable microphone is designed to reduce the high frequency attenuation effect of a skin by putting its resonance frequency at the attenuated range through a finite element analysis (FEA) simulation. The designed implantable microphone through the simulated results has been fabricated by manufacturing process using bio-compatible materials. By the several in-vitro experiments with pig skin, it has been verified that the designed implantable microphone has a resonance frequency around the starting part of the attenuated range and reduces the attenuation effect.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.50 no.1
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• pp.7-13
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• 2007

Hearing loss in newborns is the most frequently occurring birth defect. If hearing impaired children are not identified and managed early, it is difficult for many of them to acquire the fundamental language, social and cognitive skills that provide the foundation for later schooling and success in society. All newborns, both high and low risk, should be screened for hearing loss in the birth hospital prior discharge (Universal Newborn Heaing Screening, UNHS). Objective physiologic measures must be used to detect newborns and very young infants with hearing loss. Recent technological developments have produced screening methods and both evoked otoacoustic emission (EOAE) and auditory brainstem response (ABR) have been successfully implemented for UNHS. Audiologic evaluation should be carried out before 3 months of age and infants with confirmed hearing loss should receive intervention before 6 months of age. All infants who pass newborn hearing screening but who have risk indicators for other auditory disorders and/or speech and language delay receive ongoing audiologic surveillance and monitoring for communication development. Infants with sensorineural hearing loss are managed with hearing aids and receive auditory and speech-language rehabilitation therapies. Cochlear implants can be an outstanding option for certain children aged 12 months and older with severe to profound hearing loss who show limited benefit from conventional amplifications.