• 음성과학
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• 제3권
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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.

• Journal of Audiology & Otology
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• 제23권3호
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• pp.153-159
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• 2019

Background and Objectives: We aim to explore the effects of residual auditory steady state response (ASSR) on cochlear implantation (CI) outcomes in children lacking auditory brainstem responses (ABRs). Subjects and Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the data of child CI recipients lacking ABRs. All ears were divided into two groups: with residual ASSR and without ASSR. For each frequency, the T- and C-levels and the electrical dynamic ranges of postoperative 3-month and 1-year mappings were compared between the groups. To evaluate speech perception, patients who received simultaneous bilateral CIs were divided into two groups: group 1 exhibited responses at all frequencies in both ears; in group 2, at least one ear evidenced no response. The Categories of Auditory Perception (CAP) and Infant-Toddler Meaningful Auditory Integration Scale (IT-MAIS) scores were compared between the groups. Results: We enrolled 16 patients. At 2 kHz, the postoperative 3-month and 1-year T-levels of patients with residual hearing were lower than those of hearing loss group (p=0.001, p=0.035). In residual hearing group, the ASSR threshold correlated positively with the postoperative 1-year T-level (p=0.012, R²=0.276) and C-level (p=0.002, R²=0.374). Of 10 simultaneous bilateral CI recipients, 5 exhibited ASSRs at all frequencies and the other 5 showed no response at ≥1 frequency. The latter had higher CAP scores at the postoperative 1-year (p=0.018). Conclusions: In children exhibiting hearing loss in ABR testing, residual hearing at 2 kHz ASSR correlated positively with the post-CI T-level. Those with ASSRs at all frequencies had significantly lower CAP scores at the postoperative 1year. CI should not be delayed when marginal residual hearing is evident in ASSR.

• 대한청각학회지
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• 제23권3호
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• pp.153-159
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• 2019

Background and Objectives: We aim to explore the effects of residual auditory steady state response (ASSR) on cochlear implantation (CI) outcomes in children lacking auditory brainstem responses (ABRs). Subjects and Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the data of child CI recipients lacking ABRs. All ears were divided into two groups: with residual ASSR and without ASSR. For each frequency, the T- and C-levels and the electrical dynamic ranges of postoperative 3-month and 1-year mappings were compared between the groups. To evaluate speech perception, patients who received simultaneous bilateral CIs were divided into two groups: group 1 exhibited responses at all frequencies in both ears; in group 2, at least one ear evidenced no response. The Categories of Auditory Perception (CAP) and Infant-Toddler Meaningful Auditory Integration Scale (IT-MAIS) scores were compared between the groups. Results: We enrolled 16 patients. At 2 kHz, the postoperative 3-month and 1-year T-levels of patients with residual hearing were lower than those of hearing loss group (p=0.001, p=0.035). In residual hearing group, the ASSR threshold correlated positively with the postoperative 1-year T-level (p=0.012, R²=0.276) and C-level (p=0.002, R²=0.374). Of 10 simultaneous bilateral CI recipients, 5 exhibited ASSRs at all frequencies and the other 5 showed no response at ≥1 frequency. The latter had higher CAP scores at the postoperative 1-year (p=0.018). Conclusions: In children exhibiting hearing loss in ABR testing, residual hearing at 2 kHz ASSR correlated positively with the post-CI T-level. Those with ASSRs at all frequencies had significantly lower CAP scores at the postoperative 1year. CI should not be delayed when marginal residual hearing is evident in ASSR.

• 디지털콘텐츠학회 논문지
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• 제12권4호
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• pp.467-474
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• 2011

청각장애인을 위한 청능 및 언어 훈련은 비장애인과 소통능력을 배양하는 기본적인 훈련이지만 동시에 부모나 지도교사의 경제적부담, 육체적 피로를 수반한다. 이를 해결하기 위해 웹기반의 청능 및 언어 훈련 콘텐츠가 계속해서 개발되어 왔다. 그러나 장애인의 청각상태 및 학습능력의 차이가 존재함에도 불구하고 이런 개인 차이를 고려하지 않은 채 개발되고 있다. 따라서 장애자의 상태와 잔존청력, 학습능력 및 훈련성취도를 정확히 평가하고 분석하여 장애자에게 적절한 훈련진도를 계획하는 것이 중요하다. 본 논문에서 청각장애자를 위해 개인평가에 따라 다양하게 청능 언어 훈련을 기획하고 관리해주는 청능 및 언어 훈련 서비스 모델을 제안한다. 또한 이 모델을 기반으로 하는 기능성 게임콘텐츠를 기획하는 설계방법을 제시한다.

• Molecules and Cells
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• 제38권9호
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• pp.781-788
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• 2015

Mutations of MYO15A are generally known to cause severe to profound hearing loss throughout all frequencies. Here, we found two novel MYO15A mutations, c.3871C>T (p.L1291F) and c.5835T>G (p.Y1945X) in an affected individual carrying congenital profound sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) through targeted resequencing of 134 known deafness genes. The variant, p.L1291F and p.Y1945X, resided in the myosin motor and IQ2 domains, respectively. The p.L1291F variant was predicted to affect the structure of the actin-binding site from three-dimensional protein modeling, thereby interfering with the correct interaction between actin and myosin. From the literature analysis, mutations in the N-terminal domain were more frequently associated with residual hearing at low frequencies than mutations in the other regions of this gene. Therefore we suggest a hypothetical genotype-phenotype correlation whereby MYO15A mutations that affect domains other than the N-terminal domain, lead to profound SNHL throughout all frequencies and mutations that affect the N-terminal domain, result in residual hearing at low frequencies. This genotype-phenotype correlation suggests that preservation of residual hearing during auditory rehabilitation like cochlear implantation should be intended for those who carry mutations in the N-terminal domain and that individuals with mutations elsewhere in MYO15A require early cochlear implantation to timely initiate speech development.

• 대한청각학회지
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• 제25권2호
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• pp.80-88
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• 2021

Background and Objectives: Non-linear frequency compression (NLFC) technology compresses and shifts higher frequencies into a lower frequency area that has better residual hearing. Because consonants are uttered in the high-frequency area, NLFC could provide better speech understanding. The aim of this study was to investigate the clinical effectiveness of NLFC technology on the perception of speech and music in patients with high-frequency hearing loss. Subjects and Methods: Twelve participants with high-frequency hearing loss were tested in a counter-balanced order, and had two weeks of daily experience with NLFC set on/off prior to testing. Performance was repeatedly evaluated with consonant tests in quiet and noise environments, speech perception in noise, music perception and acceptableness of sound quality rating tasks. Additionally, two questionnaires (the Abbreviated Profile of Hearing Aid Benefit and the Korean version of the International Outcome Inventory-Hearing Aids) were administered. Results: Consonant and speech perception improved with hearing aids (NLFC on/off conditions), but there was no significant difference between NLFC on and off states. Music perception performances revealed no notable difference among unaided and NLFC on and off states. The benefits and satisfaction ratings between NLFC on and off conditions were also not significantly different, based on questionnaires, however great individual variability preferences were noted. Conclusions: Speech perception as well as music perception both in quiet and noise environments was similar between NLFC on and off states, indicating that real world benefits from NLFC technology may be limited in Korean adult hearing aid users.

• Journal of Audiology & Otology
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• 제25권2호
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• pp.80-88
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• 2021

Background and Objectives: Non-linear frequency compression (NLFC) technology compresses and shifts higher frequencies into a lower frequency area that has better residual hearing. Because consonants are uttered in the high-frequency area, NLFC could provide better speech understanding. The aim of this study was to investigate the clinical effectiveness of NLFC technology on the perception of speech and music in patients with high-frequency hearing loss. Subjects and Methods: Twelve participants with high-frequency hearing loss were tested in a counter-balanced order, and had two weeks of daily experience with NLFC set on/off prior to testing. Performance was repeatedly evaluated with consonant tests in quiet and noise environments, speech perception in noise, music perception and acceptableness of sound quality rating tasks. Additionally, two questionnaires (the Abbreviated Profile of Hearing Aid Benefit and the Korean version of the International Outcome Inventory-Hearing Aids) were administered. Results: Consonant and speech perception improved with hearing aids (NLFC on/off conditions), but there was no significant difference between NLFC on and off states. Music perception performances revealed no notable difference among unaided and NLFC on and off states. The benefits and satisfaction ratings between NLFC on and off conditions were also not significantly different, based on questionnaires, however great individual variability preferences were noted. Conclusions: Speech perception as well as music perception both in quiet and noise environments was similar between NLFC on and off states, indicating that real world benefits from NLFC technology may be limited in Korean adult hearing aid users.

• ETRI Journal
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• 제35권5호
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• pp.859-868
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• 2013

The active noise control (ANC) technique attenuates acoustic noise in a flexible and effective way. Traditional ANC design aims to minimize the residual noise energy, which is indiscriminative in the frequency domain. However, human hearing perception exhibits selective sensitivity for different frequency ranges. In this paper, we aim to improve the noise attenuation performance in perceptual perspective by incorporating noise weighting into ANC design. We also introduce psychoacoustic analysis to evaluate the sound quality of the residual noise by using a predictive pleasantness model, which combines four psychoacoustic parameters: loudness, sharpness, roughness, and tonality. Simulations on synthetic random noise and realistic noise show that our method improves the sound quality and that ITU-R 468 noise weighting even performs better than A-weighting.

• 전자공학회논문지SC
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• 제45권5호
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• pp.13-20
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• 2008

청력 손실을 보상하고 난청인이 다른 사람들과 대화할 수 있도록 디지털 보청기 알고리즘은 개발 되어 왔음에도 불구하고, 디지털 보청기 사용자들은 음성을 듣는데 어려움이 있다고 불만을 토로한다. 그 이유는 피드백이나 잔여 노이즈 등에 의해 디지털 보청기를 통한 음성의 질이 이해하기에 불충분하기 때문이다. 또 다른 이유로 포먼트들 사이에서 일어나는 마스킹 현상이 될 수 있다. 이 연구에서 정상 청각 피험자와 노인성 난청을 갖고 있는 난청인 피험자의 마스킹 특성을 측정하여 음성에서의 마스킹에 의한 음성 인지 저하를 확인하기 위한 실험을 하였다. 실험은 순음검사, 어음 청취 역치 검사, 낱말 분별력 검사, 수음 마스킹 검사, 어음 마스킹 검사의 5개 테스트로 이루어졌다. 어음 마스킹 검사에서 각각 어음 세트에 25개의 어음이 사용되었다. 각 어음의 왜곡을 객관적으로 평가하기 위해서 log likelihood ratio (LLR)를 도입하였다. 결과적으로 포먼트 향상의 양을 늘리면 늘릴수록 어음 인지는 낮아졌고, 각 어음 세트에서 각각의 향상된 어음은 통계적으로 비슷한 LLR을 갖지만 어음인지는 그렇지 않게 나타났다. 이것은 왜곡이 아닌 음향 마스킹이 어음 인지에 영향을 준다는 것을 의미한다. 실제로 피험자들 대부분이 맞추지 못한 음성을 주파수 분석한 결과 첫 번째와 두 번째 포먼트 사이의 레벨 차이가 약 35dB이며 이는 순음 마스킹 실험 결과(정상 청각 피험자:36.36dB, 난청인 피험자:32.86dB)와 비슷한 양상을 보였다. 실험 결과에서 볼 수 있듯이 음향 마스킹의 특성은 정상 청각인과 난청인 사이에서 다르게 나타난다. 그렇기 때문에 보청기 착용 전 마스킹 특성을 검사하고, 피팅 시에 적용해야 한다.

• 한국통신학회논문지
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• 제36권7C호
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• pp.413-420
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• 2011

본 논문에서는 양이 보청기의 음향궤환 및 잡음을 제거하기 위한 새로운 알고리즘을 제안한다. 이 알고리즘은 이중 마이크를 사용하여 잔차신호에서 음성신호를 제거한 후 궤환제거 필터의 계수를 갱신시킴으로써 수렴성능을 향상시킨다. 먼저 궤환제거기가 마이크 선호에서 궤환신호를 제거하고, 이어서 빔포밍 기법을 이용하여 잡음을 제거한다. 양이 보청기의 안정적 수렴을 보장하기 위해 좌측 및 우측 보청기를 분리하여 먼저 좌측 보청기를 수렴시키고 나서 그 다음 우측 보청기를 수렴시키는 과정으로 진행한다. 본 연구에서 제안한 궤환 및 잡음제거기의 성능을 검증하기 위하여 시뮬레이션 프로그램을 작성하고 모의실험을 수행하였다. 실험 결과, 제안한 적응 알고리즘을 사용하면 기존의 알고리즘을 사용하는 경우보다 궤환제거기에서 평균 14.43 dB의 SFR(Signal to Feedback Ratio), 잡음제거기에서 평균 10.19 dB의 SNR(Signal to Noise Ratio) 개선효과를 향상시킬 수 있는 것으로 확인하였다.