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Phonak Launches ActiveVent and CROS Paradise

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Phonak Launches ActiveVent and CROS Paradise

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Phonak Launches ActiveVent and CROS Paradise

Audeo Phonak announced ActiveVent, said to be “the world’s first intelligent hearing aid receiver” and CROS P, the Paradise solution for people with unilateral hearing loss (UHL). Both ActiveVent and CROS P are the latest additions to the company’s Paradise line of hearing aid technology, now “the best-selling platform in Phonak history,” according to the company.

  • ActiveVent Receiver is “the world’s first hearing aid receiver that automatically opens and closes based on the listening environment.” The new receiver utilizes a mechanically switching vent that intelligently balances speech clarity in noise with listening comfort 1, thus combining the hearing performance of a closed fit with the comfort of an open fit.
  • CROS P is the Paradise solution for people with UHL. CROS P and Audéo P improve speech recognition in noise when speech is presented to the non-hearing ear2 *. CROS P paired with Audéo P are easy to use, rechargeable,** and feature universal Bluetooth connectivity to smartphones, TVs, laptops and more, including Roger devices, according to Phonak.

With ActiveVent Receiver and CROS P, Phonak “expands access to Paradise hearing solutions and unrivaled sound quality.” ActiveVent receivers were proven to help hearing aid wearers more easily block noise, providing an average of 10% better speech clarity in noisy situations3 *** while providing natural sound in various listening situations. ActiveVent Receiver also deliverers superior sound quality for streamed media****. Likewise, when CROS P is fitted with an Audeo P hearing aid, people with UHL can hear speech in noise and follow conversations from whatever direction they come from.2 *

Phonak ActiveVent

“We are thrilled to announce another world’s first with ActiveVent Receiver while extending proven Paradise technology to those with unilateral hearing with CROS P,” said Jon Billings, vice-president Phonak marketing. “Just one year ago we introduced Phonak Paradise with the goal of helping consumers rediscover the wonders of sound. These products represent our commitment to superior sound quality in even the most challenging listening situations—and now for virtually every form of hearing loss.”

Paradise – One Year Later

Introduced in August 2020, Phonak Paradise technology offers “the combination of unrivaled sound quality, universal Bluetooth connectivity with multiple Bluetooth connections, hands-free calling, and Tap Control for easy access to popular voice assistants like Siri and Google Assistant.”

Phonak ActiveVent Receiver Animation

According to the company’s announcement, over 1,000,000 Phonak Paradise hearing aids were sold in the past year despite the challenges consumers and hearing care professionals faced with the global pandemic. Among them, 90% of consumers would recommend Paradise to family or friends and 92% of providers would recommend Paradise to their peers.4

In the US, CROS P is available to order beginning today via licensed hearing care professionals and ActiveVent Receivers will be available fall of 2021.

For more information regarding CROS P please visit: www.phonakpro-us.com/cros-p or: www.phonak-us.com/cros-p.

For more information regarding ActiveVent, please visit: www.phonakpro-us.com/activevent or: www.phonak-us.com/activevent.

Reference

  1. Winkler A, Latzel M, Holube I. Open versus closed hearing-aid fittings: A literature review of both fitting approaches. Trends in Hearing. 2016;20:1-13.
  2. Stewart E, Woodward J. Out of the (head) shadow: A systematic review of CROS/BiCROS literature. The Hearing Review. 2021;28(8):22-25.
  3. Latzel M, Hobi S. Receiver with mechanical vent provides benefit of open and closed acoustics for better speech understanding in noise and naturalness of own voice perception. Phonak Field Study News in preparation. Expected end 2021.
  4. Taphuntsang D. Market Research ID 4387. 2020. Please contact marketinginsight@phonak.com if you are interested in further information.

* When using a CROS system compared to unaided.

** There are 2 models: a rechargeable and 312 battery.

*** When using a CROS system compared to unaided.

**** Compared to standard acoustic coupling in quiet.

Bluetooth word mark is a registered trademark owned by Bluetooth SIG, Inc. and any use of such mark by Sonova AG is under license.

Apple Announces “Conversation Boost” with Beamforming Mics for AirPods Pro

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Apple Announces “Conversation Boost” with Beamforming Mics for AirPods Pro

 

Apple Announces “Conversation Boost” with Beamforming Mics for AirPods Pro
Honiton hearing centre
Screenshot of Apple AirPods Pro. Source: Apple

During its annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) on June 7, Apple announced new speech-in-noise enhancement capabilities in its upcoming iOS 15 called “Conversation Boost,” which uses computational audio and beamforming microphones for its AirPods Pro earbuds. Apple’s iOS 15 is scheduled for release in September 2021 to coincide with the new iPhone models.

“Conversation boost is designed to help people with mild to moderate hearing challenges stay more connected in conversations,” says Gagan Gupta, Apple senior engineering program manager, in the WWDC21 YouTube video (at approx 34:49). “Through computational audio and beamforming microphones, Conversation Boost focuses your AirPods Pro on the person talking in front of you, making it easier to hear and follow along in a face-to-face conversation. And to help you hear the conversations even better, you can also reduce the amount of ambient noise [via the app].

Honiton hearing centre
Screenshot of “Ambient Noise Reduction” control in AirPods Pro app. Source: Apple

AirPods Pro currently (iOS 14) have three noise-control modes: Active Noise Cancellation, Transparency mode, and Off. Active Noise Cancellation uses an outward-facing microphone(s) to detect and cancel external sounds (through phase cancellation), and Transparency Mode lets outside sounds in, so you can hear what’s going on around you. These features work best when there is a more snug (closed) fit on the earbuds. Apple’s Live Listen feature, introduced in 2014 and available for both hearing aid and cochlear implant users, utilizes the microphone on the iPhone to relay sound to the AirPods or hearing devices, albeit with potential latency delay effects and greater power consumption due to streaming.

The WWDC is Apple’s annual summary of updates for software engineers who are creating new functions for iOS-compatible apps and devices. At last year’s WWDC20, Apple  introduced  iOS14, which included what was seen by many in the industry as an important move towards the AirPod Pros offering more hearing aid-type features. As reported by Hearing Review last June, Apple launched a new accessibility feature called Headphone Accommodations “designed to amplify soft sounds and adjust certain frequencies for an individual’s hearing, to help music, movies, phone calls, and podcasts sound more crisp and clear. Headphone Accommodations also supports Transparency mode on AirPods Pro, making quiet voices more audible and tuning the sounds of your environment to your hearing needs.” In 2018, Apple incorporated a dBHL Tone Audiometry feature that replicates the Hughson-Westlake method (see WWDC18 YouTube video at approx 11:00 minutes, and see the September 2018 HR article by Jerger about automated audiometry) for determining the hearing threshold of an Apple device user.

Additionally, Apple announced in May a number of other features “designed for people with mobility, vision, hearing, and cognitive disabilities.”

When taking into consideration the vast array of listening enhancement devices on the market, the Hearing Review Consumer website had already ranked Apple AirPods Pro as one of the Top-10 DIY hearing options available for people with mild or near-normal hearing loss even before the addition of the new Conversation Boost feature.

 

40 Years of hearing aid Sound Processing

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40 Years of hearing aid Sound Processing

 

40 Years of hearing aid Sound Processing

Tech Topic | June 2021 Hearing Review

By Claus Nielsen, MA, and Tobias Bollerup Henriksen

It’s easy to take for granted the exceptional sound quality offered in today’s hearing aids. However, the road to this level of sound quality was not always a smooth one. The authors cite quotes from hearing aid users through the decades and technologies to illustrate this point.

The life of a hearing aid user has changed quite a lot during the last 30 to 40 years. Generally, in many parts of the developed world, people live longer and healthier lives than they did two or three generations ago. Social norms and society have also changed—people are often expected to be accessible 24/7. Our increased understanding of hearing loss, listening problems, and cognitive processes has also increased and evolved in tandem with technological advances.1 The hearing aids available today (2021) do not compare to the hearing aids of the 1970s.

What has happened during the last 50 years and how have these changes been perceived by hearing aid users?

In May 2018, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)2 was introduced in Denmark and the rest of the EU. This regulation is quite extensive and has presented companies with several challenges. Part of the GDPR deals with the “right to be forgotten.” This means we have to delete all personal information once the test subject has deceased or decided to withdraw from our test subject panel. At Eriksholm we started working with hearing-impaired test subjects in 1977. Part of our normal business protocol was (and remains) to document our work by keeping physical and electronic records on all test subjects. As such, this GDPR requirement would potentially mean that we could lose a gold mine of subjective anecdotes and quotes from test subjects going back for more than 40 years. It was decided to preserve the data by transcribing and anonymising it before the papers went into the shredder. Reading through the resultant transcript was exciting, and we decided to analyse the data and share the users’ experiences. The right to be forgotten became the inspiration to remembered.

This is the first of five papers presenting this material. We have split the papers into different themes. This article focuses on how  sound processing in hearing aids has been perceived by the users. We also interviewed two hearing care professionals (HCPs) and a number of  active test subjects to get their perspectives on hearing aids during the last decade.

The Sound of the Hearing Aid Described by the Users

The primary function of the hearing aid is to amplify sound. More specifically, the primary function is to amplify speech sounds in different environments to enable communication. Over the years, different amplification and sound processing algorithms have been used.

A central part of the clinical work at Eriksholm with test subjects has been focused on fulfilling the needs of the individual user and their perception of sound. When we examined our data and how the users described the sound of the hearing aids across more than 40 years, we wondered whether it would be possible to arrange quotes from the users on a timeline? Could these standalone quotes demonstrate the advances in hearing aid development?

The following historical comments are illustrative of the technological gains throughout the decades:

1980s: Analog Linear Era & Early ASP Era

“When someone is using a typewriter next to me, it sounds like firing a machine gun, etc, so it is quite strenuous to be using a hearing aid in that situation.” —circa 1980, female

1990s: Digitally Programmable Era

“I felt it was very annoying to have to adjust the devices all the time due to background noise, using the telephone, etc.” —1993, male, 36 years.

“When several people are talking to each other during the coffee break at work, I cannot hear what the person next to me is saying, especially if it is a man, because the voice drowns in the surrounding speech noise. A loud female voice at the table next to me often sounds significantly louder than the man sitting next to me.” —1996, male, 35 years

“Many joys are taken away from me, for example, at dinner parties. If I have to hear the conversation of those persons closest to me, I am simultaneously almost half stunned by the noise from other people’s knives and forks against the plates.” —1996, female, 59 years

2000s: Early (DSP) Digital Signal Processing Era

“It is of course pleasant that the vacuum cleaner noise is reduced, but it seems strange when I drive my car that the engine noise is reduced. I do not have the same sense of speed as before. If I have my wife in the car with me and she speaks to me after a period of silence whilst driving, she must always repeat the first thing she said.” —2002, male

“Noise seems much less annoying now—eg, I no longer foam around my mouth due to my  screaming daughter when [she yells, saying she] needs the shower.” —2002, female, 36 years

“Example: The gas boiler makes noises in the background. When a cupboard door is slammed, the gas boiler noise disappears for a short period of time before it reappears.” —2003, male, 76 years.

“I have a reoccurring experience in [highway] driving. With the hearing aid in Program 1, I get a strong reaction when the turn signal is activated and the acoustic signal from the relay is heard, then the noise level in the car rises remarkably. Other situations with unwanted noise levels could be when I, or others, say something. The noise is so loud that speech intelligibility does not improve. It takes some time before the noise level normalises and speech is heard.” — 2003, male, 74 years

“It’s wonderful that the devices automatically turn up and down in noisy environments, and even though there is background  noise, I can mostly concentrate on talking to someone.” —2004, female, 69 years.

“The Epoq [hearing aid] also has too much compression, it turns down the volume too much in the event of sudden sounds. During simultaneous conversation, some of the understanding is lost. Still, Epoq is better than no hearing aid.” — 2007, male

2010s: Later-generation DSP & Wireless Era

“As mentioned, I have not experienced any automatic adjustments to mute or amplify the sound in the device.” — 2010, male, 77 years

“It’s incredible how quickly I forget how bad I hear without my hearing aids. If I do not think the hearing aids help, I simply take them out and get shocked when I realise how little I hear without them.” — 2014, female, 68 years

2020s: Wireless & Artificial Intelligence Era

“So, if you can talk about such a thing as educating or ‘bringing up’ a hearing aid, then the new hearing aid here is super intelligent and it is really ‘well brought up.’ With its behaviour it constantly ensures the sound is comfortable. And it goes so far that when we get to the extremes, that is, for example a chainsaw, if you are riding your bicycle, and then all of a sudden, there is someone standing with a chainsaw inside the garden, then it is not like you think ‘What is happening here?’ No, then you just think that there is someone standing with a chainsaw inside the garden.” —2021, male, 66 years

Steady Dramatic Progress in Sound Processing

These quotes  demonstrate that the perception of the sound of the hearing aid has changed dramatically during the years.

The first quotes relate to the level of the sound either being too low or too high. These were the days of analog linear hearing aids with volume controls. Quotes from around 2002 change in character. The descriptions become more detailed and the users notice strange sound processing. One of the first changes to the sound processing was the introduction of compression (eg, wide dynamic range compression was introduced as early as 1991). The next advance in signal processing was the distinction between speech or no speech in the incoming signal. By 2001, the amplification became dependent on whether speech was present or not introduced. The problem was that the algorithms were not stable or precise enough, and sometimes the resulting amplification was perceived as strange or wrong by the users.

In 2004, a test subject took part in a research project. As part of the project the man was interviewed about his experiences with the hearing aid. “Did you notice any changes to the sound using the hearing aid?” The man answered: “What do you mean? I’m not supposed to hear my hearing aid, am I? I guess the idea is that I should hear my surroundings.”

With this, we had reached a tipping point! The most annoying artefacts almost completely disappeared. The methods used in the signal processing slowly became more robust resulting in less noticeable sound processing.

The signal processing became increasingly advanced and, at Oticon, research within the field of cognition led to the concept of BrainHearing. BrainHearing can be described in many ways, but is essentially about considering  the complete auditory pathway, and providing the brain with all the acoustic information required such that the brain can make maximal use of (ie, decode) the auditory information. The idea of limiting the sound by prioritising sound coming from the front while attenuating sounds from other directions was abandoned with the introduction of Oticon Opn in 2016.

In the last quote the test subject is talking about “bringing up” or “educating” the hearing aid. This is in fact a very interesting quote. This man is fitted with Oticon More. In this hearing aid, the sound from the hearing aid’s microphones is continuously analysed to estimate how complex the sound image is and then compared with the user’s listening needs. The listening need is determined by, for example, the user’s hearing loss and age, as well as individual preference. The aim of the analysis is to present the user with as clear a sound as possible (for details, see white paper by Santurette and Behrens, 20203). Clarity is achieved by making use of artificial intelligence. In the development of the hearing aid, a neural network has been trained with millions of different sounds and sound scenes.

Phonak Launches Naida Paradise Hearing Aid

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Phonak Launches Naida Paradise Hearing Aid

 

Phonak Launches Naida Paradise Hearing Aid

Phonak, a global provider of hearing solutions, announced Naída Paradise, the power hearing aid that “gives people with severe-to- profound hearing loss the power, sound quality, and wireless connectivity they need to connect with everything around them.” Now in its seventh generation, Naída Paradise is said to be “14% smaller, 27% lighter1, and further improves upon the hearing performance that wearers expect from Phonak.” This includes “powerful sound, industry-leading connectivity, and soon a new custom program memory feature with the new myPhonak 5.0 app.”

Phonak Naida Paradise and Roger On

Naída Paradise features a powerful double receiver that delivers up to 141 dB of peak gain in the UP model and up to 130 dB in the rechargeable model, according to Phonak. It’s powered by the new PRISM sound processing chip and features AutoSense OS 4.0 for “a host of premium features that work together seamlessly.” For example, the hearing aids can “automatically enhance soft speech in quiet places or reduce noise in loud environments.” A built-in accelerometer detects movement and automatically steers the microphones to improve listening on-the-go.2

Phonak Naida Paradise

Naída Paradise helps eliminate connectivity barriers that previously existed for consumers who needed more power. With Phonak universal connectivity, wearers can wirelessly stream audio directly into both hearing aids from virtually any smartphone, TV, laptop, tablet, eBook, and more. Phonak Paradise technology helps allow two active Bluetooth connections at the same time, so wearers can stay connected to their smartphone and their video chat without having to manually switch back and forth.

In addition to universal Bluetooth connectivity, Naída Paradise hearing aids are also equipped with RogerDirect. This means wearers can also receive the Roger remote microphone signal with no additional accessory required. Launched in 2013, Roger™ technology is “proven to boost hearing performance in loud noise and over distance.” In fact, hearing aid wearers who receive the Roger signal have better speech understanding in noise and over distance than people with normal hearing.3 Some Roger microphones and receivers have also been shown to help users understand up to 61% more speech in a group conversation in 75dBA of noise than using hearing aids alone.4

Universal Bluetooth connectivity coupled with on-board microphones means Naída Paradise wearers can use their hearing aids as wireless headsets for hands-free calls. A new Tap Control2 feature allows users to double tap on their ear to accept or end a call, or pause or resume streaming. A tap on the other ear gives access to smartphone voice-assistants like Siri or Google Assistant.

“Naída has a long-lasting history of delivering power without sacrificing sound quality, so we knew that we needed to deliver an outstanding product to our wearers who depend so heavily on their devices,” said Jon Billings, Vice-President Phonak Marketing. “With Naída Paradise, we’re making history again by giving those with severe forms of hearing loss access to next-level, powerful sound with industry-leading connectivity.”

In late spring, the myPhonak app’s 5.0 update will include the myPhonak Memory feature. It helps allow consumers to save a custom program from the app to the hearing aids, access the last-used custom program using the hearing aid’s multi-function button, or access other custom programs via the app.

Phonak is also preparing for the newest member of the Roger family with the debut of Roger On. The new Roger On remote microphone will feature MultiBeam 2.0 technology and an “improved pointing mode that allows the user to zoom into a speaker by simply pointing.” Roger On will be compatible with most hearing aids and cochlear implants and will be able to stream a variety of audio content.

The new Phonak Naída Paradise is available for pre-order by licensed hearing care professionals in the US and other select markets and will begin shipping in late February. The myPhonak 5.0 app featuring myPhonak Memory feature as well as the new Roger On microphone will be introduced in the US and other select markets in late spring.

  • For US hearing care professionals to learn more and to pre-order: https://www.phonakpro.com/us/en/campaign/naida.html.

Source/Reference

1 Naída P UP with RogerDirect compared to Naída B UP + external Roger receiver.

2 In the Phonak power BTE portfolio, only Naída P-PR comes with motion sensor technology, including Tap Control.

3 Thibodeau L. Comparison of speech recognition with adaptive digital and fm remote microphone hearing assistance technology by listeners who use hearing aids. American Journal of Audiology. 2014;23(2):201-210.

4 Thibodeau LM. Benefits in speech recognition in noise with remote wireless microphones in group settings. Journal of the American Academy of Audiology. 2020;31(6):404–411.

Bluetooth® word mark is a registered trademark owned by Bluetooth SIG, Inc. and any use of such mark by Sonova AG is under license.

Siri® is a trademark of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries.

Google Assistant™ is a trademark of Google LLC.

Source: Phonak

Images: Phonak

Oticon More Honiton Hearing

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Oticon More Honiton Hearing

   

Oticon More Now Available Through VA, DOD

 

“Oticon More continues Oticon’s commitment to providing innovative hearing solutions that improve not only hearing but overall quality of life for our nation’s veterans,” said Rob Zimmer, director of government services for Oticon, Inc. “New independent research has shown that the brain needs access to all sounds — not just speech — in order to work in a natural way.  The breakthrough technology in Oticon More makes the full sound scene 60 % clearer.** This ability to represent all relevant sounds in the brain is crucial for a patient’s ability to navigate in environments that are dynamic and complex.”

Radically New Approach to Sound Processing

The Polaris platform supports Oticon More’s technologies. The MoreSound Intelligence (MSI) and MoreSound Amplifier (MSA) innovations in Oticon More are designed to give the brain “better access to more relevant and precise information, breaking with traditional approaches to noise reduction and  compression in hearing aids.”

MSI technology reportedly optimises the way the hearing device makes sounds more distinct, helping it to work “seamlessly across varying listening environments.” All types of sounds are recognised, including their details, and how they should ideally sound to optimally support the brain. Scanning the soundscape 500 times per second, MSI captures the details in the sound scene and processes them with “better contrast, balance, and clarity than ever before.” According to the company, MSI is proven to make the full sound scene 60% clearer based on EEG testing.** The rapid high-resolution amplification of MSA works in both 24 and 4 frequency channels to naturally follow changes in the sound scene, helping to balance and amplify sound objects.

Direct Streaming from iPhone and Android Devices 

Oticon More features Bluetooth Low Energy technology and offers a range of connectivity options. Oticon More is a Made for iPhone (MFi) hearing aid and compatible with the new Android protocol for Audio Streaming for Hearing Aids (ASHA), making it possible to stream directly from Apple and selected Android mobile devices.***  Oticon More can be combined with Oticon ConnectClip to stream from any other Bluetooth device.

The Oticon ON app lets veterans personalise their listening experience via the new streaming equaliser that allows them to fine-tune the sound when streaming. The ON app also lets users adjust the volume, change the program, check the battery level, and control other Oticon devices. It even comes with a “Find my hearing aids” feature.

More Power, Freedom, Flexibility

The rechargeable Oticon More miniRITE R uses reliable lithium-ion batteries for a full day of battery life****, including streaming, after just three hours of charging. A quick charge takes just 30 minutes and provides an additional six hours of power.

Oticon More is available in eight colours and supports hearing loss from mild to severe.  For more information about Oticon More and the entire portfolio of Oticon hearing solutions with BrainHearing technology available through the Veterans Affairs Administration, visit: https://www.oticon.com/solutions/for-veterans.

*Compared to Oticon Opn S™, Santurette, et al. 2020. Oticon More clinical evidence. Oticon Whitepaper.

**EEG testing with MoreSound Intelligence in on vs off setting, from Santurette, et al.

*** Android devices need to support ASHA to allow direct connectivity to Oticon More.  Please visit Oticon.com/support/compatibility for more information.

****Lithium-ion performance varies depending on hearing loss, lifestyle, and streaming behavior.

iPhone is a trademark of Apple Inc, registered in the US and other countries. Android, Google Play, and the Google Play logo are trademarks of Google LLC.

Source: Oticon

Images: Oticon

 

Musician Creates Soundscapes to Help Tinnitus

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Musician Creates Soundscapes to Help Tinnitus

 

Musician Creates Soundscapes to Help Tinnitus

Rupert Brown, an Isle of Wight musician, mixes nature sounds with music to create a soundscape that helps distract his brain from the tinnitus.

“The island is my orchestra,” says Brown in a BBC video, about his efforts to record waves crashing, birds twittering, and wind in the trees, which he then mixes in the studio with non-classical music and the sounds of what he believes are others’ type of tinnitus to form the soundscape.

To learn more, please click here.

Source: BBC

Signia Releases Active X Hearing Aid

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Signia Releases Active X Hearing Aid

 

Signia Releases Active X Hearing Aid

Signia announces the general availability of its latest hearing aid, Signia Active X, that “enhances human performance by delivering breakthrough signal processing technology for optimised hearing in noise.” Its earbud form factor helps allow wearers to “pop them in and out as needed for those with normal hearing but who may have difficulty hearing in certain environments,” according to the company. It can also be worn all day for individuals with mild-to-moderate hearing loss.

Signia Active’s earbud design helps ensure “better hearing without the stigma, while its portable rechargeability and Bluetooth connectivity enable wearers to remain connected and perform their best all day long.”

“Signia Active isn’t just a new product. It’s an entirely new category of hearing device that allows our hearing care professionals to reach a new, untapped, and unserved category of wearer,” said Dr Tish Ramirez, vice president of professional relations and product management. “Consumers want hearing aids that are disguised as earbuds – that improve their hearing without the stigma. Signia Active delivers on this need by providing users with a device that looks as good as it performs.”

Dr Tish Ramirez, vice president of professional relations and product management, Signia

Research studies show that between 12% and 20% of adults with normal audiogram thresholds self-report hearing difficulties, suggesting that these individuals could benefit from a boost in their hearing performance.[1-4] Signia Active features “customised technology with advanced hearing support in the functional design of an earbud to attract individuals who might not otherwise wear hearing aids.”

Whether walking in a crowded street, working in an open-plan office, or dining in a busy restaurant, high-levels of ambient noise make holding conversations a significant challenge – even for those with mild hearing loss. Signia Active addresses these challenges with the “true-to-life sound of Signia Xperience technology and its Dynamic Soundscape Processing, which helps deliver enhanced sound and speech clarity in every situation, even when moving,” according to the company.

Signia Active also features a lithium-ion rechargeable battery; a portable charging case; Qi charging technology; and Bluetooth connectivity. Furthermore, its ClickSleeves 2.0 technology helps enable “a quick fit while ensuring the hearing aids remain firmly and comfortably in place.”

The new hearing aids from Signia are available in two models: Signia Active and Signia Active Pro. Signia Active is a starter option, designed for occasional use by those in need of a hearing edge in noisy situations, while Signia Active Pro is for those with mild to moderate hearing loss. Both models are available in the colour combinations of White and Rose Gold, Black and Silver, or All-Black.

“Signia has established a reputation for developing breakthrough products that deliver best-in-class performance yet also tap into new, unaddressed patient markets,” said Signia President Mike O’Neil. “Signia Active is yet another example of a market-expanding product from Signia, and we look forward to working with our hearing care professional partners to grow their businesses through our pioneering hearing devices.”

The Signia app: Modern care around the clock at the tap of a finger

Through the Signia app (iOS and Android), wearers have access to hearing aid controls, streaming capabilities with multiple devices, tinnitus therapy, Signia Telecare for remote care support, the new Face Mask Mode for better speech understanding through masks, and much more.

The app also includes the Signia Assistant, which “leverages artificial intelligence to continuously optimise the performance of the device by learning in real time the wearer’s individual preferences, for the most personalised hearing experience possible.”

“The most powerful products in history are those that meet a specific, unaddressed consumer need. Rather than fight over an existing share, they create entirely new categories of consumers that grow the overall size of the market,” said Ramirez.

“Signia Active is a solution for those who have long fought the adoption of hearing aids, but know that they need them. Signia Active is a breakthrough device that shatters the traditional definition of a hearing aid to create a new category of device that enables increased patient conversion and attracts entirely new demographics of wearers.”

For more information, visit: www.signia-pro.com/en-us/local/en-us/active-resource-center/.

[1] Gates GA, Cooper JC, Kannel WB, Miller NJ. Hearing in the elderly: The Framingham cohort, 1983-1985. Part I. Basic audiometric test results. Ear Hear. 1990;11(4):247–256.

[2] Garstecki D. Self-perceived hearing difficulty in aging adults with acquired hearing loss. J Acad Rehabilitative Audiol. 1987;20:49–60.

[3] Taylor B, Manchaiah V, Clutterbuck S. Using the personal assessment of communication abilities (PACA) tool. Hearing Review. 2016;23(3):20.

[4] Tremblay KL, Pinto A, Fischer ME, et al. Self-reported hearing difficulties among adults with normal audiograms: The Beaver Dam Offspring Study. Ear Hear. 2015;36(6):e290–e299.

Source: Signia

Images: Signia

Researcher Designs Vibrating Glove for Deaf Individuals

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Researcher Designs Vibrating Glove for Deaf Individuals

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Researcher Designs Vibrating Glove for Deaf Individuals

Artem Brazhnikov, a master student of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Metallurgy, and Transport of Samara Polytech, a Russian technical university, attempted to help restore hearing function with the help of a vibrating glove he designed. A press release announcing the invention appears on the EurekAlert website.

Initially, Artem designed a joystick glove to be able to play computer games one-handed. He then improved the device, turning it into an unusual hearing aid. To make the joystick glove into the vibro-glove, he removed the finger-position sensors, provided the glove with tactile feedback modules (vibration motors), and converted the electronic control unit from a game controller into an audio signal spectrum analyzer.

“When a person loses his hearing, his other senses become more acute. The sensory substitution occurs: the brain compensates the lack of information from one sense organ at the expense of others,” said Artem. “A vibrating glove is a re-translator that converts sounds into tactile sensations.”

A glove microphone amplifies the audio signal and transmits it to a spectrum analyzer that splits the audio range into separate frequency bands. Each tactile module corresponds to one sound strip. The strength of a tactile stimulation is proportional to the amplitude of sound vibrations in the corresponding frequency band. This process is somewhat similar to playing a keyboard.

“For example, a piano has many keys, pressing which (tactile stimulation) generates a certain note, that is, a sound vibration of a certain frequency,” Artem explained. “Now imagine that there is an instrument that performs the opposite operation, that is, catches notes (sound vibrations) and converts them into keystrokes (tactile stimulation). A person playing such an instrument does not hear the sounds it makes, but feels how the piano itself presses the keys. So a vibrating glove is a piano, but only working vice versa.”

Source: EurekAlert!, Samara Polytech

Image: EurekAlert!, Samara Polytech

Widex Moment

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Widex Moment

Sound Quality in Real Life–Not Just for Experts

 

Sound Quality in Real Life–Not Just for Experts

Tech Topic | February 2021 Hearing Review

By Laura Winther Balling, PhD, Oliver Townend, BSc, and Dana Helmink, AuD

Sound quality plays a key feature for overall hearing aid satisfaction as well as in everyday moments of real-life hearing. A large international survey of hearing aid users confirms the importance of sound quality, showing higher satisfaction with the WIDEX MOMENT™ hearing aids for overall sound quality, for specific situations of real-life use and for hearing aid users’ ability to participate in daily life.

As one of the major global hearing aid manufacturers, Widex has a long history of focusing on sound quality, designing all signal processing with the aim of achieving the best and most natural sound quality possible. For example, True Input Technology, with a linear transfer function up to 113 dB SPL and a linear input dynamic range of 108 dB SPL, was groundbreaking when launched,1 as was Variable Speed Compression, which offers the benefits of both slow and fast-acting compression.2

Most recently, WIDEX MOMENT™ launched with the focus on sound quality expressed in two main features:

  • TruAcoustics™ is an intelligent algorithm by which the acoustics in the individual ear canal is integrated in the parameter settings of the hearing aid, so the output at the eardrum is exactly right for the individual ear canal with the specific earware choice.3
  • Widex PureSound™ drastically reduces hearing aid delay and eliminates the delay-based distortions which are characteristic of other digital hearing aids.4

Innovations like these improve the sound quality in clearly audible ways and result in sound quality preferences in studies, such as the one reported by Balling et al.4 However, it is also an important assumption of the Widex design philosophy that good sound is not an isolated quality but a means to achieving higher hearing aid satisfaction across many situations in real life. With this broader view of sound quality, it is arguably the most important parameter for hearing aid satisfaction, along with speech understanding (especially in noise).

For these reasons, the survey reported below focused on satisfaction with sound quality in itself, as well as the experience in diverse situations of real-life hearing with Widex MOMENT hearing aid.

Survey Method

Our survey included 101 experienced hearing aid users recruited at local hearing clinics in 7 countries (US, Canada, China, Germany, France, Portugal, UK). They all wore the MOMENT mRIC R D rechargeable hearing aids and rated their satisfaction with them in comparison to their own existing hearing aids, which were from all major brands. Respondents were 60% male with a median age of 66 years (range 18-88). Close to half (45%) were work active, and they had a median of 6 years’ hearing aid experience (range 1-59 years).

Respondents fell into two groups: 39 of them had mild-to-moderate hearing losses going from 40 dBHL at low frequencies to 70 dBHL at high and had as their primary program PureSound™, which is particularly suitable for open fits and milder losses. The other 62 respondents had hearing losses up to 80 dB HL across frequencies (the mRIC M-receiver fitting range) and were fitted with the Universal program as their primary program. The MOMENT hearing aids were fitted with the ear tip recommended in the Compass GPS fitting software.

The survey used a cross-over design where respondents started a 7-week survey period by rating their satisfaction with their own existing hearing aids before being fitted with the MOMENT hearing aids and wearing them for 3 weeks. After 3 weeks, they rated their satisfaction with the MOMENT devices, before switching back to their own hearing aids, wearing those for 2 weeks and rating them at Week 6. For the final 2 weeks of the survey, respondents wore MOMENT and filled in a final set of questions about those at Week 7. This resulted in two ratings for own hearing aids (at Weeks 0 and 5) and two for MOMENT (at Weeks 3 and 7).

The questionnaires were filled in online using SMART-TRIAL software, using a format inspired by the MarkeTrak surveys,5 where respondents rate their satisfaction with their hearing aids on a 7-point scale ranging from “Very dissatisfied” (a rating of 1) to ‘Very satisfied’ (a rating of 7). Following the MarkeTrak approach, respondents who gave ratings in the top-3 satisfaction categories may be classified together as being “satisfied.” We asked questions about satisfaction both in general and in specific real-life situations.

The responses show that people are reasonably satisfied with their own hearing aids at the beginning of the survey period, but once they try the MOMENT hearing aids, their ratings of their own hearing aids in many cases become significantly lower. This in itself is evidence in favor of the MOMENT devices. However, the more interesting direct comparison is between the ratings of own hearing aids in Week 5 and MOMENT in Week 7, where respondents have had the most time to form an opinion about the new hearing aids.

We also estimated the age of the respondents’ own hearing aids based on the launch date of the device. Interestingly, we found no significant effects of this variable, indicating that the MOMENT advantages that we observe throughout are not simply explained by the contrast between older own hearing aids and new MOMENT devices, but by a genuine preference for the MOMENT sound.

Unless otherwise indicated, statistical testing of results was done using mixed-effects models that take into account the crucial fact that we have multiple responses per person. The significance levels for the relevant contrasts between own and MOMENT hearing aids are all below 0.0001, which means that potential concerns about repeated testing are unfounded.

Sound Quality Across Situations

As we would expect given the Widex design focus, the responses show a solid sound quality advantage for the MOMENT hearing aids, with significantly higher satisfaction for MOMENT than for own hearing aids (p < 0.0001). Looking at the average ratings plotted in the left panel of Figure 1, there is a 1-point advantage for MOMENT, with the average rating “Satisfied” for MOMENT and “Somewhat satisfied” for own hearing aids. Examining the distribution of answers in the right panel of Figure 1, we see many more “Very satisfied” and “Satisfied” MOMENT users. In total, considering the top-3 satisfaction categories, 91% of respondents are satisfied with the MOMENT sound quality.

Figure 1. Ratings of satisfaction with sound quality. The left panel shows mean ratings of satisfaction with sound quality as filled circles, with the whiskers representing ±1 standard deviation (SD) around the mean. The right plot shows ratings of own hearing aids in Week 5 and of MOMENT hearing aids in Week 7 of the survey.

An intriguing question is which aspects of sound and hearing aid use influence these high-satisfaction sound quality ratings. This is a complex issue that this survey cannot fully address, but it is informative to look at which other questions are correlated with sound quality satisfaction. In Table 1, such correlations are listed for the ratings of MOMENT at the end of the survey period. They are all strong correlations ranging between 0.522 to 0.698, and although there is some variation between individual situations, the correlations are all highly significant and of similar size. These correlations do not, of course, indicate causation but do suggest that sound quality plays a similar role across different situations.

Table 1. Spearman Rho correlations between sound quality satisfaction and satisfaction in specific situations for WIDEX MOMENT. (Notations: *** indicates significance at the p<0.001 level; a) Speech-in-noise situations; b) Outdoor situations; c) Listening through devices.

Another way of assessing the impact of sound quality on everyday satisfaction with hearing aids is analyzing the average satisfaction across the specific situations listed in Table 1 (excepting satisfaction with soft and loud sounds, which are not specific situations). A regression model shows that satisfaction with sound quality is a highly significant predictor of mean satisfaction across situations, accounting for more than 50% of the variance in satisfaction across situations (R2 = 0.51).

Sound Quality and Naturalness

In addition to the different listening situations, Table 1 also lists respondents’ agreement with the statement “I find that the sound is natural with the MOMENT hearing aids” on a 7-point scale. This shows one of the highest correlations with sound quality satisfaction, which means that those hearing aid wearers who are highly satisfied with the sound quality also perceive the sound as more natural.

In addition, naturalness ratings show a very similar pattern across weeks to sound quality satisfaction, as illustrated in Figure 2. Again, we see approximately a 1-point difference between the ratings of own and MOMENT hearing aids, and many more who “Agree” or “Strongly agree” that the sound of MOMENT is natural.

Figure 2. Ratings of naturalness of sound, with the left panel showing mean ratings per week and the right panel showing ratings for own hearing aids in Week 5 and for MOMENT in Week 7.

Satisfaction in Everyday Situations

As seen in Table 1, the survey included questions on a wide range of everyday situations. In Figure 3, these are grouped into four different more general categories, showing the distribution of ratings in Week 5 (own hearing aids) and Week 7 (MOMENT hearing aids).

Figure 3. Histograms showing distribution of ratings in Weeks 5 (own hearing aids) and 7 (MOMENT hearing aids).

The top-left panel shows the satisfaction with conversations in quiet, assessed by a single question. Level of satisfaction is generally high, as we would expect for this relatively easy listening environment. However, although the baseline is already high, the MOMENT ratings are still higher, with the most frequent response being “Very satisfied” and the difference to own hearing aids being highly significant (p < 0.0001).

Speech-in-noise ratings are shown in the top-right panel, based on a mean across questions on satisfaction in restaurants and with conversations in noise and during transport. These tend to be difficult situations for hearing aid users, which is also clear if we compare the general level of satisfaction with speech in quiet. This makes the significant advantage for MOMENT (p < 0.0001) all the more noteworthy: the most frequent mean rating for these questions is clearly in the “Satisfied” category for MOMENT, whereas ratings for own hearing aids are more spread out, with “Somewhat dissatisfied” as the most frequent. If we compare the own-vs-MOMENT hearing aid ratings per respondent, five times as many respondents are more satisfied with the MOMENT hearing aids compared with their own: 74% of respondents are more satisfied with MOMENT, 12% more satisfied with their own, and the remaining 14% give the same ratings to both.

The bottom left panel illustrates mean ratings in outdoor situations, again with a markedly differently distribution of ratings for own and MOMENT hearing aids (p < 0.0001). Part of the explanation for the MOMENT advantage could be that respondents experience the sound of MOMENT as more natural, something that is likely to play a larger role outdoors.

The final panel of Figure 3 represents the frequent listening situations where sound comes from a device, with TV likely being the most frequent for most people, but also telephone and music. As for conversations in quiet, the general level of satisfaction is higher here than for more difficult listening situations, but the MOMENT advantage remains, with a significant difference to own hearing aids (p < 0.0001). Collectively, the four types of situations illustrated in Figure 3 give a comprehensive view of the everyday lives of hearing aid users, and across all these situations MOMENT shows a solid advantage.

Participation in Daily Life

A common problem for people with hearing loss, reported both scientifically6,7 and by hearing aid users and their relatives to HCPs all over the world, is the difficulty of participating in everyday life. Therefore, the survey included a question inspired by the International Outcome Inventory for Hearing Aids (IOI-HA)8: “How satisfied are you with your ability to participate effortlessly in everyday life with [your own hearing aids/the WIDEX MOMENT hearing aids]?” The ratings for this question are shown in Figure 4, where both plots illustrate a similar 1-point MOMENT advantage that was also seen previously (p < 0.0001). An interesting statistic is how many people are satisfied (in the top-3 categories) with their ability to participate in everyday life; this number is 69% for own hearing aids but 90% for MOMENT. Conversely, only 6% of respondents indicate dissatisfaction with participation when wearing MOMENT, while the corresponding number is 20% for own hearing aids, in spite of the fact that the MOMENT devices are new to the respondents and they cannot be expected to be completely habituated to them yet.

Figure 4. Ratings of ability to participate in everyday life, with the left panel showing mean ratings per week and the right panel showing ratings for own hearing aids in Week 5 and for MOMENT in Week 7.

Overall Satisfaction

Finally, a question about overall satisfaction examines how all these different elements of real-life hearing come together in the respondents’ entire experience of wearing the MOMENT hearing aids, compared with their own. The responses to this question were tested in the same way as previous results, showing significantly higher ratings (p < 0.0001) for MOMENT than own hearing aids. The left panel in Figure 5 is a particularly clear example that respondents’ ratings of their own hearing aids change when they have tried MOMENT, as evidenced by the lower ratings in Week 5 compared to Week 0. More generally, Figure 5 confirms the MOMENT advantage that has also been clear in the more detailed questions, with the most frequent overall response to the MOMENT hearing aids being “Very satisfied.”

Figure 5. Ratings of overall satisfaction, with the left panel showing mean ratings per week and the right panel showing ratings for own hearing aids in Week 5 and for MOMENT in Week 7.

The Importance of Sound Quality in Real Life Hearing Aid Use

References

  1. Kuk F, Lau C-C, Korhonen P, Crose B. Evaluating hearing aid processing at high and very high input levels. Hearing Review. 2014;21(3):32-35.
  2. Kuk F, Hau O. Compression speed and cognition: A variable speed compressor for all. Hearing Review. 2017;24(3):40-48.
  3. Balling LW, Jensen NS, Caporali S, Cubick J, Switalski W. Challenges of instant-fit ear tips: What happens at the eardrum? Hearing Review. 2019;26(12):12-15.
  4. Balling LW, Townend O, Stiefenhofer G, Switalski W. Reducing hearing aid delay for optimal sound quality: A new paradigm in processing. Hearing Review. 2020;27(4):20-26.
  5. Powers TA, Rogin CM. MarkeTrak 10: Hearing aids in an era of disruption and DTC/OTC devices. Hearing Review. 2019;26(8):12-20.
  6. Scarinci N, Worrall L, Hickson L. The effect of hearing impairment in older people on the spouse. Int J Audiol. 2008;47(3):141-151.
  7. Ciorba A, Bianchini C, Pelucchi S, Pastore A. The impact of hearing loss on the quality of life of elderly adults. Clin Interv Aging. 2012;7:159-163.
  8. Cox R, Hyde M, Gatehouse S, et al. Optimal outcome measures, research priorities, and international cooperation. Ear Hear. 2000;21(4):106S-115S.

Phonak Launches Roger II Focus Ear-Level Receiver

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Phonak Launches Roger II Focus Ear-Level Receiver

  

Phonak announced the launch of the second generation of Roger Focus, the ear-level receiver that allows “children, teens, and adults to hear a speaker’s voice via any Roger microphone.” Research has shown that speech recognition in noise is significantly improved for children with unilateral hearing loss 1,2, autism spectrum disorder 3,4 , and auditory processing disorder 5 when using Phonak remote microphone technologies like Roger Focus II compared to no technology.

Potential applications for Roger Focus II include:

Unilateral hearing loss (UHL)
UHL affects 1-3% of school children 6,7 and left untreated, can impact a child’s behavior, social engagement, and anxiety levels.8-10 Emerging research shows that when using Roger Focus II, children with UHL have 53 percentage-points better speech understanding in noise at five meters distance compared to their normal hearing peers and even show significant improvement in quiet environments compared to no technology.11

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD)
Some children on the autism spectrum with normal hearing have “functional hearing loss,” which is loosely defined as a hearing loss with no natural or physiological cause.12 In other words, these children have impaired auditory filtering that makes it difficult to hear, function, and complete tasks in the presence of background noise.8 Parents reported improved listening in children with ASD and teachers reported that classroom attentiveness, behavior, and listening improved in children with ASD when using Phonak remote microphone technology like Roger Focus II. 13-15

 Auditory processing disorder (APD)

Children with APD may also experience functional hearing loss despite normal hearing and may have difficulties with spatial sound processing and word discrimination. This can result in poorer behavior, attention, and concentration7 while leading to negative psychosocial effects like social withdrawal, difficulty with interpersonal relationships, and increased anxiety.16 Speech understanding in noise is improved significantly in children with APD when using Phonak remote microphone technology like Roger Focus II compared to no technology, according to Phonak. Meanwhile, students report improvement in anxiety, depression, and interpersonal relationships.

“Roger Focus II was developed to help children overcome the challenges of hearing over distance and in background noise so that they can focus on what matters,” said Angela Pelosi, director of global audiology at Phonak. “As a leading innovator of world-class pediatric hearing solutions, it’s critically important that we provide children with unilateral or functional hearing loss the confidence that they can fully participate in everyday activities—and the Roger Focus II does just that.”

The new Roger Focus II is available in a new lithium-ion rechargeable option or a traditional zinc-air battery featuring a “tamper-proof” battery door. According to Phonak, it received an IP68-rating for water and dust resistance and has new coupling options to fit even smaller ears than its predecessor. The rechargeable version comes in ten assorted colors and offers up to 20 hours of battery life on a full charge.

Roger Focus II is intended for children over three years old and is available to order today via licensed hearing care professionals in the US and other select markets.

For more information: https://www.phonakpro.com/com/en/products/wireless-accessories/roger-focus/overview-roger-focus.html.

Source: Phonak

Images: Phonak