| Project/Area Number |
17500373
|
|---|
| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
|
| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
|---|
| Section | 一般 |
|---|
| Research Field |
Rehabilitation science/Welfare engineering
|
|---|
| Research Institution | Tokyo Women's Medical University |
|---|
Principal Investigator |
ARAI Yasuko Tokyo Women's Medical University, School of Medicine, Professor (50119880)
|
|---|
| Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
KAWAKAMI Yoriko Tokyo Women's Medical University, School of Medicine, Professor (40075601)
SUGIURA Eisaku Tokyo Women's Medical University, School of Medicine, Assistant Professor (70349736)
栗原 秀樹 東京女子医科大学, 医学部, 助手 (90339036)
稲中 優子 東京女子医科大学, 医学部, 助手 (90349738)
|
|---|
| Project Period (FY) |
2005 – 2007
|
| Project Status |
Completed (Fiscal Year 2007)
|
| Budget Amount *help |
¥3,620,000 (Direct Cost: ¥3,500,000、Indirect Cost: ¥120,000)
Fiscal Year 2007: ¥520,000 (Direct Cost: ¥400,000、Indirect Cost: ¥120,000)
Fiscal Year 2006: ¥1,200,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,200,000)
Fiscal Year 2005: ¥1,900,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,900,000)
|
|---|
| Keywords | medical welfare / use of body function / conductive mechanism / hearing aid |
|---|
| Research Abstract |
Elderly people are required to participate in social life because of the increasing population and lack of supporting money for the government. The most frequent problem for them is communicati on difficulty due to presbyacusis. To overcome presbyacusis, hearing aid is indispensable. The use of hearing aid, however, is 1/5 of that in England. Our aim of this study is to improve hearing aid, by introducing sound energy into the inner ear through direct coupling of vibration.
We found that direct application of sound via a balloon or a plastic bar gave 10-50dB acoustic gain. A polyethylene tube leaks sound less than silicone soft tube. A hard plastic bar on a diaphragm was better than a thin silicone balloon. The holding system was successfully designed, so that we could determine the properties of the device. The output of this device was analyzed by comparing the sound with the sound with the head phone of an audiometer by ABLB method.
Acoustic gain was 50-10dB according to the frequency and the place where the device touched. For a patient with profound mixed type hearing loss, this system is especially benefitable, because this system skips air-bone gaps. For people with mild hearing loss, this system may provide non-closing, no hauling hearing aid.
|
