2014 Fiscal Year Final Research Report
Study of intelligibility for practical application of bone-conducted ultrasonic hearing aids
| Project/Area Number |
23791923
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
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| Allocation Type | Multi-year Fund |
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| Research Field |
Otorhinolaryngology
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| Research Institution | Nara Medical University |
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Principal Investigator |
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| Project Period (FY) |
2011-04-28 – 2015-03-31
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| Keywords | 骨導超音波 / 補聴器 / 語音 |
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| Outline of Final Research Achievements |
We investigated the ability to recognize speech delivered by bone-conducted ultrasound (BCU) to develop bone-conducted ultrasonic hearing aids (BCUHA). Three individuals with normal hearings could not perceive any speech information from ultrasonic signals among 34 tests. The average dynamic range was 18.1 ± 3.2 dBSL. This finding is consistent with previous reports. A comparison of speech discrimination tests of bone-conducted ultrasound in individuals of different ages found that the tests for BCU were less intelligible in older persons. This finding supported the hypothesis that BCU can be perceived in the cochlear basal turn. In addition, we examined the effects of rehabilitation in individuals with normal hearing. The intelligibility of the speech discrimination test with BCU was inconsistent in the hearing-impaired.
Our findings provide important clues for the development of BCUHA. The perception mechanisms of BCU should be fully elucidated in future studies.
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| Free Research Field |
聴覚
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