Basic research on the usefulness of multi-sensory integration in the bone-conducted ultrasonic hearing rehabilitation

2015 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 25861583
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Otorhinolaryngology
• Research Institution: Wakayama University (2014-2015); University of Tsukuba (2013)
• Principal Investigator: MATSUI Toshie 和歌山大学, システム工学部, 助教 (10510034)
• Project Period (FY): 2013-04-01 – 2016-03-31
• Keywords: 骨導超音波補聴器 / 最重度難聴者 / 補聴リハビリテーション

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The bone-conducted ultrasonic hearing aid (BCUHA) is the unique device for providing auditory sensation to profoundly hearing-impaired patients, without any surgery. To investigate the effects of long-term BCUHA training, two deaf patients were trained for over 10 months with the device. Both patients could recognize words with accuracy greater than chance using a BCUHA, if alternatives or context were presented to them during the trials. Monosyllabic intelligibility scores with audio-visual cues also increased substantially after training. Furthermore, by using the fact that hearing aid users face towards the speaker, we tried to improve the SN ratio by a microphone array. The results suggest that the array will help to improve the listening accuracy even for BCUHA.

Free Research Field

心理物理学