Estimation of the Aided Threshold for a Bone Conduction Hearing Aid from Its Acousto-mechanical Characteristics-A Study Using Simulated Hearing Loss-

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  • 骨導補聴器の音響機械特性に基づく装用効果の推定―擬似難聴による検討―
  • A Study Using Simulated Hearing Loss
  • 擬似難聴による検討

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Abstract

For some patients with conductive hearing loss, a bone conduction hearing aid (BCHA) remains the only choice for amplification. However, quantitative estimation of hearing improvement based on the physical characteristics of BCHAs has not yet been established. In this study, we examined the validity of a formula for estimating the aided threshold of a BCHA from pure-tone bone conduction thresholds of the wearer and the output characteristics of the BCHA. In 11 normal-hearing adults in whom the ear canals of both sides were plugged to simulate hearing loss, the aided thresholds for two types of BCHA were measured in sound fields and compared with the threshold estimated using the above formula. There were no significant differences between the two thresholds, except at 4000Hz, where the amplification was overestimated. The estimation errors in SD were from 2.3 to 6.5dB depending on the frequency and type of hearing aid. Although somewhat greater than that reported for the air-conduction hearing aid, this variability is sufficiently small to indicate the possibility that the aided threshold or functional gain for BCHAs can be estimated and their characteristics prescribed. To make such a prescription clinically possible, it is necessary for hearing aid manufacturers to provide the data of the acousto-mechanical characteristics of their BCHAs in hearing level representation.

Journal

  • AUDIOLOGY JAPAN

    AUDIOLOGY JAPAN 49 (6), 789-797, 2006

    Japan Audiological Society

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