Evaluation of the noise reduction system in a commercial digital hearing aid: Evaluación del sistema de reducción de ruido en un auxiliar auditivo digital comercial
- 1 January 2003
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Taylor & Francis Ltd in International Journal of Audiology
- Vol. 42 (1), 34-42
- https://doi.org/10.3109/14992020309056083
Abstract
We evaluated the effectiveness of a noise reduction system implemented in a commercial digital multichannel compression hearing aid. Eight experienced hearing aid wearers with moderate sensorineural hearing loss were fitted bilaterally according to the manufacturer's fitting guidelines. After a 3-month period of regular use of two programs, one with and one without the noise reduction system, speech recognition thresholds (SRTs) were measured in four types of background noise, including steady noise, and noises with spectral and/or temporal dips. SRTs were very similar with and without the noise reduction system; in both cases, SRTs were markedly lower than for unaided listening. SRTs were lower for the noises with dips than for the steady noise, especially for the aided conditions, indicating that amplification can help to 'listen in the dips'. Ratings of sound quality and listening comfort in the aided conditions were uniformly high and very similar with and without the noise reduction system. Sumario: Evaluamos la efectividad del sistema de reducción de ruido en un auxiliar auditivo digital comercial con compresión multicanal. Se adaptaron auxi-liares auditivos bilateralmente a ocho usuarios experimentados con hipoacusias sensorineurales moderadas de acuerdo con las guias de adaptación del fabricante. Después de un periodo de 3 meses de uso regular de dos programas, uno con y uno sin el sistema de reducción de ruido, se midieron los umbrales de reconocimiento del lenguaje (SRT) con cuatro tipos de ruido de fondo, incluyendo ruido estacionario y ruidos con componentes espectrales y/o temporales. Los SRT fueron muy similares con y sin el sistema de reducción de ruido. En ambos casos, los SRT fueron marca-damente más bajos que en condiciones de escucha sin el auxiliar. Los SRT fueron más bajos con los ruidos que tenian componentes, en comparación con el ruido estacionario, especialmente en condiciones de uso del auxiliar, lo que indicó que la amplificación puede ayudar a escuchar en presencia de esos componentes. Los resultados en cuanto a calidad de sonido y de audición agradablc en condiciones de uso del auxiliar auditivo, fueron uniformemente elevados y muy similares con y sin el sistema de reducción de ruido.Keywords
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