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Applications of spatial sound and related problems
Published in Bosun Xie, Spatial Sound, 2023
A hearing aid is a device designed to improve the condition of hearing-impaired people, mainly those with conductive and non-severe sensorineural hearing impairments. Bilateral hearing aids may also improve the spatial auditory ability of some hearing-impaired people. Even for unilaterally hearing-impaired people, a combination of a unilateral hearing aid and normal hearing in another ear may improve their spatial auditory ability to some extent. Training is important to rehabilitate spatial auditory abilities for hearing aid users.
DSP in Hearing Aids
Published in Francis F. Li, Trevor J. Cox, Digital Signal Processing in Audio and Acoustical Engineering, 2019
Modern hearing aids typically have three major building blocks, namely sound acquisition by a microphone or more microphones, signal processing and amplification with DSP techniques, and sound reproduction using high-quality transducers at suitable levels. It is evident that the ever-increasing use of DSP represents the trend of advancement of hearing aids to address various challenges in this field. It is not imprudent to assert that DSP is the key and enabling technology for modern hearing aids. On the other hand, many audio and acoustic DSP techniques find flourish paradigms in hearing aids.
Healthcare technologies
Published in Sara J. Czaja, Walter R. Boot, Neil Charness, Wendy A. Rogers, Designing for Older Adults, 2019
Sara J. Czaja, Walter R. Boot, Neil Charness, Wendy A. Rogers
Cost is still an important barrier to be surmounted. Although some medical devices are covered under federal funding mandates for healthcare, assistive products such as expensive hearing aids in the U.S. are not. Similarly, many products require internet access, and cost for internet service can be prohibitive, especially in rural settings. Attitudes toward product adoption may be another significant barrier to use. Many aging adults do not want to be perceived as being infirm or disabled and may feel stigmatized by product use. Thus, products such as hearing aids, walkers, and canes are only adopted when the need for them becomes urgent. Hence, a challenge for designers is to produce products that are aesthetically pleasing and non-stigmatizing for users. Users weigh costs (stigma, expense) and benefits (improved quality of life) when considering product adoption.
A novel design of low-cost hearing aid devices using an efficient lifting filter bank with a modified variable filter
Published in Expert Review of Medical Devices, 2022
N Subbulakshmi, R Manimegalai, G Rajakumar, T Ananth Kumar, Umadevi Kosuri
A hearing aid is defined as a remote electronic system to augment the hearing capability that is placed in and around the human ear. In Chen et al. (2019) [6], an audiometry method is used for fast implementation. Filter bank for bird call analysis has been discussed with various samples [7]. A review of hearing aid devices is discussed. The analytic design of a uniform filter bank is implemented in [8] with circular filters whose prototype is zero phase using specific frequency mappings. A hybrid filter bank structure is introduced as a four-channel realization in [9]. Stochastic computing is used for neural network processing to reduce the hardware elements’ infinite impulse response filter cores [5]. A two-channel QMF filter bank mainly focuses on low-frequency biomedical applications [10]. This sine cosine algorithm is used to optimize the prototype coefficients in the filter bank, and the optimal function is quickly designed by reducing the fitness function. An adjustable filter bank [11] is used for hearing aid application in which a farrow structure is proposed to adjust the controllability of the device. A s16-band filter bank [12] is implemented with multiple band edge shaping filters. Fixed-point representation is used in Tensilica-based processors [13] for hearing aid application. The proposed filter bank has improved performance in power and delay. A survey of various filter bank methods is discussed in [14,15].
Applying market shaping approaches to increase access to assistive technology in low- and middle-income countries
Published in Assistive Technology, 2021
Margaret Savage, Sarah Albala, Frederic Seghers, Rainer Kattel, Cynthia Liao, Mathilde Chaudron, Novia Afdhila
In a healthy market, the price of a product should be low enough to make it accessible and cost-effective to buyers, but also high enough to incentivize suppliers to innovate new products and/or enter and remain in the market. Analysis showed affordability issues across all products investigated. The need for customized products coupled with small volumes, a lack of competition, high shipping costs and high taxes all contribute to high or unaffordable prices of active wheelchairs (up to US$4,000 per unit) and prostheses (up to US$3,000) from most leading global manufacturers. Lower cost options (e.g., US$150 – 350 for active wheelchairs) exist, but uptake is limited by a reliance on donor-funded programs for distribution, lack of revolving capital by suppliers to enter the market and limited visibility for suppliers and buyers. Supply chain analysis indicated that the cost of a hearing aid from leading global suppliers to the service provider may range from US$100 – $150, but the the cost to the user can exceed US$2,000 whereby the device and high service delivery costs are bundled. Additionally, due to tendering practices in most LMIC, suppliers must rely on local distributors to respond to government tenders or register products, which adds additional margin to the final price.
“Do You See What I Hear?”: Designing for Collocated Patient–Practitioner Collaboration in Audiological Consultations
Published in Human–Computer Interaction, 2018
Yngve Dahl, Geir Kjetil Hanssen
Hearing aids are the most common treatment option for a person with sensorineural hearing loss, i.e., reduced hearing that results from damage to sensory cells (hair cells) in the inner ear. A hearing aid is an electronic sound amplification device that can be attached in or behind the ear, and that has the potential to compensate for impaired hearing by amplifying specific segments of the sound spectrum, and other forms of advanced corrections. While there are many different types of hearing aids, modern hearing aids consist of three basic electronic components: a microphone, an amplifier, and a loudspeaker (Elberling & Worsoe, 2006). The hearing aid receives sound waves through the microphone, which converts them to electrical signals, and transmits them to the amplifier. The amplifier increases the power of the signals and sends them, via a speaker, to the inner ear. The amplified sound is then detected by intact hair cells and converted into electrical signals, which are conveyed by the auditory nerve to the brain. The brain then interprets the signals as meaningful sound.