Hearing Loss
Conditions
Brief summary
Claims evidence is required for a new Wind Noise Canceller (WNC) algorithm. Wind noise is not sound in the classic sense, as it does not correspond to pressure waves moving through the air. However, because the microphone membranes are deflected by the wind noise, the microphones translates them into a sound signal. Since the pressure fluctuations are small in size, this wind noise signal is uncorrelated between the two HI microphones (correlation decreases with increasing microphone distance), creating bothersome sounds at low and very low frequencies. Historically, wind noise cancellers have been applied to make wind noise less bothersome. However, target signal (i.e. speech) sound fidelity can become compromised as a biproduct. Therefore, an updated wind noise canceller has been proposed to improve wind noise attenuation and target signal fidelity compared to the previous iteration. Informal exploratory testing by normal hearing Sonova employees have identified the new wind noise canceller iteration to improve sound quality ratings with some dependencies on (1) wind speed, (2) wind angle and (3) target signal. Therefore, this study will aim to produce sound quality data showing a benefit for the new wind noise canceller compared to the older version for the purpose of claim substantiation.
Interventions
DEVICENew wind noise canceller
Updated wind noise canceller intended to improve wind noise attenuation and target signal fidelity compared to its predecessor.
DEVICEOld wind noise canceller
Older version of the wind noise canceller
Sponsors
Jonathan Vaisberg
Study design
Allocation
NA
Intervention model
SINGLE_GROUP
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to 99 Years
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
* Adults (18-99 years) * Binaural, symmetric, sensorineural N2 (mild) to N5 (moderate-severe) hearing loss * Fluent in English
Exclusion criteria
* Minors (\< 18 years * Normal hearing or hearing loss \> N6 (severe)
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Overall preference sound quality attribute | During a single 2-hour onsite study session | Participants will complete an A-B paired-comparison listening task to assess subjective preference for overall preference between two hearing aid conditions. During testing, participants will listen to short audio recordings that vary in target signal, wind speed, and wind incidence angle. For each trial, participants will indicate which of the two recordings (A or B) is preferred overall. The outcome measure will be the proportion of "A preferred" versus "B preferred" responses aggregated across all trials and participants. Binary preference data will be analyzed using inferential statistics. |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Speech clarity sound quality attribute | During a single 2-hour onsite study session | Participants will complete an A-B paired-comparison listening task to assess subjective preference for speech clarity between two hearing aid conditions. During testing, participants will listen to short audio recordings that vary in target signal, wind speed, and wind incidence angle. For each trial, participants will indicate which of the two recordings (A or B) is preferred in terms of speech clarity. The outcome measure will be the proportion of "A preferred" versus "B preferred" responses aggregated across all trials and participants. Binary preference data will be analyzed using inferential statistics. |
| Listening comfort sound quality attribute | During a single 2-hour onsite study session | Participants will complete an A-B paired-comparison listening task to assess subjective preference for listening comfort between two hearing aid conditions. During testing, participants will listen to short audio recordings that vary in target signal, wind speed, and wind incidence angle. For each trial, participants will indicate which of the two recordings (A or B) is preferred in terms of listening comfort. The outcome measure will be the proportion of "A preferred" versus "B preferred" responses aggregated across all trials and participants. Binary preference data will be analyzed using inferential statistics. |
| Listening effort sound quality attribute | During a single 2-hour onsite study session | Participants will complete an A-B paired-comparison listening task to assess subjective preference for listening effort between two hearing aid conditions. During testing, participants will listen to short audio recordings that vary in target signal, wind speed, and wind incidence angle. For each trial, participants will indicate which of the two recordings (A or B) is preferred in terms of listening effort. The outcome measure will be the proportion of "A preferred" versus "B preferred" responses aggregated across all trials and participants. Binary preference data will be analyzed using inferential statistics. |
| Naturalness sound quality attribute | During a single 2-hour onsite study session | Participants will complete an A-B paired-comparison listening task to assess subjective preference for naturalness between two hearing aid conditions. During testing, participants will listen to short audio recordings that vary in target signal, wind speed, and wind incidence angle. For each trial, participants will indicate which of the two recordings (A or B) is preferred in terms of naturalness. The outcome measure will be the proportion of "A preferred" versus "B preferred" responses aggregated across all trials and participants. Binary preference data will be analyzed using inferential statistics. |
Countries
Canada
Contacts
CONTACTJonathan M Vaisberg, PhD
Outcome results
None listed