Subjektivne metode vrednovanja ugođenosti digitalnih slušnih pomagala

doctoral thesis

• Title (english): Subjective methods for evaluating fine-tuning of digital hearing aids
• Author: Davor Šušković; MBZ: 95274157275
• Mentor: Siniša Fajt (mentor)
• Committee member: Kristian Jambrošić (predsjednik povjerenstva)
• Committee member: Marko Horvat (član povjerenstva)
• Committee member: Tino Bucak (član povjerenstva)
• Granter: University of Zagreb; Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing; (Department of Electroacoustics); Zagreb
• Defense date and country: 2021-06-07, Croatia
• Scientific / art field, discipline and subdiscipline: TECHNICAL SCIENCES; Electrical Engineering
• Universal decimal classification (UDC): 621.3 - Electrical engineering

Abstract

Ubrzani razvoj tehnologije digitalnih slušnih pomagala omogućuje precizno ugađanje i prilagodbu različitim slušnim situacijama. Trenutno dostupna metoda tonske audiometrije nije prilagođena mogućnostima digitalnih slušnih pomagala koje je moguće puno preciznije ugoditi nego što to omogućuju standardni klinički audiometri. Razvijen je audiometar s mogućnošću tonske audiometrije veće razlučivosti. Odabrano je ukupno 27 frekvencija na kojima se ispituje prag sluha. Uz standardnih 11 koje se mogu ispitivati kliničkim audiometrom, dodane su frekvencije na kojima se može vršiti ugađanje digitalnih slušnih pomagala s 20 kanala. Odabrano je 10 nagluhih osoba različite dobi i spola za ispitivanje. Usporedbom rezultata dviju audiometrija vidljivo je značajno odstupanje u iznosu od oko 15 dB u području između 1000 i 4000 Hz. Predložena je lista logatoma za govornu audiometriju. Učinjeno je ispitivanje govorne razumljivosti uz osnovno i precizno ugađanje digitalnih slušnih pomagala. Precizno ugađanje digitalnih slušnih pomagala uključuje unos razlike između rezultata tonske audiometrije veće razlučivosti i rezultata tonske audiometrije na frekvencijama koje se u svakodnevnoj praksi provode u više od 60 % slučajeva. Govornom audiometrijom listom logatoma utvrđeno je prosječno razumijevanje govora od 36 % za osnovno ugađanje i 56 % za precizno ugađanje. Porast razumijevanja govora prisutan je kod svakog od 10 ispitanika, a kreće se između 10 % i 30 %.

Abstract (english)

Unfortunately, not everyone is lucky enough to have healthy ears and normal hearing. Some people's hearing is damaged due to certain trauma, some children are born deaf, and most people are hearing impaired due to the natural aging process of the ear or exposure to the noise. Science has managed to help people hear, after all. Imperfect, admittedly, but still enough to return the lost quality of life. Today it is possible to help hearing impaired people by using different hearing aids depending on the type of hearing loss. Hearing aids today, thanks to the technology of digital hearing aids, can help people to hear and understand better in almost all hearing situations, regardless of the direction of the sound source or the presence of noise. The rapid development of digital hearing aid technology allows precise tuning and adaptation to different hearing situations. Digital hearing aids determine their calculation of the required gain across the entire frequency range by choosing a fitting formula that calculates the amount of amplification required primarily on the hearing threshold of hearing aid users. Hearing aid fine-tuning allows you to change the gain in certain frequency areas - the hearing aid channels. It is possible to change the gain, separately for soft, medium and loudest sounds, as well as setting the maximum allowable gain so that the hearing aid does not become too loud and exceed the discomfort threshold or uncomfortable loudness level (UCL), but also so that the positive feedback does not cause the hearing aid to whistle unpleasantly. It is possible to adjust each hearing program separately, that is, the mode of operation in each hearing situation that the hearing aid can recognize automatically or the user can select it himself. Also, in this step, all algorithms are adjusted, i.e. possibilities of hearing aids such as microphone directionality, noise suppression, algorithms for enabling listening to higher frequency sounds using frequency lowering methods etc.

• Keywords: sluh; gubitak sluha; slušna pomagala; tonska audiometrija; govorna audiometrija; ugađanje; precizno ugađanje; govorna razumljivost; prezbiakuzija; gubitak sluha uzrokovan bukom; tonska audiometrija visoke razlučivosti; logatomi
• Keywords (english): hearing; hearing loss; hearing aids; pure tone audiometry; speech audiometry; fitting; fine-tuning; speech intelligibility; presbyacusis; noise induced hearing loss; high precision tone audiometry; logatome
• Language: croatian
• URN:NBN: urn:nbn:hr:168:519172
• Promotion: 2022
• Study programme: Title: Doctoral study programme "Electrical Engineering and Computing"; Study programme type: university; Study level: postgraduate; Academic / professional title: doktor/doktorica znanosti, po-dručje tehničkih znanosti (doktor/doktorica znanosti, po-dručje tehničkih znanosti)
• Type of resource: Text
• Extent: 113 str. : graf. prikazi ; 30 cm.
• File origin: Born digital
• Access conditions: Open access
• Created on: 2022-09-05 08:51:28