source: bhNEWS
Medical News Today - July 11, 2008
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New Hearing Aid Technology P***** The Restaurant Noise Test
The sound of a noisy Chicago restaurant during the breakfast rush the
clang of plates and silverware and the clamor of many voices was the
crucial test of new hearing aid technology in a study conducted by
researchers at
Wa****ngton University School of Medicine in St. Louis. The study
showed that the hearing aids worked well in a noisy environment the
most
challenging test for a hearing aid.
But the patients wearing the devices didn't need to fly from St.
Louis to Chicago to participate in the test. Instead, the restaurant
came to
the clinic of Michael Valente, Ph.D., director of the Division of
Adult
Audiology in the Department of Otolaryngology at the School of
Medicine. Or at least its sounds did.
"We have a sound room set up to be an exact duplication of being in a
loud restaurant. It's real restaurant noise, and it allows us to
realistically test hearing aids," Valente says. "One of the most
common complaints
I hear from people who wear hearing aids is that they have stopped
going to
restaurants because they can't communicate. So we are testing hearing
aid technology that might better help people hear in noisy places."
The study, published in the June issue of the International Journal of
Audiology, was the first to use such a setting to test a new hearing
aid technology open-fit hearing aids with directional microphones.
Open-
fit means the devices let ambient sounds into the ear canal, unlike
more
conventional hearing aids, which completely block off the canal. Canal
blockage creates an occlusion effect that makes wearers' own voices
sound a little like they are talking from the bottom of a barrel, so
open-fit
is an attractive new option.
..........
Complete article: http://tinyurl.com/5gqty5
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