RESUMEN
Some ten to twelve million people in Germany are estimated to need hearing aids. Many of the hard of hearing suffer from inner ear deafness with hair cell dysfunction, and not only hear sounds at too low a level of intensity, but also distorted and unintelligible. Modern special digital hearing aids are able, by appropriate amplification of certain frequencies or frequency bands or, e.g. through the use of directional microphones, to improve discrimination of speech from surrounding noise. In patients with mild hearing losses in particular, the use of bilateral hearing aids is recommended to improve speech recognition. Attention is drawn to the importance of individual counselling and the testing of the hearing aids by the patient.
Asunto(s)
Audífonos/normas , Pérdida Auditiva Funcional/rehabilitación , HumanosRESUMEN
Two fitting algorithms for linear hearing aids were compared using a wearable digital hearing aid in a one-month blind field test: a prescriptive method (POGO II) and a new algorithm, LinEar. Both used seven bands for frequency shaping, and two channel compression limiting. When fitting LinEar, the subjects individually adjusted the frequency response according to specified criteria. LinEar used a lower compression threshold setting than prescribed by POGO II. Eight subjects tested the two algorithms in a one-months blind field test as well as in the laboratory. The individual LF- and HF-gain adjustments of the frequency response in LinEar showed rather large variations compared to the POGO II prescription. Measures of S/N for speech did not show any significant differences between LinEar and POGO II, while overall sound quality ratings in laboratory and field test showed that LinEar was rated significantly higher than POGO II.
Asunto(s)
Audífonos , Pérdida Auditiva Funcional/rehabilitación , Adulto , Anciano , Algoritmos , Umbral Auditivo , Femenino , Humanos , Masculino , Persona de Mediana Edad , Ajuste de PrótesisRESUMEN
Evoked otoacoustic emissions (EOAE) are a recently discovered technique that is related to a good audiological status. It is a quick, simple and harmless test that can be used in neonatal screening. We report and compare here the results from a series of neonates in which we have performed both, this test and a brainstem response (ABR) test. The correlation between techniques was good, especially in normal positive neonates where the correlation was 100%. However, EOAE only explores the cochlear status and will not detect retrocochlear pathologies.
Asunto(s)
Audiometría de Respuesta Evocada , Potenciales Evocados Auditivos del Tronco Encefálico , Pérdida Auditiva Funcional/diagnóstico , Pérdida Auditiva/diagnóstico , Pérdida Auditiva/rehabilitación , Pérdida Auditiva Funcional/rehabilitación , Humanos , Recién Nacido , Tamizaje MasivoRESUMEN
The authors described the stabilization method of prostheses type PORP and TORP in one and two steps hearing improvement surgery. The method is very simple and prevents the secondary tympanic membrane perforations.
Asunto(s)
Implantes Cocleares , Pérdida Auditiva Funcional/cirugía , Otitis Media/cirugía , Complicaciones Posoperatorias/prevención & control , Trasplante de Piel/métodos , Colgajos Quirúrgicos , Timpanoplastia/métodos , Pérdida Auditiva Funcional/etiología , Pérdida Auditiva Funcional/rehabilitación , Humanos , Otitis Media/complicaciones , Falla de PrótesisRESUMEN
Experimental videotapes were used to assess the effectiveness of three repair strategies: (1) repetitions, (2) synonyms, and (3) paraphrases. Three groups of normal-hearing adults viewed one of three videotapes. The same 50 test-words were used on each videotape. Each test-item consisted of three stimuli: a test-word, a stimulus that incorporated the repair strategy under investigation, and a repetition of the initial test-word. Each videotape displayed one of the three repair strategies under investigation. The subjects were required to identify test-words presented in a visual-only mode. The results indicated that the performance of the subjects who were provided with synonyms or paraphrases was significantly better than the performance of the subjects who were shown repetitions. Also, subjects who were shown paraphrases performed significantly better than those who were shown synonyms. These findings indicate that repair strategies that incorporate the use of substitute stimuli such as synonyms and paraphrases may be more effective than the simple repetition of the misperceived stimulus.