Remote Microphone Performance Comparison in Adults With Hearing Loss

This study will recruit 15-20 hearing impaired experienced hearing aid adult users. Participants will be fit with three sets of hearing aids (Phonak devices, plus two competitor devices) and the associated remote microphone from each manufacturer. Speech perception will be measured using the validated AZ Bio test, and will be given in both the hearing aid alone condition, as well as the hearing aid plus remote microphone condition. The participant will be seated in the center of a room approximately 7m by 5.25m with a loudspeaker approximately 3 m away, at 0 degree azimuth. Four loudspeakers will also be placed in the corners of the room. For the quiet condition, target speech will be presented from the loudspeaker in front of the participant, for the noise condition speech will be presented from the front with speech babble presented from each of the corner loudspeakers. The speech understanding score in both quiet and in noise will be measured for hearing aids alone, and hearing aids plus the appropriate compatible remote microphone.

Inclusion criteria

• Bilateral sensorineural hearing loss
• Experienced bilateral hearing aid users
• Fluent in English, ability to read and write in English
• Able to produce a reliable study result
• Willing to comply with all study requirements

Exclusion criteria

• Limited/inconsistent/no prior use of hearing aids
• Self-reported ear-related pathology(including but not limited to: otorrhea within the past 90 days, dizziness, sudden onset or worsening hearing loss within the past 90 days, otalgia)
• Visible deformity of the ear
• Chronic, severe tinnitus
• Unilateral hearing loss
• Single sided deafness