Evaluation and Optimization of Hearing Devices in 3-D Complex Audio Environments

A methodical evaluation of novel sound changing principles in CE-labelled Sonova brand hearing instruments (e.g. Phonak hearing instruments) is intended to be conducted on hearing impaired participants. These sound changing principles are enabled by respective hearing instrument technologies and hearing instrument algorithms. The aim of the study is to investigate and assess strengths and weaknesses of these novel sound changing principles in terms of hearing performance to determine their application in hearing instruments (Phase of development). Both, objective laboratory measurements as well as subjective evaluations in real life environment will be carried out. This will be a controlled, single blinded and randomised active comparator clinical evaluation which will be conducted mono centric at the University Hospital of Zürich.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Ability, Spatial
• Intervention / Treatment: Procedure: several virtual 3-D complex audio environments

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 20
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Switzerland
  • Zürich, Switzerland, 8091
    • University Hospital Zurich

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years to 80 years (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Adult normal hearing persons (minimum age: 18 years)
• Healthy outer ear (without previous surgical procedures)
• Ability to fill in a questionnaire conscientiously
• Informed Consent as documented by signature

Exclusion Criteria:

• Contraindications to the MD in this study, e.g. known hypersensitivity or allergy to the investigational product
• Limited mobility and not in the position to attend weekly appointments
• Limited ability to describe listening impressions/experiences and the use of the hearing aid
• Inability to produce a reliable hearing test result
• Massively limited dexterity
• Known psychological problems
• Known central hearing disorders

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Other
• Allocation: N/A
• Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

1

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: normal hearing participants; normal hearing participants with and without hearing aids	Procedure: several virtual 3-D complex audio environments; The focus is a comparison of four virtual 3-D complex audio environments with regard to the sensitivity of hearing aid algorithms.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Head movements measured with head tracker	The participant starts the acoustic stimulus, tries to identify the direction of the stimulus as precise as possible and validates the final position. This is interpreted as reaction time with regard to spatial quality in seconds [s].	6 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Sonova AG
• Collaborators: Swiss Commission for Technology and Innovation
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Norbert Dillier, Professor, University Hospital, Zürich

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Gatehouse S, Noble W. The Speech, Spatial and Qualities of Hearing Scale (SSQ). Int J Audiol. 2004 Feb;43(2):85-99. doi: 10.1080/14992020400050014.
• Choisel S, Wickelmaier F. Evaluation of multichannel reproduced sound: scaling auditory attributes underlying listener preference. J Acoust Soc Am. 2007 Jan;121(1):388-400. doi: 10.1121/1.2385043.
• Mueller MF, Meisenbacher K, Lai WK, Dillier N. Sound localization with bilateral cochlear implants in noise: how much do head movements contribute to localization? Cochlear Implants Int. 2014 Jan;15(1):36-42. doi: 10.1179/1754762813Y.0000000040. Epub 2013 Nov 25.
• Catic J, Santurette S, Dau T. The role of reverberation-related binaural cues in the externalization of speech. J Acoust Soc Am. 2015 Aug;138(2):1154-67. doi: 10.1121/1.4928132.
• Simon LS, Zacharov N, Katz BF. Perceptual attributes for the comparison of head-related transfer functions. J Acoust Soc Am. 2016 Nov;140(5):3623. doi: 10.1121/1.4966115.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): March 26, 2018
• Primary Completion (Actual): May 31, 2018
• Study Completion (Actual): May 31, 2018

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: April 20, 2018
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: April 20, 2018
• First Posted (Actual): May 2, 2018

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): December 6, 2018
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: December 5, 2018
• Last Verified: June 1, 2018

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Other Study ID Numbers: 2017-02051

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No