Study of a Signal-processing Algorithm Aiming at Improving Speech-in-noise Intelligibility in Normal-hearing and Hearing-impaired Persons

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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Nearly half a billion people suffer from disabling hearing loss. The most common form of hearing loss in adults is age-related hearing loss (ARHL), which causes a reduced ability to understand speech in noisy environments. The ability of people with ARHL to communicate is therefore greatly impacted, limiting their social interactions and thus their quality of life. Yet, the wear of hearing aids - which is the current standard rehabilitation treatment in such cases - does not lead to optimal satisfactory outcomes when it comes to understanding speech in noisy environments. The objective of this pilot study is to test a new signal-processing algorithm, based on artificial intelligence, that aims at enhancing the intelligibility of speech-in-noise signals. The efficiency of the algorithm is compared to a standard denoising algorithm commonly used in hearing aids. The primary outcome measure is the word-identification performance of the participants, using the FrMatrix test (Jansen et al., 2012). Two secondary outcome measures are investigated: listening effort (self-assessed using a Likert scale, and measured through response times), and subjective preference (assessed in a paired-comparison task). The study is conducted in 20 normal-hearing subjects and in 40 older (age ≥ 55 years) hearing-impaired subjects.

Official Title
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Pilot Study of a Signal-processing Algorithm Aiming at Improving Speech-in-noise Intelligibility in Normal-hearing and Hearing-impaired Persons

Conditions
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Speech Intelligibility in Noise

Intervention / Treatment
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* Device: The device is an algorithm designed to enhance speech intelligibility of speech-in-noise signals


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion criteria for normal-hearing participants : consenting to and available for the study age ≥ 18 years and ≤ 25 years right-handed native French speaker pure-tone air-conduction audiometric thresholds at .5, 1, 2, and 4 kHz all ≤ 20 dB hearing loss (HL) Exclusion criteria for normal-hearing participants : score at the Tinnitus Handicap Inventory > 56 uncorrected visual impairment pregnancy subject placed under legal authority (guardianship, tutorship) Inclusion criteria for hearing-impaired participants : consenting to and available for the study age ≥ 55 years native French speaker pure-tone air-conduction average hearing thresholds (PTA) for frequencies of .5, 1, 2, and 4 kHz ≥ 30 dB HL and ≤ 70 dB HL right-ear PTA for low frequencies (< 2 kHz) lower than the right-ear PTA for high frequencies (> 4 kHz). The difference between the two PTAs must be ≥ 20 dB the difference between the PTA for frequencies of .5, 1, 2, and 4 kHz (PTA.5-4kHz) in the right ear and the left-ear PTA.5-4kHz must be ≤ 10 dB Exclusion criteria for hearing-impaired participants : score at the Tinnitus Handicap Inventory > 56 history of a hearing impairment that was left uncorrected for more than 10 years uncorrected visual impairment congenital hearing impairment Ménière's disease auditory neuropathy mixed hearing loss fluctuating hearing impairment sudden hearing loss hearing impairment concomitant with other symptoms (e.g. vertigo) score at the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) < 27 subject placed under legal authority (guardianship, tutorship)

Ages Eligible for Study
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Minimum Age: 18 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study
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All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
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Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Study Plan
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How is the study designed?
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Design Details

Primary Purpose: Treatment
Intervention Model: Single Group Assignment
Masking: None (Open Label)


Arms and Interventions

| Intervention/Treatment |
| --- |
|Device: The device is an algorithm designed to enhance speech intelligibility of speech-in-noise signals|Normal-hearing and hearing-impaired subjects will listen to speech-in-noise audio files that are either unprocessed or processed in order to increase speech intelligibility.|

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Speech-in-noise word identification | Speech-in-noise word identification score as assessed using the FrMatrix test | during procedure, T1 | 

Secondary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Listening effort | response times recorded during the FrMatrix test | during procedure, T1 | 
| Listening effort | self-assessed subjective measures of listening effort. | during procedure, T1 | 
| Subjective preference in terms of speech naturalness | Measures of relative preference using forced-choice pairwise comparisons | during procedure, T1 |