Clinical trial NCT03514758: Evaluation and Optimization of Hearing Devices in 3-D Complex Audio Environments
Official title: Evaluation and Optimization of Hearing Devices in 3-D Complex Audio Environments
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: NA
Conditions: Ability, Spatial
Lead sponsor: Sonova AG
Sponsor class: INDUSTRY
Collaborators: name: Swiss Commission for Technology and Innovation
First posted: 2018-05-02
Enrollment: 20
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 18
Maximum age (years): 80
Standard ages: ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Allocation: NA
Intervention model: SINGLE_GROUP
Intervention model description: a group of normal-hearing volunteers
Primary purpose: OTHER

Brief summary: 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.


Eligibility criteria: 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

Primary outcomes:
measure: Head movements measured with head tracker
timeFrame: 6 weeks
Secondary outcomes:
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Zürich
country: Switzerland
facility: University Hospital Zurich
Study officials:
affiliation: University Hospital, Zürich
name: Norbert Dillier, Professor
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References:
citation: 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.
citation: 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.
citation: 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.
citation: 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.
citation: 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.