Nearly one in eight Danes suffer from hearing loss, but only half of this population uses hearing aids (HAs). Untreated hearing loss often leads to social isolation, and there are indications that it increases the risk for cognitive decline and dementia. Sound quality is a critical component for HA satisfaction and uptake. A key factor influencing HA sound quality in open-fitted HAs, is the delay between the natural and the processed HA sound. Previous studies have established an upper delay limit of around 10 ms, ensuring tolerable sound quality without severely affecting speech intelligibility. However, it is currently unknown how short the delay needs to be to achieve optimal sound quality and how this affects HA acceptance. At WS Audiology (WSA), a state-of-the-art HA platform was recently developed that allows delays <1 ms to be realized. Such short delays are in clear contrast to the delays typically found in commercial Has (approx. 5-10 ms). The purpose of the PhD project is to investigate the effects of short delays on perceived sound quality and HA acceptance by exploiting WSA’s unique HA platform. Furthermore, the project aims to determine the candidacy of the new HA solutions, which are expected to increase HA uptake and thus minimize the adverse effects of untreated hearing loss.
Main Supervisor:
Tobias Neher, Professor
Co-Supervisor:
Georg Stiefenhofter, Audiology Specialist
