Biomaterial Database

Hearing loss, speech, and hearing aids. 1993

D J Van Tasell

Department of Communication Disorders, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis 55455.

Modern hearing aids permit adjustment of a number of electroacoustic parameters, among them frequency response, saturation sound pressure level, and various aspects of compression. Relatively little is known, however, about how the electroacoustic characteristics of hearing aids affect the information-bearing properties of speech. Even less is known about how hearing aids might alleviate or exacerbate the effects of impaired hearing. This article reviews current knowledge in three areas: (a) characteristics of mild/moderate hearing loss, (b) information-bearing aspects of speech, and (c) the relation between electroacoustic characteristics of hearing aids and the speech signal. Concluding suggestions are made regarding the implications of the current data for selecting hearing-aid characteristics.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D008144	Loudness Perception	The perceived attribute of a sound which corresponds to the physical attribute of intensity.	Loudness Perceptions,Perception, Loudness,Perceptions, Loudness
D008297	Male		Males
D012048	Correction of Hearing Impairment	Procedures for correcting HEARING DISORDERS.	Correction of Auditory Perception,Habilitation of Hearing Impairment,Hearing Impaired Rehabilitation,Rehabilitation of Hearing Impaired,Audiologic Habilitation,Audiologic Rehabilitation,Aural Habilitation,Aural Rehabilitation,Correction of Hearing Loss,Habilitation of Hearing Impaired,Rehabilitation of Hearing Impairment,Audiologic Habilitations,Audiologic Rehabilitations,Auditory Perception Correction,Auditory Perception Corrections,Aural Habilitations,Aural Rehabilitations,Habilitation, Audiologic,Habilitation, Aural,Habilitations, Audiologic,Habilitations, Aural,Hearing Impaired Habilitation,Hearing Impaired Habilitations,Hearing Impairment Correction,Hearing Impairment Corrections,Hearing Impairment Habilitation,Hearing Impairment Habilitations,Hearing Impairment Rehabilitation,Hearing Impairment Rehabilitations,Hearing Loss Correction,Hearing Loss Corrections,Impaired Habilitation, Hearing,Impaired Habilitations, Hearing,Impairment Correction, Hearing,Impairment Corrections, Hearing,Impairment Habilitation, Hearing,Impairment Habilitations, Hearing,Impairment Rehabilitation, Hearing,Impairment Rehabilitations, Hearing,Loss Correction, Hearing,Loss Corrections, Hearing,Perception Correction, Auditory,Perception Corrections, Auditory,Rehabilitation, Audiologic,Rehabilitation, Aural,Rehabilitation, Hearing Impaired,Rehabilitations, Audiologic,Rehabilitations, Aural
D004423	Ear	The hearing and equilibrium system of the body. It consists of three parts: the EXTERNAL EAR, the MIDDLE EAR, and the INNER EAR. Sound waves are transmitted through this organ where vibration is transduced to nerve signals that pass through the ACOUSTIC NERVE to the CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM. The inner ear also contains the vestibular organ that maintains equilibrium by transducing signals to the VESTIBULAR NERVE.	Vestibulocochlear System,Vestibulocochlear Apparatus,Apparatus, Vestibulocochlear,Ears,System, Vestibulocochlear
D004427	Ear Diseases	Pathological processes of the ear, the hearing, and the equilibrium system of the body.	Otologic Diseases,Otological Diseases,Disease, Ear,Disease, Otologic,Disease, Otological,Ear Disease,Otologic Disease,Otological Disease
D004867	Equipment Design	Methods and patterns of fabricating machines and related hardware.	Design, Equipment,Device Design,Medical Device Design,Design, Medical Device,Designs, Medical Device,Device Design, Medical,Device Designs, Medical,Medical Device Designs,Design, Device,Designs, Device,Designs, Equipment,Device Designs,Equipment Designs
D005260	Female		Females
D006310	Hearing Aids	Wearable sound-amplifying devices that are intended to compensate for impaired hearing. These generic devices include air-conduction hearing aids and bone-conduction hearing aids. (UMDNS, 1999)	Ear Molds, Hearing Aid,Aid, Hearing,Aids, Hearing,Hearing Aid
D006311	Hearing Disorders	Conditions that impair the transmission of auditory impulses and information from the level of the ear to the temporal cortices, including the sensorineural pathways.	Distorted Hearing,Dysacusis,Paracousis,Paracusis,Hearing Disorder,Hearing, Distorted
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man