Active clinical trials for "Hearing Loss, Sensorineural"

Despite being effective, the majority of people who would benefit from using hearing aids do not access them. For those who do obtain hearing aids, around 20% do not wear them regularly. People often do not use their hearing aids because they continue to experience difficulties when listening to and understanding speech in noisy situations. Conventional hearing aids must be programmed and adjusted by a trained audiologist with specialist equipment and therefore provide limited user-control over the hearing aid's functionality. In comparison to conventional hearing aids, Smartphone-connected hearing aids enable patients to adjust their programmes themselves in different situations using a Smartphone application. Smartphone-connectivity can supplement clinical practices, as patients can adjust their hearing aids without the need to visit the clinic. This has the potential to empower patients to be actively involved in their own hearing healthcare. A systematic review assessing the effectiveness of alternative listening devices showed that there is no published high-quality research assessing the clinical effectiveness of Smartphone-connected hearing aids. Furthermore, a usability research study has shown that patients want to personalise and adjust their own HA programmes to meet their individual needs. Having carried out the early development work, the next step would be to carry out a study to evaluate smartphone-connected hearing aids, in accordance with the MRC guidelines on developing and evaluating complex interventions. This study will assess the benefits of a smartphone application, eAdjust that has been developed for use with Phonak Audeo B90-Direct hearing aids. The eAdjust app connects to the hearing aid via Bluetooth, and enables hearing aid users to fine-tune their hearing aids via their smartphone. The benefits of the eAdjust app will be assessed in the real-world as well as in the laboratory. A mixed methods approach will be taken, using both behavioural and patient reported outcomes.

This project aims to explore, in depth, the burden of hearing loss and tinnitus on cancer survivors. Using semi-structured interviews, audiograms and a variety of validated questionnaires, the specific impact ototoxicity has on quality of life will be investigated. From this, we can identify the specific needs of patients experiencing hearing loss and tinnitus following chemotherapy and develop a tailored and personalised support system.

Phonak Hearing Systems pass through different development and study stages. At an early stage, feasibility studies are conducted to investigate new algorithms, features and functions in an isolated manner. If the benefit is proven, their performance is then investigated regarding interdependency between all available algorithms, features and functions running in parallel in a hearing aid (pivotal/pre-validation studies) and, as a result, they get optimized. Afterwards, and prior to product launch, the Phonak Hearing Systems undergo a final quality control in terms of clinical trials. This is a pre-validation study, investigating optimized algorithms, features, functions and wearing comfort. This will be a clinical investigation which will be conducted mono centric at Sonova AG Headquarters based in Stäfa (Switzerland).

Acceptance of CP950 sound processor with experienced CP810/CP910/CP920 BTE sound processor users.

This clinical study aims to investigate speech performance in quiet with an OTE Sound Processor with modified firmware compared with the commercially available CP1150. The study also investigates CP1110 and CP1150 with Forward Focus.

Main objective: Show the superiority of tonotopy based fitting strategy compared to default fitting strategy on the perception speech in noise. Secondary objectives: Show the superiority of tonotopy based fitting strategy compared to default fitting strategy on the perception of musical elements (contour test). Show the non inferiority of tonotopy based fitting strategy compared to default fitting strategy on the perception of speech elements in quiet. Show the superiority of tonotopy based fitting strategy compared to default fitting strategy on the qualitative preference for the listening of musical pieces.

Participants will be comparing the sound quality of their own voice and the sound quality of streamed music using universal couplings and a custom earmold with a dynamic vent.

This study investigates the possible benefits of using binaural spatialization techniques in digital wireless microphone systems for hearing aids. Speech intelligibility tests, speaker localization tests and preference tests are performed. The results of a diotic (current rendering) and a binaural (suggested rendering) rendering are compared.

The purpose of this program of research is to understand the perception of the dynamic spectral properties of speech by hearing-impaired listeners, with the long-term goal of improving speech understanding by these individuals in adverse listening conditions. The proposed research compares the performance of normally-hearing and hearing-impaired listeners on measures of speech understanding in the presence of different types of signal distortion and speech understanding of signals with enhanced spectral dynamics. A computational model based on the amount of potential information available in speech will be used to quantify differences in speech intelligibility due to hearing status and stimulus characteristics.

The purpose of this study is to assess the benefit of new super-power bone-anchored hearing aid (BAHA) processors in BAHA users. BAHAs are able to help people with mixed/conductive and single-sided hearing loss when they are unable to use or receive limited benefit from traditional hearing. Until recently, BAHAs were only recommended to people with up to a moderate hearing loss. New super-power BAHA processors may be able to help people who previously were not candidates for BAHAs or received limited benefit from them. The information collected in this study may lead to improved evaluation of and expanded treatment options for people considering BAHA. Different types of hearing tests will be used to compare the devices.