Digital Hearing Aids

by Arthur Schaub (Editor)

Overview

This book is an essential reference for information about the latest innovations in digital hearing aid technology. Concise descriptions and easy-to-reference tables and diagrams enable the reader to rapidly gain a solid understanding of digital signal processing, including such important topics as adaptive acoustic directionality, adaptive noise reduction, adaptive feedback cancellation, and sound classification.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781604060072
Publisher:	Thieme Publishers New York
Publication date:	01/01/2011
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	200
File size:	15 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Bernafon AG, Bern, Switzerland SWITZERLAND

Table of Contents

Part I Basics and Overview
1. Acoustic Signals
2. Hearing Impairment
3. Overview of Hearing Aid Characteristics
4. Basic Amplification Schemes
Part II Signal Processing in Digital Hearing Aids
5. Static Behavior of Digital Wide Dynamic Range Compression
6. Temporal Behavior of Digital Wide Dynamic Range Compression
7. Acoustic Directionality
8. Noise Reduction
9. Feedback Cancellation
10. Sound Classification
Part III Calculations in the Digital Processor
11. Segment-wise Processing with Fourier Transforms
12. Digital Filters
13. Digital Level Measurement
14. Autocorrelation and Prediction
15. How Everything Fits Together

Editorial Reviews

Reviewer: Ryan McCreery, M.S.(Boys Town National Research Hospital)
Description: This is a comprehensive overview of amplification devices from basic concepts in acoustics and auditory science to complex signal processing schemes that are currently used in hearing aids.
Purpose: It is intended to provide hearing care professionals with a background in the underlying signal processing features of digital hearing aids. Given the significant recent advances in hearing aid technology, professionals who dispense hearing aids would benefit from an overview of these complex processes. The book offers detailed technical information about how different aspects of advanced hearing aid signal processing is accomplished, but does not include information about clinical verification of the function of these features, which would be useful for clinicians.
Audience: The author identifies hearing healthcare providers as the intended audience. Many practitioners will find the technical details, particularly in the chapters in part III, to be beyond the scope of what is required to use these devices clinically. A lack of information about clinical verification of digital hearing aids also limits the book's usefulness to clinicians. The perfect audience would be engineering students who are interested in learning about how signal processing is used to benefit individuals with hearing impairments.
Features: The three main parts are an introductory section that provides an overview of basic acoustics and hearing science, a middle section that is an overview of different digital hearing aid features such as feedback suppression and directionality, and a final section that contains a highly technical discussion of the mathematical elements which form the basis of digital signal processing in hearing aids. The basic review in the first section is best suited for individuals with limited background in hearing sciences, while the third section is beyond the scope of what most practitioners are likely to understand. There is a significant reliance on sources that are not peer-reviewed throughout the book
Assessment: This book seems best suited for engineers or those involved in hearing aid research, as practitioners are likely to find it to be either too elementary or too mathematically complex.

Doody's Review Service

Bridges the fields of electrical engineering and audiology...this book is a gem...The illustrations in each chapter are plentiful and excellent...[and] coloured...The illustrations render the verbal explanations clear and compliment them very well. They are an exceptionally good feature...interesting...highly informative...uses clear and plain numerical examples...[that] serve to make it as easy as possible for readers to form a mental picture of events.—Canadian Hearing Report

"A comprehensive overview of amplification devices from basic concepts...to complex signal processing schemes...offers detailed technical information about how different aspects of advanced hearing aid signal processing is accomplished."—Doody's Book Reviews

From the Publisher