Electro-haptic enhancement of speech-in-noise performance in cochlear implant users
Electro-haptic enhancement of speech-in-noise performance in cochlear implant users
Cochlear implant (CI) users receive only limited sound information through their implant, which means that they struggle to understand speech in noisy environments. Recent work has suggested that combining the electrical signal from the CI with a haptic signal that provides crucial missing sound information (“electro-haptic stimulation”; EHS) could improve speech-in-noise performance. The aim of the current study was to test whether EHS could enhance speech-in-noise performance in CI users using: (1) a tactile signal derived using an algorithm that could be applied in real time, (2) a stimulation site appropriate for a real-world application, and (3) a tactile signal that could readily be produced by a compact, portable device. We measured speech intelligibility in multi-talker noise with and without vibro-tactile stimulation of the wrist in CI users, before and after a short training regime. No effect of EHS was found before training, but after training EHS was found to improve the number of words correctly identified by an average of 8.3 %-points, with some users improving by more than 20 %-points. Our approach could offer an inexpensive and non-invasive means of improving
speech-in-noise performance in CI users.
Fletcher, Mark
ac11588a-fafe-4dbb-8b3c-80a6ff030546
Hadeedi, Amatullah
8b483706-6b98-4659-a50a-5fc7b5881add
Goehring, Tobias
15493ba1-9fe3-4aad-a964-29e1adb3c35a
Mills, Sean
7d497d49-f9bb-422e-b283-dce2a84de5fb
6 August 2019
Fletcher, Mark
ac11588a-fafe-4dbb-8b3c-80a6ff030546
Hadeedi, Amatullah
8b483706-6b98-4659-a50a-5fc7b5881add
Goehring, Tobias
15493ba1-9fe3-4aad-a964-29e1adb3c35a
Mills, Sean
7d497d49-f9bb-422e-b283-dce2a84de5fb
Fletcher, Mark, Hadeedi, Amatullah, Goehring, Tobias and Mills, Sean
(2019)
Electro-haptic enhancement of speech-in-noise performance in cochlear implant users.
Scientific Reports, 9, [11428].
(doi:10.1038/s41598-019-47718-z).
Abstract
Cochlear implant (CI) users receive only limited sound information through their implant, which means that they struggle to understand speech in noisy environments. Recent work has suggested that combining the electrical signal from the CI with a haptic signal that provides crucial missing sound information (“electro-haptic stimulation”; EHS) could improve speech-in-noise performance. The aim of the current study was to test whether EHS could enhance speech-in-noise performance in CI users using: (1) a tactile signal derived using an algorithm that could be applied in real time, (2) a stimulation site appropriate for a real-world application, and (3) a tactile signal that could readily be produced by a compact, portable device. We measured speech intelligibility in multi-talker noise with and without vibro-tactile stimulation of the wrist in CI users, before and after a short training regime. No effect of EHS was found before training, but after training EHS was found to improve the number of words correctly identified by an average of 8.3 %-points, with some users improving by more than 20 %-points. Our approach could offer an inexpensive and non-invasive means of improving
speech-in-noise performance in CI users.
Text
s41598-019-47718-z
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Accepted/In Press date: 17 July 2019
e-pub ahead of print date: 6 August 2019
Published date: 6 August 2019
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 433091
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/433091
ISSN: 2045-2322
PURE UUID: eb1ca40b-4292-4ef6-873d-9b975ec75891
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Date deposited: 07 Aug 2019 16:30
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 03:01
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Author:
Amatullah Hadeedi
Author:
Tobias Goehring
Author:
Sean Mills
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