Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Antwerp University Hospital, Antwerp, Belgium.
Experimental Laboratory of Translational Neurosciences and Dento-Otolaryngology, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium.
Audiol Neurootol. 2020;25(5):231-236. doi: 10.1159/000503844. Epub 2020 Apr 14.
The contact miniTM (CM) is a nonimplantable, digital bone conduction device (BCD) consisting of 2 isolated units: an electronic housing, including the microphone, and a vibrator housing. The study investigated whether the CM can be used as an alternative test device for a BCD trial in single-sided deaf (SSD) adults with the microphone placed at the SSD ear and the vibrator at the normal-hearing (NH) ear (i.e., cross position).
Twenty SSD adults (mean age: 50 [±13.2] years) participated in a 2-week BCD trial with the CM on the headband in cross position. Prior to the trial, the subjects performed adaptive speech-in-noise tests in an unaided condition. After the trial, speech-in-noise tests were performed with the CM in cross position (CMcross) and ipsilateral position, i.e., both units at the SSD ear (CMipsi). Five different speech-in-noise configurations were used (S0N0; S0NNH; S0NSSD; S0°NNH+SSD; and SSSDNNH). Speech reception thresholds (SRT) were analyzed comparing the unaided, the CMcross condition, and the CMipsi condition.
Friedman's test revealed no significant differences in SRTs between the CMcross, CMipsi, and the unaided condition for the S0N0, S0NNH, S0NSSD, and S0°NNH+SSD configuration. However, in the SSSDNNH configuration, a significant effect was found (p < 0.001). Wilcoxon pairwise comparisons with Bonferroni correction indicated that SRTs in the CMcross condition were significantly lower (i.e., better speech understanding) than those in the unaided (p < 0.001) and the CMipsi condition (p < 0.05).
The CM may be a good alternative for patients with SSD, resulting in significantly better speech recognition when noise is presented to the NH ear and speech to the SSD ear. As the speech recognition results are better in the cross than the ipsilateral position, the CMcross might help to overcome the negative effect of transcranial attenuation during BCD trials.
接触微型 TM（CM）是一种非植入式数字骨导装置（BCD），由 2 个独立的单元组成：一个电子外壳，包括麦克风，和一个振动器外壳。本研究旨在探讨 CM 是否可作为单侧聋（SSD）成年人 BCD 试验的替代测试设备，将麦克风置于 SSD 耳，振动器置于正常听力（NH）耳（即交叉位置）。
20 名 SSD 成年人（平均年龄：50 [±13.2] 岁）参与了为期 2 周的 CM 头戴式交叉位置 BCD 试验。在试验之前，受试者在未辅助状态下进行了自适应噪声下言语测试。试验后，使用 CM 在交叉位置（CMcross）和同侧位置（即两个单元置于 SSD 耳）进行噪声下言语测试，CMipsi）。使用了 5 种不同的噪声下言语测试配置（S0N0；S0NNH；S0NSSD；S0°NNH+SSD；和 SSSDNNH）。分析言语接受阈值（SRT），比较未辅助、CMcross 条件和 CMipsi 条件。
Friedman 检验显示，在 S0N0、S0NNH、S0NSSD 和 S0°NNH+SSD 配置下，CMcross、CMipsi 和未辅助条件之间的 SRT 无显著差异。然而，在 SSSDNNH 配置下，发现存在显著效应（p<0.001）。经 Bonferroni 校正的 Wilcoxon 配对比较表明，CMcross 条件下的 SRT 明显低于未辅助（p<0.001）和 CMipsi 条件（p<0.05）。
CM 可能是 SSD 患者的良好替代方案，当噪声施加于 NH 耳且言语施加于 SSD 耳时，可显著提高言语识别。由于在交叉位置的言语识别结果优于同侧位置，CMcross 可能有助于克服 BCD 试验中经颅衰减的负面影响。
