Chen Jing, Wang Zhe, Dong Ruijuan, Fu Xinxing, Wang Yuan, Wang Shuo
Beijing Institute of Otolaryngology, Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Beijing Tongren Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.
Front Neurosci. 2021 Apr 12;15:643205. doi: 10.3389/fnins.2021.643205. eCollection 2021.
This study was aimed at evaluating improvements in speech-in-noise recognition ability as measured by signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) with the use of wireless remote microphone technology. These microphones transmit digital signals via radio frequency directly to hearing aids and may be a valuable assistive listening device for the hearing-impaired population of Mandarin speakers in China. Twenty-three adults (aged 19-80 years old) and fourteen children (aged 8-17 years old) with bilateral sensorineural hearing loss were recruited. The Mandarin Hearing in Noise Test was used to test speech recognition ability in adult subjects, and the Mandarin Hearing in Noise Test for Children was used for children. The subjects' perceived SNR was measured using sentence recognition ability at three different listening distances of 1.5, 3, and 6 m. At each distance, SNR was obtained under three device settings: hearing aid microphone alone, wireless remote microphone alone, and hearing aid microphone and wireless remote microphone simultaneously. At each test distance, for both adult and pediatric groups, speech-in-noise recognition thresholds were significantly lower with the use of the wireless remote microphone in comparison with the hearing aid microphones alone ( < 0.05), indicating better SNR performance with the wireless remote microphone. Moreover, when the wireless remote microphone was used, test distance had no effect on speech-in-noise recognition for either adults or children. Wireless remote microphone technology can significantly improve speech recognition performance in challenging listening environments for Mandarin speaking hearing aid users in China.
本研究旨在评估使用无线远程麦克风技术时，通过信噪比（SNR）衡量的噪声环境下言语识别能力的改善情况。这些麦克风通过射频将数字信号直接传输到助听器，对于中国说普通话的听力受损人群而言，可能是一种有价值的助听设备。招募了23名成人（年龄在19 - 80岁之间）和14名儿童（年龄在8 - 17岁之间），他们均患有双侧感音神经性听力损失。对成人受试者使用普通话噪声环境言语测试来测试言语识别能力，对儿童使用儿童普通话噪声环境言语测试。通过在1.5米、3米和6米这三个不同聆听距离下的句子识别能力来测量受试者的感知信噪比。在每个距离下，在三种设备设置下获取信噪比：仅使用助听器麦克风、仅使用无线远程麦克风以及同时使用助听器麦克风和无线远程麦克风。在每个测试距离下，对于成人组和儿童组，与仅使用助听器麦克风相比，使用无线远程麦克风时的噪声环境言语识别阈值显著更低（<0.05），表明无线远程麦克风具有更好的信噪比性能。此外，当使用无线远程麦克风时，测试距离对成人或儿童的噪声环境言语识别均无影响。无线远程麦克风技术能够显著提高中国说普通话的助听器使用者在具有挑战性的聆听环境中的言语识别性能。
