1,720,987 research outputs found
Cochlear transmission line models and otoacoustic emissions spectral latency as objective measure of cochlear tuning
No full textThe spectral latency of otoacoustic emissions (OAEs) is physically due to the cochlear traveling time from the base to the tonotopic site and back. The Greenwood map provides the relation between the position of the tonotopic place along the cochlea and the frequency. As a consequence, the latency is intrinsically dependent on frequency. The relation between OAE latency and frequency is also related to the tuning curve, i.e. the relation between the quality factor of cochlear resonances and frequency. In this work we use a theoretical model for the cochlear transmission, which permits to compute the OAE spectral latency as a function of the tuning spectral curve. By inverting this functional relation, the model was used to estimate the tuning curve in a population of adult and neonate subjects. Spectral latency was measured by wavelet time-frequency analysis of transient evoked OAE data. Independently, we used theoretical models of spontaneous OAEs generation, based on the Bragg condition for coherent reflection by random cochlear inhomogeneities, to get an independent relation between minimum spacing between spontaneous OAEs and spectral tuning. Very good agreement was found between the estimates of spectral tuning obtained on the same neonate subjects with the two independent methods
Apps for hearing science and care
No full textPurpose: Our research aims at the identification and assessment of applications (referred to as apps) in the hearing health care domain. This research forum article presents an overview of the current availability, affordability, and variety of hearing-related apps. Method: The available apps were reviewed by searching on the leading platforms (iOS, Android, Windows Phone stores) using the keywords hearing, audiology, audio, auditory, speech, language, tinnitus, hearing loss, hearing aid, hearing system, cochlear implant, implantable device, auditory training, hearing rehabilitation, and assistive technology/tool/device. On the basis of the offered services, apps were classified into 4 application domains: (a) screening and assessment, (b) intervention and rehabilitation, (c) education and information, and (d) assistive tools. Conclusions: A large variety of apps are available in the hearing health care domain. These cover a wide range of services for people with hearing or communication problems as well as for hearing professionals, families, or informal caregivers. This evolution can potentially bring along considerable advantages and improved outcomes in the field of hearing health care. Nevertheless, potential risks and threats (e.g., safety, quality, effectiveness, privacy, and regulation) should not be overlooked. Significant research— particularly in terms of assessment and guidance—is still needed for the informed, aware, and safe adoption of hearing-related apps by patients and professionals
A bispectral approach to analyze nonlinear cochlear active mechanisms in transient evoked otoacoustic emissions
No full textA new approach to study nonlinearity in cochlear active mechanisms, as evaluated in transient evoked otoacoustic emissions (TEOAEs), is presented. TEOAEs are signals generated in the cochlea by a mix of linear and nonlinear mechanisms. This new approach was designed to complement the traditional TEOAE analysis performed by currently available systems used in objective hearing screening and assessment. Nonlinearity of TEOAEs was studied by means of the bispectrum, which is able to find out quadratic frequency couplings (QFCs) that occur when a frequency is not only generated by an independent cochlear source, but it is the result of the interaction among a number of cochlear sources. To fit with the technical constraints of currently available TEOAE systems, the bispectrum was estimated by the third-order scaled polyperiodogram. The proposed method was characterized with synthesized TEOAEs as a function of the main TEOAE parameters and then used to analyze TEOAEs recorded in normal hearing adults and full-term neonates. Results revealed the presence of QFCs in both adult and neonatal TEOAEs, with peculiar patterns and significantly different frequency content in the two groups: adults had QFCs mainly around 2 kHz and neonates had QFCs mainly in the range 3.5-4 kHz. © 2007-2012 IEEE
An application of ehealth technology toward the digitization of the health records of older patients with cochlear implants
No full textPurpose: Despite the current legislative indications toward the digitization of patient health records, 80% of health data are unstructured and in a format that cannot be used in electronic archives or in registries of diseases. An innovative automated system is here proposed to efficiently retrieve and digitize clinical information from original unstructured ear, nose, and throat (ENT) medical records, in order to reduce the manual workload in the retrieval and digitization process. Method: The system, based on an eHealth technology named cognitive computing, interprets medical reports to transform unstructured clinical data (e.g., narrative text) into a structured digital format. The system has been tailored to handle the reports of aged cochlear implant (CI) patients by digitizing the information typically requested in electronic CI registries and by the current ENT/audiology guidelines. Results were obtained from the reports generated by an outpatient ENT care service from 52 older adult CI patients. Results: The system allowed a quick and automated interpretation and retrieval of all the information required, such as the patient’s medical history, risk factors, examination outcomes, communicative performances before and after CI implantation, and CI settings. The accuracy of the system in correctly interpreting and retrieving the above information from the original unstructured medical reports was very good (recall = 0.78; precision = 0.95). The system allowed to reduce the time needed to manually digitize the information from 20-30 min/report to only 20 s/report. Conclusion: The proposed system is a viable solution for the automated digitization of unstructured health data as recommended by the ENT/audiology clinical best practices
Effects of low-dose styrene exposure on linear and nonlinear otoacoustic emission components
No full textThis study investigates the potential effects of low-level styrene exposure on active cochlear mechanisms. To this purpose, transient-evoked otoacoustic emissions (TEOAEs) were recorded and compared in a group of exposed workers and controls. Otoacoustic emissions are low intensity sounds connected to the active mechanisms characterizing the healthy cochlea and can be used to monitor changes in cochlear functionality due to exposure to external agents such as noise, electromagnetic fields, and ototoxic substances. TEOAEs from healthy ears are composed of the contribution of two generation mechanisms, the so-called nonlinear distortion and linear reflection. To detect possible sub-clinical changes in the two generation mechanisms, we applied two advanced and ad hoc analysis techniques: the wavelet transform WT) and the bispectrum. The WT was used to study linear mechanisms by decomposing TEOAEs into time-frequency components; the bispectrum was applied to detect and extract nonlinear TEOAE contributions as quadratic frequency couplings QFCs). The exposed group consisted of two cohorts of subjects exposed exclusively to styrene and subjects exposed to styrene and noise. Subjects in the control group were perfectly matched by age and sex to their peers in the two cohorts of the exposed group. In exposed subjects, linear TEOAE components showed significantly lowered SNR at mid to high frequencies above 1600 Hz) compared to the control group; non-linear contributions, as measured by the QFC, showed in the exposed group a shift towards lower frequencies compared to the control group. No differences were observed in the latency of linear components. We found that TEOAEs characteristics of styrene-exposed workers didn't change before and after the working shift, and that styrene exposure affected the physiological effect of age on cochlear mechanisms. Overall, these results reveal that low level styrene exposure may have induced a sub-clinical modification of cochlear functionality
Universal newborn hearing screening programs in Italy: survey of year 2006.
No full textOur results suggest a rapid diffusion of newborn hearing screening programs in Italy and indicate that three conditions seem to play a crucial role in the implementation of Universal Newborn Hearing Screening (UNHS) programs: the size (800 births/year) and location (metropolitan urban areas) of the hospital, and the presence of an audiologist in the UNHS coordinating team Objectives. The aim of this paper is to provide data on the degree of implementation and coverage of UNHS programs in Italy Materials and methods. Data were collected through a Screening Survey Questionnaire that was sent to all birthing hospitals active in Italy in 2006 and was filled in by the chief of the hospital or by the UNHS program coordinator Results. In Italy UNHS coverage had undergone a steep increase from 29.3% in 2003 (156 048 newborns screened) to 48.4% in 2006 (262 103 screened). The majority of UNHS programs were implemented in the two most economically developed areas, i.e. in the north-west area (79.5%, 108 200 of 136 109 births), and in the north-east area (57.2%, 52 727 of 92 133 births), while a limited diffusion still remains in some areas, typically in the islands (11.3%, 7158 of 63 460 births)
Benefit of hearing aid use in the elderly: the impact of age, cognition and hearing impairment
No full textThis study describes the benefits of hearing aid (HA) use in a sample of elderly experienced HA users (n = 102. mean age 81.1 years), investigating the role of the age, hearing impairment and cognitive function. The benefit was assessed in aided condition by measuring audiometric outcomes (aided thresholds and speech reception in quiet and in noise) and self-assessed outcomes addressing the disability and the handicap domains of auditory dysfunction. Several cognitive abilities were assessed, including short-term memory, working memory and executive functions. To discover potential latent factors and assess which factors significantly influenced the benefit of HA use, age, hearing impairment, cognitive function, audiometric and self-assessed outcomes were examined with multivariate analysis, followed by correlation and regression analysis. The analysis revealed a significant improvement in aided audiometric outcomes and a decrease in the perceived disability and handicap in the sample population. Multivariate, correlation and regression analyses showed that better aided audiometric outcomes were significantly associated with hearing impairment of lower degree and higher cognitive abilities. Moreover, self-assessed outcomes were significantly associated with audiometric outcomes and hearing impairment: subjects with better audiometric outcomes and lower hearing impairment tend to perceive more benefit in using their HAs. Cognition was only indirectly associated with self-assessed outcomes through its direct correlation with aided audiometric outcomes, meaning that the perceived subjective benefit with HA was not directly associated with better cognitive abilities
The ALFA4Hearing Model (At-a-Glance Labeling for Features of Apps for Hearing Health Care) to Characterize Mobile Apps for Hearing Health Care
No full text
Purpose
The aim of the study was to analyze, by using the ALFA4Hearing model (At-a-Glance Labeling for Features of Apps for Hearing Health Care), a sample of apps over a wide range of services in the hearing health care (HHC) domain in order to take a first picture of the current scenario of apps for HHC.
Method
We tested 120 apps, and we characterized them by using the ALFA4Hearing model, which includes 29 features in 5 components (Promoters, Services, Implementation, Users, and Descriptive Information). We analyzed (a) the distribution of the 29 features in the sample, (b) the relationship between the Implementation features and the Services provided by the apps, and (c) the distribution of the 29 features in apps for professional use.
Results
The analysis of our sample of apps by means of the ALFA4Hearing model highlighted interesting trends and emerging challenges. Also, results suggested many potential opportunities for research and clinical practice, such as greater involvement of stakeholders, improved evidence base, higher technical quality, and usability.
Conclusions
The ALFA4Hearing model is able to represent, at a glance, a large amount of information about apps for HHC, highlighting trends and challenges. It might be useful to HHC professionals as a basis for app characterization and informed decision making.
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Susceptibility of linear and nonlinear otoacoustic emission components to low-dose styrene exposure
No full textOBJECTIVE:
To investigate potential susceptibility of active cochlear mechanisms to low-level styrene exposure by comparing TEOAEs in workers and controls.
DESIGN:
Two advanced analysis techniques were applied to detect sub-clinical changes in linear and nonlinear cochlear mechanisms of OAE generation: the wavelet transform to decompose TEOAEs into time-frequency components and extract signal-to-noise ratio and latency of each component, and the bispectrum to detect and extract nonlinear TEOAE contributions as quadratic frequency couplings (QFCs).
STUDY SAMPLE:
Two cohorts of workers were examined: subjects exposed exclusively to styrene (N = 9), and subjects exposed to styrene and noise (N = 6). The control group was perfectly matched by age and sex to the exposed group.
RESULTS:
Exposed subjects showed significantly lowered SNR in TEOAE components at mid-to-high frequencies (above 1.6 kHz) and a shift of QFC distribution towards lower frequencies than controls. No systematic differences were observed in latency.
CONCLUSION:
Low-level styrene exposure may have induced a modification of cochlear functionality as concerns linear and nonlinear OAE generation mechanisms. The lack of change in latency seems to suggest that the OAE components, where generation region and latency are tightly coupled, may not have been affected by styrene and noise exposure levels considered here
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