title: Future directions in signal processing hearing aids.
abstract: Digital hearing aids offer many advantages over conventional analog hearing aids, such as programmability, memory, extremely precise, flexible control of electroacoustic characteristics, and advanced signal processing capabilities for noise reduction and speech enhancement. At the present stage of development, digital hearing aids are subject to severe practical constraints with respect to size and power consumption. Hybrid analog/digital hearing aids have been developed which combine some of the advantages of digital technology with the practicality of small, cosmetically acceptable instruments. Recent studies with all-digital and hybrid analog/digital hearing aids have identified trends which are likely to influence future hearing aid design.
authors.affiliation: Center for Research in Speech and Hearing Sciences, Graduate School, City University of New York, New York.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Levitt
mesh_terms: D000703:Analog-Digital Conversion; D004867:Equipment Design; D005544:Forecasting; D006310:Hearing Aids / Q000639:trends*; D006801:Humans; D009622:Noise; D012815:Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted; D013065:Speech Intelligibility