title: Comparison of acoustically coupled and mechanically coupled speech.
abstract: Phonetically balanced work lists were mechanically coupled onto the ossicular chain of anesthetized guinea pigs by piezoelectric-type drivers and the resulting cochlear microphonic (CM) recorded on magnetic tape. Similar recordings of the CM resulting from free field tympanic membrane stimulation by hi-fi speakers were also obtained. The recordings were compared by conventional discrimination testing. In discrimination testing of all the raw recordings, listeners achieved essentially perfect scores. Addition of masking noise sufficient to reduce mean discrimination scores to 65-70% revealed no significant discrimination differences. When piezoelectrically initiated, CM-derived lists were compared with similar lists passed through hearing aids in an anechoic chamber, the preference of a panel of listeners for the quality of mechanically coupled speech was significantly higher. Mechanical-acoustical displacement equivalency at normal physiological levels and freedom from mechanical-electrical artifact were demonstrated by measurement of ossicular chain displacement by a fiber optic lever displacement transducer.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003055:Cochlear Microphonic Potentials; D006168:Guinea Pigs; D006310:Hearing Aids; D006801:Humans; D013063:Speech Discrimination Tests / Q000379:methods*; D014159:Transducers