title: Influence of directionality and maximal power output on speech understanding with bone anchored hearing implants in single sided deafness.
abstract: Bone-anchored hearing implants (BAHI) are routinely used to alleviate the effects of the acoustic head shadow in single-sided sensorineural deafness (SSD). In this study, the influence of the directional microphone setting and the maximum power output of the BAHI sound processor on speech understanding in noise in a laboratory setting were investigated. Eight adult BAHI users with SSD participated in this pilot study. Speech understanding in noise was measured using a new Slovak speech-in-noise test in two different spatial settings, either with noise coming from the front and noise from the side of the BAHI (S90N0) or vice versa (S0N90). In both spatial settings, speech understanding was measured without a BAHI, with a Baha BP100 in omnidirectional mode, with a BP100 in directional mode, with a BP110 power in omnidirectional and with a BP110 power in directional mode. In spatial setting S90N0, speech understanding in noise with either sound processor and in either directional mode was improved by 2.2-2.8 dB (p = 0.004-0.016). In spatial setting S0N90, speech understanding in noise was reduced by either BAHI, but was significantly better by 1.0-1.8 dB, if the directional microphone system was activated (p = 0.046), when compared to the omnidirectional setting. With the limited number of subjects in this study, no statistically significant differences were found between the two sound processors.
authors.affiliation: Department of ENT, University of Kosice, Kosice, Slovakia.
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Krempaska
authors.forename: Juraj
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Koval
authors.forename: Christoph
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Schmid
authors.forename: Flurin
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Pfiffner
authors.forename: Anja
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kurz
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kompis
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001301:Audiometry, Pure-Tone; D001844:Bone Conduction; D003638:Deafness / Q000628:therapy*; D005260:Female; D006310:Hearing Aids; D006319:Hearing Loss, Sensorineural / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009622:Noise; D010865:Pilot Projects; D013017:Sound Localization; D013067:Speech Perception; D053441:Suture Anchors