抄録
People with hearing loss are likely to have sensorineural hearing losses, which are characterized by the ability to hear loud sounds as clearly as people with normal hearing, but not weaker sounds. To remedy sensorineural hearing losses, many methods have been commercialized with confirmed effectiveness. However, these methods basically include linear amplification, and their effects of increasing the volume of soft sounds may not be sufficient. Therefore, we have developed the amplitude-bandwidth compression/expansion (ACE) method, which is based on the nonlinear characteristics of human hearing. The characteristics of sensorineural hearing losses have been examined. Thus far, we had set the ACE parameters on the basis of the results of Hallpike and/or Moore and had tried psychometric tests. As a result, the characteristics of ACE compression tended towards superabundance. Therefore, we set new ACE parameters in this study, on the basis of the optimal speech level (OSL), which is a well-known method for speech audiometry based on the hearing level of the pure tone average. This report shows how to calculate the ACE parameters for a hearing aid based on the OSL, as well as presents the results of the evaluation by a speech audiometry and sensitivity test (KANSEI test) targeting sensorineural hearing losses.
