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A Hearing-Model-Based Active-Learning Test for the Determination of Dead Regions.

Published version
Peer-reviewed

Type

Article

Change log

Authors

Schlittenlacher, Josef 
Turner, Richard E 
Moore, Brian CJ 

Abstract

This article describes a Bayesian active-learning procedure for estimating the edge frequency, fe, of a dead region, that is, a region in the cochlea with no or very few functioning inner hair cells or neurons. The method is based on the psychophysical tuning curve (PTC) but estimates the shape of the PTC from the parameters of a hearing model, namely fe, and degree of outer hair cell loss. It chooses the masker frequency and level for each trial to be highly informative about the model parameters in the context of previous data. The procedure was tested using 14 ears from eight subjects previously diagnosed with high-frequency dead regions. The estimates of fe agreed well with estimates obtained using "Fast PTCs" or more extensive measurements from an earlier study. On average, 33 trials were needed for the estimate of fe to fall and stay within 0.3 Cams of the final "true" value on the equivalent rectangular bandwidth-number scale. The time needed to obtain a reliable estimate was 5 to 8 min. This is comparable to the time required for Fast PTCs and short enough to be used when fitting a hearing aid. Compared with Fast PTCs, the new method has the advantage of using yes-no judgments rather than continuous Békésy tracking. This allows the slope of a subject's psychometric function and thus the reliability of his or her responses to be estimated, which in turn allows the test duration to be adjusted so as to achieve a given accuracy.

Description

Keywords

Bayesian active learning, dead region, hearing model, hearing test, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Audiometry, Auditory Threshold, Bayes Theorem, Cochlea, Female, Hair Cells, Auditory, Hearing, Hearing Tests, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Perceptual Masking, Reproducibility of Results, Time Factors

Journal Title

Trends Hear

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

2331-2165
2331-2165

Volume Title

22

Publisher

SAGE Publications
Sponsorship
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EP/M026957/1)