Innovative Methods and Technologies for Spatial Hearing und Speech Intelligibility with Hearing Implants

Worldwide, the proportion of the population with impaired hearing is increasing. The outcome of this is a growing need for hearing rehabilitation. Certain types of hearing loss require treatment with hearing implants. These include cochlear implants (CI) and bone conduction implants (BCI). The aim of the project is to develop innovative methods and technologies that improve spatial hearing and therefore speech understanding with such hearing implants. These methods are intended to be generally applicable to hearing devices and adjusted specifically for the implant types CI and BCI. For CI, this requires the utilization of novel bio-inspired signal processing methods. For BCI, new active components for mechanical stimulation on the basis of piezoelectric transducers are explored.

In this project, the Fraunhofer IDMT is developing novel bio-inspired signal processing strategies for cochlear implants, which mimic the human auditory system to make speech coding more natural and are especially tailored for binaural hearing. On the basis of accompanying perception studies with CI patients on sound localization and speech perception, the developed methods are evaluated and adjusted.

• Technische Universtät Ilmenau
• Jena University Hospital

Free State of Thuringia with funding from the European Social Fund