On 14 August 2020, Raul Sanchez-Lopez will defend his PhD thesis: Clinical auditory profiling and profile-based hearing-aid fitting
Time: 14:00
Place: The defence will take place via Zoom and in building 341, auditorium 21.
Important: Active registration:
- Building 341, auditorium 21.
Due to Covid-19 there is a restriction on the number of participants who are physically present in auditorium 21.
Therefore, if you wish to be present in the auditorium, please register by sending an e-mail to Bastian Epp (bepp@dtu.dk).
All participants present in auditorium 21 are responsible for complying with the applicable guidelines for distance etc.
- Zoom: Register for the defence here: https://dtudk.zoom.us/meeting/register/u5ckduygrjsiHd0JjQMYCK5Wl8YNeoZTXEky
Principal supervisor: Professor Torsten Dau
Co-supervisor: Senior scientist Sébastien Santurette
Co-supervisor: Postdoc Michal Fereczkowski
Examiners:
Associate Professor Jeremy Marozeau, DTU Health Tech
Professor Judy R. Dubno, Medical University of South Carolina
Professor Pamela E. Souza, Northwestern University
Chairperson at defence: Associate Professor Bastian Epp
Abstract:
Communication is an important ability that shapes our social life. A critical factor that affects successful oral communication is hearing loss. If the verbal information is not properly perceived, the interpretation can be flawed leading to an unsatisfactory, tiring and uncomfortable conversation. Hearing loss is currently among the top ten global burdens of diseases and one-third of older adults are affected by this problem.
The sources and consequences of sensorineural hearing loss are diverse and the hearing devices, especially hearing aids, have multiple configurations that can be adjusted for specific needs. However, the hearing-aid fitting to the individual hearing loss is currently performed based mainly on the audiogram, which is not necessarily related to listening abilities such as the speech understanding. Data-driven auditory profiling has the potential of identifying clinically relevant subpopulations of hearing-impaired people with distinct differences in terms of their perceptual hearing deficits.
In this thesis, the basis for "precision audiology" was explored. The prerequisites for implementing precision treatments are 1) that the diseases must be heterogenous, 2) that there exist multiple options for treatment and 3) that there are "markers" that associate certain characteristics of the patient to specific treatments. The present work focused on the investigation of auditory biomarkers that allow the link between perceptual deficits and hearing-aid settings.
The results suggested that listeners belonging to different “auditory profiles” might prefer different compensation strategies. Listeners with a high degree of loudness-related deficits might benefit from different forms of gain prescription (e.g., loudness normalization), whereas listeners with speech intelligibility-related deficits might benefit from strategies that improve the signal-to-noise ratio.
Different approaches for precision audiology may be implemented in the near future. These can drive hearing-aid development, hearing-loss characterization and the quality of service in the hearing-care clinic towards a better hearing rehabilitation and an evidence-based audiological practice.