SOFTWARE FOR AUDITORY PROSTHESIS RESEARCH

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This project is for the development of software with research and clinical applications in the hearing sciences. In the research area, the software will allow investigators to work at a higher level of abstraction,providing monitoring and control applications for the design of complex sound processing strategies for hearing devices. The clinical applications are designed to improve communications between audiologists, speech-language therapists, and hearing- impaired individuals through the use of auditory training and assessment activities that are accessible from any web-connected device. Our approach for completing this work is to frame development on two formative studies of research and clinical applications. These studies will be conducted in collaboration with the University of Texas at Dallas and with the House Ear Institute. The purpose of these formative evaluations is to receive essential user feedback from scientists, clinicians, and hearing- impaired individuals. The study of the research version of the software will examine the benefits of a specified method for synchronizing bilateral hearing devices (with emphasis on cochlear implants). The study of the clinical version of the software will examine thebenefits of using online auditory training and assessment activities with hearing-impaired children. Successful completion of this project will yield two software packages designed for research and clinical applications. The research version will be used by a relatively small group of academic and industrial scientists, while the clinical version will be used by a larger group of audiologists, speech-language therapists, and hearing-impaired individuals. Providing a single architecture to implement all of these activities will consolidate efforts towards optimizing hearing for the impaired. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: This project is for the development of software with research and clinical applications in the hearing sciences. In the research area,the software will allow investigators to work at a higher level of abstraction, providing monitoring and control applications for the design of complex sound processing strategies for hearing devices. The clinical applications are designed to improve communications between audiologists, speech-language therapists, and hearing- impaired individuals through the use of auditory training and assessment activities that are accessible from any web-connected device.