PHASE I OF THIS RESEARCH WILL TEST THE FEASIBILITY OF SMALL HORNS USED AS ACOUSTIC HEARING AIDS TO ALLEVIATE THE COMMON TRANSIENT CONDUCTIVE HEARING LOSS PRESENT IN INFANTS AND CHILDREN WITH CHRONIC OTITIS MEDIA WITH EFFUSION (OME).

PHASE I OF THIS RESEARCH WILL TEST THE FEASIBILITY OF SMALL HORNS USED AS ACOUSTIC HEARING AIDS TO ALLEVIATE THE COMMON TRANSIENT CONDUCTIVE HEARING LOSS PRESENT IN INFANTS AND CHILDREN WITH CHRONIC OTITIS MEDIA WITH EFFUSION (OME). THIS LOSS APPEARS TO HAVE A DETRIMENTAL EFFECT ON SPEECH/ LANGUAGE AND COGNITIVE SKILLS AFTER THREE MONTHS. A SPECIALIZED COMPUTER PROGRAM WILL MODEL THE VARIABLES TO OBTAIN AN OPTIMAL DEVICE DESIGN. PROTOTYPES WILL BE BUILT AND TESTED IN AN ACOUSTIC MANIKIN THAT SIMULATES A CHILD'S EAR WITH OME AND IN A SMALL PILOT GROUP OF CHILDREN WITH OME. IN PHASE I, A PROTOTYPE ACOUSTIC AID THAT IS COSMETICALLY ACCEPTABLE, INEXPENSIVE, WORN ON THE EAR, AND CAPABLE OF GAINS OF 10 TO 20 DB SPL FROM 500 TO 3000 HZ WILLBE DEVELOPED. A DEVICE OF THIS TYPE SHOULD CORRECT THE HEARING LOSS IN A SIGNIFICANT PERCENTAGE OF OME CHILDREN AND MAY BE USED AS AN ALTERNATIVE TO SURGERY IN SELECTED CASES. PHASE II WILL DEVELOP A COMMERCIAL VERSION OF THE PHASE I PROTOTYPE AND TEST IT IN A LARGE NUMBER OF INFANTS AND CHILDREN WITH OME.