ASCENDING HEARING TECHNOLOGIES, LLC — Department of Health and Human Services STTR Phase I: NIDCD

Description

PROJECT SUMMARYPersonal sound amplification productsPSAPshave recently become available to the publicPSAPs serve a potentially important role in providing audibility of sounds for adults who have difficulty hearing in some daily living situationsbut may not be candidates for traditionalhigh amplification hearing aidsFewer thanof adults with hearing loss reporting use of hearing aidsciting high costs of devices and professional care appointments as the most common reasons for not wanting to try amplificationPSAPs are far less expensive than hearing aidsand have recently become an amplification option for people who are not readyor are unwillingto wear a hearing aidCurrent PSAPs on the market tend to be pre programmed with standard algorithmsor utilize volume and frequency equalizers that are adjusted by inexperienced userswith wide range in cost and benefitThe proposed product is a smartphone application functioning as a PSAPthis PSAP app would personalize and optimize sounds for individual listenersWith the exceptionally large adoption of smartphone technology across a wide range of demographicsa smartphone PSAP application has the potential to be highly significant to a large segment of US adultsThe long term goal is to develop a high performanceconvenientlow cost PSAPin the form of a smartphone appto bring improved hearing to those who desire amplification in daily lifeThe objective of the proposed project is to conduct a within subjectPhase I feasibility clinical trial to optimize a smartphone application that will allow users to perform a self administered hearing test and customization of sound output for optimal sound quality and benefitTo achieve the objective of this projectwe propose the following two specific aimsOptimization of a self administered hearing test within the smartphone application PSAPandAssessment of the feasibility of a custom fit algorithm within the smartphone application PSAPThis Phase I project aims to examine the feasibility of our smartphone application PSAP forauditory threshold testingandcustomized fittingBy comparing unamplifieddefault prescriptive gainand userbased fine tuned gain conditionsthis project would significantly advance scientific knowledge and clinical practice in our hearing fieldThe significance of this project is the development of a convenientaffordablepersonal amplification option that overcomes current consumer barriersis personalized and optimized for their hearing conditionand can positively impact quality of life and potentially reduce the risk of developing medical comorbidities associated with hearing loss PROJECT NARRATIVE The long term goal of this research is to develop a high performanceconvenientlow cost Personal Sound Amplification ProductPSAPin the form of a smartphone appto bring improved hearing to those who desire amplification in daily lifeThis research would contribute to fundamental knowledge of optimizing amplification settings for individuals with hearing lossand creating a product that would provide personalizedconvenientaffordablehigh quality access to amplified sound not currently available on the market