(PP305) Benefits of Dynamic Venting

Dynamic venting refers to mechanical technology that has the ability to alter the degree of venting of the hearing aid coupling, dependent on the environment. This poster showcases two separate investigations that compare dynamic venting to conventional acoustic couplings. Current findings support  better speech perception in noise with dynamic venting, preferred streaming sound quality, and comparable perception of user’s own voice, when compared to conventional acoustic couplings. These comparators included conventional custom coupling, in addition to universal silicone domes.

Summary: 

Dynamic venting is able to adapt between open and closed venting, dependent on the environment. The dynamic nature of the venting alleviates a common compromise faced by HCPs. With open acoustic coupling, the sound perception of one's own voice is much better than closed, but this results in compromised performance for speech in noise and sound quality for streamed signals. On the other hand, a closed fitting provides better performance of the hearing aid features but is often rejected due to occlusion related complaints. Dynamic venting alleviates compromises as it combines both advantages of open and closed couplings.

The purpose of this research is to evaluate speech understanding performance with dynamic venting in comparison to conventional acoustic coupling. Additionally, the investigations evaluated own-voice perception and streaming sound quality of dynamic venting in comparison to conventional acoustic coupling. This research includes data from two separate investigations.

For one of the two studies, human subjects with sensorineural hearing loss were recruited to participate in a single-blinded, randomized, crossover design study. The dynamic venting was compared to conventional custom coupling across domains of speech intelligibility, own-voice perception, and streaming sound quality. Researchers hypothesized that dynamic venting would provide better speech intelligibility in noise, better streaming quality, and comparable quality of the user’s own voice, compared to conventional custom coupling.

For speech intelligibility in noise, a linear mixed effect model was constructed with fixed effects of device condition (dynamic vent closed, open, and conventional custom coupling), average hearing loss and age and a random effect of subject. The model reveals that dynamic venting in the closed position  improves speech understanding in noise by 11% over conventional custom coupling (p < 0.0001).

For sound quality of own-voice, outcomes were analyzed using a linear mixed effect model with fixed effects of device condition (dynamic vent closed, dynamic vent open, and conventional custom coupling), average hearing loss and age and a random effect of subject. The model revealed no significant differences between naturalness ratings of own voice for dynamic venting in the open position and conventional custom coupling.

A linear mixed effect model was also used to investigate streaming sound quality, and revealed dynamic venting to be preferred significantly over conventional coupling for audio streaming in quiet. (p=0.0075).

An investigation is currently being conducted to examine own voice perception and streaming sound quality across dynamic venting and universal silicone domes, more specifically, open and vented domes. Researchers hypothesize better own-voice perception with dynamic venting compared to vented domes, and better streaming sound quality with dynamic venting compared to open domes. This investigation is currently underway and is expected to be completed by the end of November, 2021.

Static coupling often creates a balancing act for the HCPs during the fitting process, usually by adapting the coupling to create a different balance of indirect and direct sound, dependent on the patient's complaints. Dynamic venting alleviates these compromises, as the mechanical nature of the venting provides better speech intelligibility and streaming quality, without sacrificing the quality of the user's own voice.