Abstract
A portable programmable hearing aid with multichannel compression was constructed with three channels with two independently variable crossover frequencies. The compression knee-point and attenuation in each channel and the two crossover frequencies can be programmed from a separate programming unit. Speech discrimination for seven subjects with sensorineural hearing loss was evaluated, comparing each subject individually in three different cases—equalization, multichannel compression and the subject's own conventional hearing aid. Each subject wore each aid for about a week in his/her own environment and was then tested. The following speech discrimination tests were used: monosyllabic phonetically balanced words with and without background noise, nonsense syllables in quiet, and a consonant test in quiet and in noise.
The study showed that some patients with sensorineural hearing loss accompanied by recruitment can double their speech discrimination by using a hearing aid with multichannel compression.