2022 NHCA Annual Virtual Conference

Hearing loss, one of the most common occupational disease worldwide, is still prevalent among workers. Both noise-induced and age-related hearing impairment affects sound detection and localization, as well as speech communication, compromising safety and efficiency at the workplace. While hearing aids are commonly used, current products are not yet designed for noisy workplace environments and could even be responsible for further hearing loss by amplifying sounds already at mid levels. This project aims at developing a unique protective hearing aid to enhance communication and monitor an individual’s noise exposure in loud environments. Hearing aid algorithms will be implemented into a binaural device, with two earplugs each instrumented with a loudspeaker and two microphones, such that a final prototype has the benefits of both hearing aids and hearing protectors. Intra-aural dosimetry will be added for continuous monitoring of the individual’s noise dose. Following electroacoustic and psychoacoustic validation with human participants, the final prototype should result in an open platform for research and could lead to a commercialized device. Results from this work could lead to new guidelines for audiologists and hearing aid/protector manufacturers.