Researchers from the University of Pittsburgh and Purdue University have developed a novel testing approach using an auditory stimulus, EEG, and analysis using an algorithm to assess hearing loss.
Description
Hearing loss is common with a variety of causes from inflammation, noise exposure, and aging. One particular type of hearing loss, related to perception (understanding speech when in noisy settings), can be problematic due to complexities in diagnosis and impacts on quality of life with communication challenges. This novel approach allows for greater understanding of the underlying neurophysiology related to this type of hearing loss and potentially allows for the development of a clinical diagnosis tool.
Applications
• Analysis of perception hearing loss
• Healthy aging
Advantages
The current tests for hearing are often in clinical settings and reliant on behavioral measures. However, many people with hearing loss display no abnormal clinical results, but struggle to understand speech in noisy environments (perception). There is no objective diagnostic test for hearing related to perception and the underlying neural encoding.
This approach uses a non-invasive, scalp-recorded EEG to record responses to specific sound stimuli. These stimuli have been developed at specific frequencies to probe neural coding across the auditory pathway linked to speech perception, allowing clinicians to characterize neural coding rapidly and effectively across this pathway. This novel method has the potential to be used in hearing clinics as an objective diagnostic tool using widely available existing hardware to improve diagnosis of perception hearing loss and provide support for patients.
Invention Readiness
An auditory stimulus has been developed, using a dynamically varying amplitude-modulated (dAM) tone, known to be important for the perception of complex sounds like speech. Using EEG, the neural coding is determined using the envelope following response (EFR) based on subcortically (>100 Hz) and cortically (<40 Hz) generated signals via analysis using a spectrally specific frequency-demodulation-based algorithm to evaluate tMTF. Hearing clinics regularly use EEG and addition of the dAM stimuli and algorithm could feasible be used with the existing hardware as an added module to determine tMTF much faster than previously achieved.
IP Status
https://patents.google.com/patent/WO2024151894A1
