From basic research to application
Findings from the Cluster of Excellence Hearing4all lead to significant improvements in hearing aid fitting
Until now, measurements for the individual adjustment of hearing aids have often been carried out using narrowband signals – tones and tone-like sounds –, in different pitch levels and separately for each ear. This corresponds to the established model of loudness perception. However, many users of hearing aids experience these settings as too loud in everyday life. The reasons for this were uncovered by research results in the context of the Hearing4all Cluster of Excellence: The impaired auditory system perceives broadband signals such as speech quite differently compared to predictions from common models, especially when hearing with both ears. Based on these scientific findings, Hörzentrum Oldenburg developed a new tool for fitting hearing aids called revoloud, which has been on the market since December 2024 and has the potential to significantly improve individual hearing care.
The background to this development is well illustrated in the article Wie Hörgeräte besser an ihre Nutzer angepasst werden können (How hearing aids can be better adapted to their users) in the Weser-Kurier of 25/26 January 2025.
Scientific publication on the new adjustment procedure: Exter M, Jansen T, Hartog L, Oetting D. Development and Evaluation of a Loudness Validation Method With Natural Signals for Hearing Aid Fitting. Trends in Hearing, vol. 28, 2024, doi.org/10.1177/23312165241299778
Information on using revoloud: www.revoloud.de
Photo: © Hörzentrum Oldenburg
