Personalized signal-independent beamforming for binaural hearing aids
File(s)HRTF_accepted.pdf (1.97 MB)
Accepted version
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
The effect of personalized microphone array calibration on the performance of hearing aid beamformers under noisy reverberant conditions is studied. The study makes use of a new, publicly available, database containing acoustic transfer function measurements from 29 loudspeakers arranged on a sphere to a pair of behind-the-ear hearing aids in a listening room when worn by 27 males, 14 females, and 4 mannequins. Bilateral and binaural beamformers are designed using each participant's hearing aid head-related impulse responses (HAHRIRs). The performance of these personalized beamformers is compared to that of mismatched beamformers, where the HAHRIR used for the design does not belong to the individual for whom performance is measured. The case where the mismatched HAHRIR is that of a mannequin is of particular interest since it represents current practice in commercially available hearing aids. The benefit of personalized beamforming is assessed using an intrusive binaural speech intelligibility metric and in a matrix speech intelligibility test. For binaural beamforming, both measures demonstrate a statistically signficant (p < 0.05) benefit of personalization. The benefit varies substantially between individuals with some predicted to benefit by as much as 1.5 dB.
Date Issued
2019-05
Date Acceptance
2019-04-24
Citation
Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 2019, 145 (5), pp.2971-2981
ISSN
0001-4966
Publisher
Acoustical Society of America
Start Page
2971
End Page
2981
Journal / Book Title
Journal of the Acoustical Society of America
Volume
145
Issue
5
Copyright Statement
© 2019 Acoustical Society of America
Sponsor
Engineering & Physical Science Research Council (EPSRC)
Grant Number
EP/M026698/1
Subjects
Acoustics
MD Multidisciplinary
Publication Status
Published
Article Number
2971
Date Publish Online
2019-05-16