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Hearing loss and prosthesis simulation in audiology

Hearing healthcare professionals frequently need to explain hearing loss to laypersons. For example, parents who have been told that their child has a hearing loss are understandably eager to learn as much as possible about the condition. But providing this information is no simple task, as few people have a good understanding of even the most basic concepts of sound, such as frequency and intensity, not to mention hearing, hearing loss, and acoustic cues for speech perception. In such situations, it would be helpful to be able to demonstrate both the handicap of a particular hearing loss and the benefits that a hearing aid or a cochlear implant can provide. Such demonstrations could be provided, in principle, by a hearing loss and prosthesis simulator. The ideal hearing loss simulator would be unlimited in the types and range of hearing losses it could simulate. It would be easily programmed, and would allow demonstrations with a variety of relevant test stimuli. This ideal hearing loss simulator would be supplemented with simulations of hearing aids and cochlear implants. Together, they would be capable of duplicating for normal-hearing listeners the communication deficits associated with actual hearing impairment and the benefits from prostheses. Although various hearing loss simulations have been developed over the years, none has become widely used. Even the notion of using hearing loss simulation as a tool may be foreign to many in the hearing healthcare field. We shall begin, therefore, by discussing some of the uses of hearing loss and prosthesis simulations. We will then review methods for simulating hearing loss, and will conclude with a description of a new simulation system that has been designed specifically for audiologic applications.