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Sizing Up Hearing Aids in the 21st Century: Is There Still Room for Improvement?

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1.  What is a likely contributor to the fact that RIE is the most popular hearing aid style in the US? It eliminates tubing effects common to standard BTE, potentially improving sound quality It eliminates feedback It is covered by most patients’ insurance plans It comes in more colors than other styles

2.  What are the common features of digital hearing aids today? Noise reduction Feedback cancellation Active noise cancellation Both A and B

3.  Extended high-frequency bandwidth may have which of the following benefits for users? Better sound quality Better ability to recognize speech in the presence of competing noise Better ability to identify specific voices All of the above

4.  Which aspects of rechargeable battery technology is a requirement for use in digital hearing aids? Supports low voltage applications Has a low power density Lasts fewer than 6 hours on a charge Can be purchased at electronics stores

5.  Which of the following are true of directional microphones in hearing aids? They are proven to provide an improvement in SNR in laboratory conditions. Their benefit is affected by acoustic, fitting, audiometric, and intrinsic factors. Their benefit in real life situations may be less obvious than in laboratory conditions All of the above

6.  Which of the following listening modes is not supported by the ReSound binaural strategy for applying directional microphones? Preservation of spatial hearing cues Optimizing situational awareness and spatial unmasking Enhancing speech intelligibility in diffuse, complex listening environments Bilateral beamforming that removes binaural hearing cues

7.  How might bilateral beamforming technology be made more usable in real life? By making it only user-selectable By making it only automatic By combining it with a high level of digital noise reduction With the use of techniques to preserve spatial hearing cues

8.  Approximately what percentage of hearing aids sold in the US in 2019 were RIE? 0% 20% 50% Nearly 80%

9.  What can be negatively impacted by the microphone location on RIE hearing aids? Localizing sounds Estimating the distance of sound sources Natural sound quality All of the above

10.  What is a benefit of listening to sound that has been filtered by our own ears, head, and torso? An impression of the distance, texture, interactions and continuity of the physical items in our surroundings The sound is louder An enhanced ability to tune out noise sources that crowd what we want to hear Both A & C