View clinical trials related to Deafness.
Filter by:Tinnitus, the perception of sound in the absence of an external acoustic stimulus. Tinnitus is often perceived inside the head rather than the ear and is a common condition with a prevalence estimated between 10 and 15% in adults. Between 1 and 3% of this population are having a significant impact on their quality of life. Despite its high prevalence, the underlying mechanisms of tinnitus still remain unclear. The majority of tinnitus cases associated with some degree of hearing loss, making hearing loss the biggest risk factor for tinnitus. Recently, it has been suggested that hearing deficits, such as speech-in-noise difficulty, can exist in the absence of any overt hearing loss within the audiometric range (0.125-8 kHz). This is referred to as "hidden hearing loss" and has been suggested to be associated with hearing loss at above-audiometric (> 8 kHz) frequencies. This project is aimed at studying the underlying mechanisms of tinnitus and the possible relation with overt or hidden hearing loss. Specifically, the investigators want to test the hypothesis that tinnitus is caused by maladaptive plasticity arising as a result of auditory input deprivation. This idea is supported by the finding that tinnitus may disappear when the hearing, and thus auditory input, recover. Disruptions at lower levels of the auditory pathway could lead to alterations in synaptic transmission and neurotransmitter release in more central regions of the auditory system (e.g., in the auditory cortex). This may create an imbalance between neuronal excitation and inhibition, and re-routing of auditory pathways, leading to abnormal neural excitability and connectivity. In this study, the investigators question whether auditory cortex disinhibition is specifically related to tinnitus, or is a consequence of hearing loss. To answer this question, the investigators propose to conduct a study that aims to investigate the inhibition mechanism by quantifying GABA concentration level, neural activity and functional connectivity strength of auditory cortex using non-invasive imaging techniques, namely Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (MRS) and functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI). The investigators expected to possibly provide a tinnitus biomarker, and this may help to direct future treatments.
This study is testing the effectiveness of augmentative and alternative communication technology among deaf or hard of hearing children for improving language development. Children will be randomized to receive either the technology intervention or treatment as usual
In this study, the investigators have aimed to investigate whether GDM is a risk factor for hearing impairment in newborns. To the investigators knowledge, this study is the first prospective, controlled study on this subject.
A small clinical trial for idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss (ISSNHL). Will the addition of an oral statin to the standard treatment (oral methylprednesolone and the salvage therapy of intratympanic dexamethasone) improve the treatment outcome for patients with ISSNHL? This study will compare the two treatments and quantitatively evaluate hearing and speech discrimination and have the patients subjectively evaluate tinnitus.
This document describes a clinical validation study for a double-blind repeated-measures comparative study of the Great Nordic (GN) self-fitting method to a validated audiology-best-practices method when fitting the GN Self-fitting Hearing Aid, a device intended for persons aged 18-75 years old who have mild-to-moderate hearing loss. A crossover wear-time field trial will be conducted. The focus of the study is on the validity of the self-fitting process used to select appropriate frequency-gain characteristics for the GN Self-fitting Hearing Aid, and the safety and effectiveness of the device.
The study is part of the Post Market Clinical Follow (PMCF) activity. The investigational device is the CE-marked Ponto 3 SuperPower (available on the market since December 2016) already fitted to the subjects, and data is collected retrospectively from clinical routine visits. The study is a retrospective study. Therefore there will be no study visits for treatment or follow-up in the study. Subject inclusion for this clinical investigation will be performed among subjects who has been fitted with the Ponto 3 SuperPower. To have a wide representative selection of subjects, enrollment will be spread over the 4 years since the device was available on the market since December 2016. The endpoints in the study will investigate the improvement of hearing with the Ponto 3 SuperPower. The data will be collected from the subjects in the time period from the clinical routine visit where the Ponto 3 SuperPower where fitted or just prior, and from the clinical routine visit following the fitting, where audiologic fitting follow-up procedures are performed (approximately 3 months).
To demonstrate the efficacy of a minimally invasive direct cochlear access via the HEARO procedure in cochlear implantation.
The purpose of this study is to assess the effect of the Naida Link CROS device on speech understanding in challenging listening situations and on the quality of life in unilateral CI recipients and their frequent communication partners. We hypothesize that: 1. Unilateral CI recipients will obtain higher speech understanding scores with the CROS device in challenging listening conditions 2. Use of the CROS device will lead to positive changes in ratings on Quality of Life measures for (i) unilateral CI recipients, and (ii) their frequent communication partners A frequent communication partner (FCP) is an individual (a family member, or a friend, or a care taker, or a significant other, or a colleague, etc.) who has at least two hours of in-person interactions with the CI recipient every week.
This is a two-phase study that compares performance growth pre-implant with current hearing aid (HA) technology versus post-implant with a cochlear implant (CI) in children with either asymmetric hearing loss (AHL) or single-sided deafness (SSD). Post-implant performance with a CI alone is expected to outperform pre-implant performance with a HA. The study also evaluates the effectiveness of bimodal hearing defined as a CI in the poor ear and a HA in the better ear for AHL or a CI in the poor ear and normal hearing in the better ear for SSD compared to pre-implant performance. The study examines factors contributing to CI outcomes.
Nearly half a billion people suffer from disabling hearing loss. The most common form of hearing loss in adults is age-related hearing loss (ARHL), which causes a reduced ability to understand speech in noisy environments. The ability of people with ARHL to communicate is therefore greatly impacted, limiting their social interactions and thus their quality of life. Yet, the wear of hearing aids - which is the current standard rehabilitation treatment in such cases - does not lead to optimal satisfactory outcomes when it comes to understanding speech in noisy environments. The objective of this pilot study is to test a new signal-processing algorithm, based on artificial intelligence, that aims at enhancing the intelligibility of speech-in-noise signals. The efficiency of the algorithm is compared to a standard denoising algorithm commonly used in hearing aids. The primary outcome measure is the word-identification performance of the participants, using the FrMatrix test (Jansen et al., 2012). Two secondary outcome measures are investigated: listening effort (self-assessed using a Likert scale, and measured through response times), and subjective preference (assessed in a paired-comparison task). The study is conducted in 20 normal-hearing subjects and in 40 older (age ≥ 55 years) hearing-impaired subjects.