Evaluation and Fitting of Amplification
COMD 7327
Spring 2005

Wednesdays: Class-9:00-11:45 AM, Thursdays: Lab1:00-3:45 PM
Advanced Hearing Research Center, J204

Instructor:
Linda Thibodeau, Ph.D., CCC-A, Audiologist; CCC-SLP, Speech Pathologist
Office : 210; Ph.: 214-905-3108;
Office Hours:  By appt.
Email: thib@utdallas.edu
Web Page: www.utdallas.edu/~thib

T.A.: Amanda Arnold, B.S.
Office : Office Hours:  by appointment
Email: aarnold@utdallas.edu

Course Objectives:

Students will learn the principles of:
  1) Evaluation of classroom amplification
  2) Evaluation of assistive listening devices
  3) Fitting of FM systems
  4) Interfacing FM systems with cochlear implants
  5) Physiology of hearing loss and fitting hearing aids
  6) Advanced Microphone Technology
  7) Advanced Fitting Algorithms
  8) Compression circuitry
  9) Programmable circuitry
10) Digital circuitry
11) CIC fittings
12) Implantable Hearing Aids
13) CROS Aids

Grading:
1) Annotated Bibliography (200 pts)-Two Article Summaries (half page each) due at the beginning of each class
2) Case Study Presentations (100pts)-Last 30 minutes of class-Dates to be assigned
3) Hearing Aid Project (200pts)- Conducted with a partner,Presentation on Last Day of Class
5) Midterm (200 pts)-March 2, 9 am
6) Hearing Aid Resource Notebook (no points, but may be used during final exam)
6) Final exam (300pts)-April 27, 9 am

Course Requirements:
1) Prerequisites -
    a) Theory of Amplification Course
    b) Aural Rehabilitation Course
    c) Graduate standing
2) Readings - In addition to assigned chapters in Valente, M. Hosford-Dunn, H., Roeser, R..(2000) Audiology Treatment. New York:  Thieme and assigned journal articles, the following two textbooks will be useful:

Hair Cells and Hearing Aids. (1996) Edited by C. Berlin. Singular Publishing Group, Inc.

Compression for Clinicians (1998) Authored by T. Venema. Singular Publishing Group, Inc

3) Evaluation Procedures: Requirements for each letter grade are indicated below:

Requirements for a C: Acquire a minimum of 180 pts on the final and a total of 700 pts

Requirements for a B: Acquire a minimum of 210 pts on the final and a total of 800 pts

Requirements for an A: Acquire a minimum of 240 pts on the final and a total of 900 pts

4) You will have a formal opportunity to evaluate the course during the semester, but feel free to stop by to discuss any concerns regarding this course.

5) Additional Information - Incompletes will be given only in extenuating circumstances and must be requested in writing. Late assignments will NOT BE ACCEPTED and evidence of academic dishonesty will result in no credit for the exam or assignment. Academic dishonesty includes cheating, plagiarism, collusion, and falsifying academic records. Please consult the course schedule and catalogue for information on withdrawals, incompletes, and academic honesty.

6) Accommodations - If you require any modification to the class activities including lectures, discussions, exams, and assignments in order to accommodate specific learning needs, please notify me by the end of the first week of class in person or by email and provide documentation. I will be happy to make whatever arrangements are needed to facilitate learning and participation in the class.

 Tentative  Course Schedule
Evaluation and Fitting of Amplification

Assignments for AUD 7327

Spring 2005

1- Annotated Bibliography- 200 points

• Two article summaries due at beginning of each class meeting for a total of 10 CLASSES, IE 20 ARTICLES TOTAL, EACH ARTICLE REVIEW WORTH 10 POINTS

    (NOTE: There are 11 class meetings this semester)

• Each article review consists of a one-paragraph write up of an amplification related article from an assigned peer-reviewed scientific journal dated 1998 to the present.
• Journals will be assigned so there is no overlap: Ear and Hearing, Journal of the American Academy of Audiology, Journal of Speech, Language and Hearing Research, American Journal of Audiology, International Audiology, Journal of the Acoustical Society of America
• Article reviews will be written in APA format see www.apa.org or try a google search using the words “APA crib sheet”.
• Article reviews will consist of the following information:
  • Citation Information-APA Style
  • Article Purpose
  • Article Methods
  • Article Results
  • Critique of Article (not if you thought if it was informative or not, but if you see any potential problems with any aspect of the article which might influence the results, or how you would interpret the results).
• At the start of each class I will draw one and that person will give a short (5-10 minute) oral presentation of their articles. The oral presentation will be part of the grading of the papers that week.

2 - Case Study Presentations – 100 points

• 15 minute oral case presentation.
• For a given patient, program digital aids for a bilateral fitting. Verify programming via electroacoustic measures and real-ear measures on KEMAR. This requires NO PATIENT CONTACT.
• Presentation includes

o       Audiogram

o       Real Ear Targets

o       2cc Targets

o       OSPL90 2cc Targets

o       REUR (depending on fitting method)

o       REAR (depending on fitting method)

o       REIR (depending on fitting method)

o       Your general impressions comments.

• You must use power point slides and provide a handout to give your presentation.
• Presentations will take place during the last 30 min of class and will begin the third week of class, dates will be assigned the second week of class.

3- Hearing Aid Project – 200 points

You will work with one other student and during the final class each pair will provide a poster presentation handout (1 slide in powerpoint) and give a 15-minute presentation on their project.  The poster will include

• Rationale
• Background Studies
• Research Question
• Methods
• Results
• Conclusions
• Evaluation – Anything that you think might have negatively influenced the outcome, anything that you might have done different if you had the chance, other options for future studies on this topic.

We will have a discussion of Hearing Aid Project procedures and tools you can use and how best to approach these topics during class or during one of the lab meetings.

You may use the following research topics or you may come up with your own topic.  Groups cannot have the same topic and so groups will need to sign up for a topic by Beginning of February.  Some example topics are as follows:

• Comparison compression characteristics electroacoustic vs. real ear
• Comparison output and gain recommended by manufacturers
• Computation of the AI re: Speech Recognition Scores
• Comparison of T-coil Strength in different style aids
• Evaluation of Phase and Delay in Digital Circuits
• Evaluation of FM Advantage for various FM circuits
• Evaluation of Frequency Transposition Aids

4 - Hearing Aid Notebook – No associated points, Optional

This will be a practical exercise for you to compile some information that should be useful to you and others in fitting hearing aids.  Compile the information into the sections listed below in a notebook that you can use as a resource or desk reference in the future.  Notebooks may be turned in at the final class day for review and acceptance. If accepted, each author may refer to their notebook during the final exam.

You do not need to come up with/make up all of this information yourself.  You can pull information from published articles, web sites, brochures, textbooks, etc. and compile this into your folder. 

1.    General Hearing Aid Information

·        Pretend that you have a patient who knows nothing about hearing aids and you want to provide general information on them.  Create a way to present general information to a patient on the different types of hearing aid styles, circuit, and options (noise reduction, directional mics, fm, multi-memory, remote control, volume control options, telephone options).  Show how this relates to price.

2.    Hearing Aid Protocol

·        Provide a step by step procedure that YOU would use in fitting a hearing aid; Include specific instructions that you may need to use with patients, sample forms, word/sentence lists, complete references to published tests (so you know where to get them).

3.    General Transformations / Formulas

·        Provide information that you could use and apply to convert an HL hearing loss and indicate references for your transformations.

·        dB HL to SPL correction factors in the sound field.

·        dB HL to SPL correction factors for insert earphones.

·        dB HL to SPL correction factors for TDH 39 or 59 earphones.

·        Average RECD values for 2cc coupler.

·        Correction values for CIC coupler.

·        CORFIG for BTE, ITE, ITC, CIC

·        Any other transforms, hearing aid fitting formulas, specifications that you find important.

4.    General Reporting Format

·        Create a record sheet for a hearing aid fitting that you could complete that would include all the necessary information, space for test strips, notes, etc. so that files in your clinic would contain ALL the necessary information to completely understand the fitting for a patient.

5.    Another Section you deem important.

6.    Digital Hearing Aid Matrix

·        Compile your hearing aid matrix with the others in the class so that you have a comprehensive listing of aids across manufacturers.