Determination of filtering parameters for dichotic-listening binaural hearing aids

One typical auditory characteristic of the hearing-impaired is large and extensive masking. Dichotic listening, defined as listening to complementary filtered speech signals, has been proposed to cope with this problem. We introduce a dichotic listening technique for binaural hearing aids and the relationship between the effect of this technique and the auditory characteristics of hearing-impaired people. The results of listening tests suggest a relationship between the width of the auditory filter and this technique's effect. Moreover, intelligibility test results obtained using low-frequency-boosted sounds suggest that such dichotic listening reduced the upward spread of masking. We are applying this technique to hearing aid systems and have begun evaluating this hearing aid's performance.