Hearing Aids Powered by Artificial Intelligence

Hearing Aids Powered by

Artificial Intelligence

Artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming more and more popular; it’s used in countless fields to improve information processing. And hearing is one of those fields. Hearing aid engineers have turned to this cutting-edge technology to bring wearers’ listening experience to new heights. In particular, our engineers have used it to develop something called a deep neural network, or DNN, to improve the way the sound signal is processed. DNNs are used to perform a wide array of everyday tasks, such as translation. They can even be useful for medical diagnosis. In fact, UCLA1 (University of California, Los Angeles) has actually created a DNN that can detect cancer cells! We use our DNN to analyze and balance the sounds that hearing aids process. But what are DNNs and how do they work, exactly? The general idea behind DNNs is that they learn through repeated experiments on a collection of samples. For example, if the goal of the DNN is to recognize images of dogs, it is fed several million photos of dogs in various situations. After a while, it acquires enough experience to be able to recognize a dog in any situation. In other words, DNNs imitate the way the human brain works, through trial and error. Traditional hearing aids are based on theoretical models and strict rules to enhance speech sounds and reduce background noise. But this can lead to a lack of flexibility in complex or shifting sound environments, since the DNN can’t capture all the nuances and therefore makes mistakes. After training our DNN with 12 million sound scenes (like family dinners, restaurants, busy streets, and public transportation), we developed a new kind of hearing aid circuit that can mimic the way the brain balances and prioritizes sounds. With this revolutionary new approach, hearing aid wearers can access a full, accurate, and balanced sound scene while receiving more support for following conversations in difficult situations. An independent study showed that the user experienced 45% more foreground sound emergence and therefore more sound scene clarity with this technology.2 It supports the auditory system by giving the brain everything it needs to hear and understand effectively—and that benefits its overall health!

Talk to your audioprosthetist to learn more about hearing aids.

Charles-Edouard Basile

Director of Business Development and trainer for the adult and pediatric programs

Josée Guillemette

Bilingual Audiology Support Specialist

References: 1. Jalali, B.; Lifan Chen, C.; and Mahjoubfar, A, “Cancer Diagnostics with Deep

Learning and Photonic Time Stretch”, https://www.mathworks.com/company/ newsletters/articles/cancer-diagnostics-with-deep-learning-and-photonictime-stretch.html 2. Santurette, S.; Hoi Ning Ng, E.; Juul Jensen, J.; Man Kai Loong, B., “Oticon More™ clinical evidence”, https://wdh02.azureedge.net/-/media/oticon-us/main/ download-center---myoticon---product-literature/whitepapers/155000635---oticon-more-clinical-evidence-whitepaper.pdf?rev=59D5&la=en