Bio-logic Systems Corp., a designer and marketer of computerized medical electro-diagnostic equipment and disposables, announced the signing of an exclusive five-year license agreement with the House Ear Institute (HEI) to develop and commercialize a product for hearing assessment based on proprietary technology developed by House Ear scientists.
The HINT (Hearing In Noise Test) is used to evaluate the functional hearing capabilities of individuals in hearing-critical jobs, as well as hearing aid users and cochlear implant users. "Previous success and Bio-logic's reputation as a technology leader in our industry has once again led us to partner with the House Ear Institute on this new project to further advance their innovative HINT and SAINT, or Source Azimuth Identification in Noise Test technologies in the marketplace," says Gabriel Raviv, chairman and chief executive officer, Bio-logic Systems Corp.
The HINT requires patients to recognize and repeat short sentences. The subject's sentence recognition reception threshold is obtained under four headphone or loudspeaker test conditions that sample a range of binaural directional hearing ability: speech in quiet or with noise coming from different directions. Noise is presented at a fixed level of 65 decibels (dB), and the level of speech is adaptively varied depending on the response of the subject.
This new project represents Bio-logic's initial entry into the behavioral auditory market, which is a significant opportunity for the company and the hearing industry in the future. With heightened noise levels found in much of our environment today, this unique testing technique, which utilizes a combination of functional hearing measures both in quiet and in noise, is predictive of real-world functional hearing ability.