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Review
. 2024 May 17;45(2):153-171.
doi: 10.1055/s-0044-1786523. eCollection 2024 May.

Chapter 2: My Hearing Aid Isn't Working Like It Used to…

Lori Zitelli  1 , Catherine Palmer  1
Affiliations
Review

Chapter 2: My Hearing Aid Isn't Working Like It Used to…

Lori Zitelli et al. Semin Hear. .

Abstract

This chapter will take you through specific patient complaints and the test box measures you can use to address these complaints. These measurements give you data that aid in your decision making about what is wrong, if anything, with the hearing aid and how you might address the problem. Before we discuss specific patient complaints and problems, let us review the American National Standard Institute (ANSI) guidelines for hearing aid testing in a test box.

Keywords: ANSI Hearing Aid Standard; battery drain; hearing aid gain; hearing aid troubleshooting; total harmonic distortion.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest None declared.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
ANSI test results. A  = OSPL90 curve; B  = average OSPL90; C  = average gain at 50 dB; D  = frequency response curve; E  = frequency range; F  = distortion measurements; G  = EIN; H  = battery drain.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Reference test setting prompts. A— the volume control is at RTS (no adjustments needed); B— the volume needs to be increased in order to achieve RTS; C— the volume needs to be decreased in order to achieve RTS.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Calculating the HFA for the frequency response curve.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Draw a horizontal line at HFA–20. In this case, we draw a line at 54 dB SPL because the HFA is 74 dB SPL.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Indication of the lowest and highest frequency at which the response curve intersects the horizontal line at 54 dB SPL. In this example, the frequency range of this hearing aid is reported as 530–7,100 Hz.
Figure 6
Figure 6
The menu of measurements.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Hearing aid listening check.
Figure 8
Figure 8
Frequency/Gain curve obtained at the time of the hearing aid fitting.
Figure 9
Figure 9
Frequency/Gain curve at the time of the patient complaint.
Figure 10
Figure 10
Frequency/Gain response for a 60-dB SPL input signal.
Figure 11
Figure 11
Placement of the battery pill into a hearing aid.
Figure 12
Figure 12
Connecting a hearing aid to the correct coupler with the battery pill in place.
Figure 13
Figure 13
Battery drain test results (also see Figure 1F ).
Figure 14
Figure 14
Equivalent input noise test results, shown in highlighted box (also see Figure 1G ).
Figure 15
Figure 15
Example of a test of total harmonic distortion (THD) (also see Figure 1H ).
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References

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