• Antennatransmissionrangewasevaluatedindoorsandoutdoorswithtworesearchers(R1andR2)andPhonakwirelesstechnology.
• AsshowninFigure2,R1woreHAspairedwithaPhonakComPilotIIandaRogerX(02)receiver.
• R2worethetransmittersandwalkedbackwardsfacingR1asshedeliveredcoldrunningspeech.
• Threesetsoftwomicrophonetypes,RogerPenandRogerClip-On,wereeachevaluatedonthreetrialsforatotalof18measurementsineachcondition.
• R2stoppedwalkingbackwardswhenR1indicatedthesoundtransmissionchanged.Thecriteriafordeterminingrangewaswhenthesoundtransmissionqualitychangedfromcontinuousandcleartointerruptedanddistorted.
• ThedistancebetweenR1andR2whensoundqualitychangedwasrecorded asthetransmissionrange.
AudreyTaylor,B.A.,VirginiaE.Land,B.S.,&LindaThibodeau,Ph.D.TheUniversityofTexasatDallas,CallierCenterforCommunicationDisorders
RESULTSINTRODUCTION
TechnologyTransmissionRange
SUMMARYANDDISCUSSION
HEARINGAIDFITTING
REFERENCES
PURPOSE
PROCEDURES
ThepurposeofthisstudywastoevaluatethetransmissionrangeoftheRogerPenandtheRogerClip-OnMicrophonesintwoconditions:insideandoutside.
Figure 1.HearingAid,Streamer/Receiver,andTransmitters.
HearingAid Streamer/Receiver
PhonakAudeoV90Receiver-in-the-Ear
RogerPen
ComPilotII&
Rogerreceiver
Researcher1woreHAs
WirelessAssistiveListeningDevices(ALDs)havehelpedindividualsimprovewordrecognitionbyincreasingthesignal-to-noiseratio(SNR).1 However,thesoundtransmissioncanbedependentonvariablesaffectingantennastrength.ThePhonakdigitalwirelesstransmittersknownastheRogerPenandRogerClip-OnMichavesensitivemicrophonearraysthataredesignedtoimprovetheSNRinnoisyenvironments.ManufacturerspecificationsstatethatthetypicaltransmissionrangeforaRogerPenandaRogerClip-OnMicis10meters/33feet.However,iftheRogermicrophoneandreceiversareinadirectlineofsight,therangemaybeupto20meters/66feet.2 Verificationoftherangescanhelpimprovefunctionalityofthedevicesinmanysettings,includingrestaurantsandclassrooms.
EQUIPMENT
• AparticipantwithnormalhearingwasfitwithapairofPhonakAudeoV90receiver-in-the-earhearingaid (RITEHAs)withlocalmicrophonesdisabledforstreaming.
• NAL-NL1gainandoutputtargetsweremetwithin3dBofaflat10-dBHLrepresentationofnormalhearingasverifiedwithaVerifitAudioscan HearingInstrumentFittingSystem.
• ElectroacousticmeasuresusingtheVerifitconfirmedHAswithinexpectationsfornormalfunctionbasedonANSIS3.22measurements.
RESULTSTransmissionrangefortheRogerPenandRogerClip-OnMicrophonesforindoorandoutdoorconditionsisshowninFigure3.TheaveragetransmissionrangewasgreaterfortheRogerPenscomparedtotheClip-OnMicrophonesbyfactorof2.36(outside)and1.94(inside).Withineachmicrophonetype,thetransmissionrangewasgreaterinsidecomparedtooutsideforthePen(1.51times)andClip-On(1.82times).
Clinicallysignificantdifferencesintransmissionrangewerefoundasafunctionofmicrophonetypeandthetestenvironment(insideoroutside).Thegreatesttransmissionrange(234feet)wasobtainedwiththeRogerPenintheinsidemeasurementcondition.Forcomparison,thereportedtransmissionrangeforaRogerinspiroisapproximately15meters/50feetforindoorsand50meters/170feetforoutdoors.3 Itispossiblethatthetransmissionrangeisimpactedbyobstructionsbetweenthetransmitterandreceiverwhenseparatedbymorethanapproximately20feet.AccordingtoPhonak,thismaybetheresultoftheirproprietary2.4GHzprotocolwhichaffectstransmissionthroughhumanbodiesorotherobstacles.4 Itwasobservedthatobstructionsbetweenthetransmitterandreceiver,suchasahandorhavingone’sbackturned,impactedthetransmissionrangeoftheClip-OnMicmorethanthePen.
Figure3.AveragetransmissionrangeforRogertechnology forinsideandoutsidetrials.
Transmitters
RogerClip-OnMic
Researcher2woretransmitters
Figure2.SetupfortestingRogertechnologytransmissionrange.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSSpecialthankstoPhonakforprovidingtheequipmentforthisresearchproject.
1. Spangler,C.(2014).Benefitsofintegratingwirelesstechnologywithhearinginstruments.SeminarsinHearing,35(3),246-256.DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.1055/s-0034-1383509.ISSN0734-0451
2. PhonakCommunications.(2014).RogerPenUserGuide(Pamphlet).Murten,Switzerland:PhonakCommunications.
3. PhonakCommunications.(2014).Rogerinspiro UserGuide(Pamphlet).Murten,Switzerland:PhonakCommunications.
4. PhonakCommunications.RogerTM PenSupport.RetrievedOctober13,2017fromhttps://www.phonakpro.com/us/en/support/product-support/wireless-accessories/roger-pen/faqs-roger-pen.html
Figure4. VariabilityintransmissionrangeacrossthreetrialsforthreeClip-OnandthreePenmicrophonesforinsidetrials.
AsshowninFigure4,transmissionrangemeasuredindoorsvariedacrossthreetrialsforthewirelesstechnology.ThetransmissionrangefortheClip-OnMicrangedfrom101feetto137feetandthePenvariedfrom210feetto234feet.Thevariabilitytrendsweresimilarfortheoutsidecondition.
