A Novel Treatment for Hyperacusis: Overcoming the limits of traditional hearing aids

Presented by David Eddins, PhD

Professor, Departments of Communication Sciences & Disorders and Chemical & Biomedical Engineering, University of South Florida

Co-director of the Auditory and Speech Science Laboratory

Learning Objectives

1. Describe the primary components of hyperacusis.
2. Understand the bases of treatment of hyperacusis.
3. Evaluate the novel treatment protocol under development.

Successful treatment of hyperacusis is one of the most formidable challenges for audiologists, as patients most often focus on sound avoidance rather than healthy sound exposure.  We will describe a novel treatment device and an adaptive treatment protocol that overcomes many of the barriers to successful treatment of hyperacusis and the limitations of traditional hearing aids when treating hyperacusis.

Dr. David A. Eddins is a Professor in the Departments of Communication Sciences and Disorders and Chemical and Biomedical Engineering at the University of South Florida and co-directs the Auditory & Speech Sciences Laboratory. His research interests include development and evaluation of hearing enhancement technologies, auditory and speech perception as they relate the processing of underlying acoustic features, the listening, aging, hearing loss, and voice pathology. His research is funded by the NIH NIA and NIDCD, the U.S. Department of Defense, and industry collaborators.