Hearing Protection and Communication in an Age of Digital Signal Processing: Progress and Prospects

Details

• Personal Author:
  Bernstein ER ; Brammer, A. J. ; Cherniack, Martin G. ; Peterson, D. R. ; Yu G
• Description:
  The analog active noise control (ANC) technology of the 1980s-90s enabled the development of commercial, circumaural, hearing protection devices (HPDs) that are effective in reducing low-frequency environmental noise and, in many cases, in improving speech intelligibility within a built-in communication channel. The technology did little, however, to restore the user's loss of contact with the environment external to the HPD, most often evidenced by a reduction in the audibility of speech and warning sounds, as well as a reduction in the ability to localize sounds (Abel et al. 1997). Some current commercial HPDs address these issues with various forms of feedthrough electro-acoustic devices incorporated into the HPD, most of which reproduce the environmental noise at the ear under some conditions. Initial evaluations of the effectiveness of such devices in quiet are encouraging (Abel et al. 2007). The advent of inexpensive, high-performance, micro-miniature, digital signal processors has rekindled interest in the development of advanced signal processing schemes for application to HPDs. The combination of signal processing and sound field sensing are believed to hold promise for improving noise reduction and speech intelligibility in environmental noise (Davis 2002; Hornsby et al. 2001). The technology is most advanced for hearing aids (Chung 2004): its applicability to HPDs remains to be established (Chung 2007). In this paper, the consequences of simultaneously applying ANC and digital signal processing to an HPD are considered. The performance of an HPD equipped with ANC is first described, and a basis provided for the attenuation observed. The influence of the structure of the control system on performance is stressed, and employed to introduce the expected and observed results for devices equipped with digital ANC systems. The approach provides an introduction to the more complex processing schemes that may be expected to evolve in the future. The discussion does not distinguish between an earmuff and earplug unless the effects are different. Accordingly, the source producing cancelling sound will be referred to throughout as a "loudspeaker", although for earplugs it should be considered to be an earphone. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Communication Hearing Noise Noise, Occupational Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Communication Research Hearing Protection Noise Exposure Signal Devices Warning Signals
• ISBN:
  9783980834254
• Publisher:
  Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Proceedings
• Place as Subject:
  Connecticut ; OSHA Region 1
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  220-227
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20058850
• Citation:
  ICBEN 2008: 9th Congress of the International Commission on the Biological Effects of Noise. Noise as a Public Health Problem, July 21-25, 2008, Mashantucket, Connecticut. Griefahn B ed. Dortmund, Germany: Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors, 2008 Jul; :220-227
• Email:
  anthonybrammer@hotmail.com
• Editor(s):
  Griefahn B
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2008
• NORA Priority Area:
  Construction ; Manufacturing
• Performing Organization:
  University of Connecticut School of Medicine and Denistry, Farmington, Connecticut
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  20060801
• Source Full Name:
  ICBEN 2008: 9th Congress of the International Commission on the Biological Effects of Noise. Noise as a Public Health Problem, July 21-25, 2008, Mashantucket, Connecticu
• End Date:
  20120731
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:c5c1fbf74b40a6982cedfcc7b288dc04855cac6de0bac301c454154b97dba2cb77574a7e21b37041c47e5cd7dde3024e6928fe7275dc00ba5e472ca75b02748a
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/223235/cdc_223235_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 288.52 KB ]