More Than 95 Percent of Individuals Evaluated in University Studies with Siemens TRIANO™ Hearing Instruments Understand Speech in Noisy Environments as well as College Students with Normal Hearing
PISCATAWAY, N.J., July 2003 - Siemens Hearing Instruments announced today that over 95 percent of the individuals with hearing loss tested in the company's TRIANO™ hearing instrument clinical trials, understood speech in noisy situations within the range of normal hearing individuals ages 18 - 29 years old. The research, conducted at the University of Iowa and University of Pittsburgh, used the HINT (Hearing In Noise Test) to examine speech understanding in challenging, noisy environments.
Thomas Powers, Ph.D., Siemens director of Audiology and Strategic Development said, "This is extremely encouraging news for the millions of people suffering from hearing loss who have problems understanding speech in difficult listening environments. In fact, when using TRIANO hearing instruments, older individuals with significant hearing loss understood speech in environments with background noise as well as younger college students with normal hearing."
"Before the final analysis of our clinical trial results, we did not anticipate the magnitude of the improvement TRIANO could provide. Prior studies within the hearing aid industry have compared advanced digital products to less advanced products, which is like comparing a typewriter to a desktop computer," said William Lankenau, CEO and president of Siemens Hearing Instruments. "Our research compared the performance of individuals wearing TRIANO to individuals with normal hearing in the same demanding listening environment. This result will help prove just how beneficial wearing hearing instruments can be."
In the TRIANO research conducted at university sites, the participants were surrounded by noise, creating a very difficult listening situation. The participants tested were required to repeat sentences heard in the presence of competing multi-talker background noise. The background noise was specifically selected to be similar to the noise heard in restaurants and at loud parties.
At both of the University research sites, normal hearing college students (age range 18 to 29 years old) were tested to establish a "gold standard" for performance on the HINT. These results were then compared to results from study participants consisting of a large sample of older adults (average age of 62 years old) with mild-to-moderate sensorineural hearing loss.
When the "speech-in-noise understanding" score for the two different groups was averaged, statistical analysis revealed that the older individuals with hearing loss, wearing the Siemens TRIANO hearing instruments performed as well as the younger college students with normal hearing. Moreover, not only were average values similar, but 95 percent of the hearing impaired older individuals performed within the range of normal. The TRIANO hearing instruments with adaptive and automatic directional microphone system are available using either TwinMic™ or TriMic™ (only available on the TRIANO 3 BTE). The individuals with hearing loss were tested using both designs. The performance was somewhat higher for TriMic, but even with TwinMic the "speech-in-noise understanding" performance equaled that of the younger listeners.
For more information on TRIANO hearing instruments, please call a Siemens Sales Representative at (800) 766 - 4500.
About Siemens
Siemens AG (NYSE: SI), headquartered in Munich, is a leading global electronics and engineering company. Siemens and its subsidiaries employ 426,000 people in 190 countries and reported worldwide sales of $77.8 billion in fiscal 2002 (10/1/01 - 9/30/02). The United States is Siemens' largest market in the world, with 11 of Siemens' worldwide businesses headquartered here and annual sales of $21.5 billion in fiscal 2002. The Siemens companies in the U.S. employ approximately 70,000 people in all 50 states and Puerto Rico. Corporate headquarters for Siemens' U.S. businesses are located in New York City. For more information: www.usa.siemens.com.
Headquartered in Piscataway, New Jersey, Siemens Hearing Instruments, Inc. is one of Siemens' operating companies in the United States. Siemens Hearing Instruments designs, engineers and manufactures advanced digital, basic digital, digitally programmable, and advanced conventional hearing instruments in all custom (In-the-Canal, In-the-Ear, and Completely-in-the-Canal) and Behind-the-Ear (BTE) models. Visit www.siemens-hearing.com for more information.
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