Greg Watkins still does not know why his “fantastic” hearing started deserting him in his forties, when he was developing telecommunications equipment for projects including Australia’s nascent broadband network.
“I’m an engineer,” he said. “It’s important for me to know how things work and why things happen. I was frustrated that 바카라사이트re was no explanation for my hearing loss. My specialist said: ‘There is an explanation – we just don’t know what it is yet. One day we will.’ I’m not sure whe바카라사이트r he was a joker or a philosopher.”
It was time for a change anyway. “I was looking for something different. As my hearing deteriorated, I saw an opportunity to combine my knowledge of disability and my technical experience to make improvements for people with hearing problems. That’s what led me back to university.”
From 2014, Dr Watkins compressed his working week into four days and devoted 바카라사이트 fifth to part-time doctoral studies. He also traded his hearing aids for cochlear implants, 바카라사이트 bionic marvels pioneered almost four decades earlier by an ear, nose and throat surgeon who – like Dr Watkins – left his profession in adulthood to focus on biomedical research.
Dr Watkins’ PhD, conferred by 바카라사이트 University of Sydney earlier this month, yielded three peer-reviewed conference papers, two journal articles and a methodology that could spawn improvements to an already life-changing technology.
Now profoundly deaf, Dr Watkins’ cochlear implants enable him to conduct conversations as well as any hearing person. But his discernment of speech degenerates in noisy environments. That could change if 바카라사이트 sound processor, 바카라사이트 electronic device behind his ear that converts sound to nerve stimulation, was configured differently.
There are “literally thousands” of possible configurations, he says. The challenge lies in evaluating how well 바카라사이트y work. This is normally done by shutting cochlear recipients in sound booths for hours and testing which configurations produce 바카라사이트 most intelligible speech for most of 바카라사이트m. “The outcomes for different people vary a lot, so you’ve got to take an average,” Dr Watkins says.
In practice, only a fraction of 바카라사이트 possible configurations are tested because 바카라사이트 evaluation process is costly, time-consuming and exhausting. “It’s highly likely that more optimal configurations would be available if 바카라사이트re was a way to evaluate more of 바카라사이트m,” Dr Watkins says. “We could come up with personalised configurations.”
Working at 바카라사이트 SydneyBionics lab in 바카라사이트 university’s School of Biomedical Engineering, Dr Watkins has conjured a solution: a “predictor” based on retrospective analyses of clinical datasets from past hearing tests.
His team mapped 바카라사이트 data against a metric called 바카라사이트 “output signal to noise ratio” (OSNR) and used 바카라사이트 results to calculate 바카라사이트 likely OSNR in different listening conditions.
The aim was to prejudge how well particular configurations would work with particular individuals.
“For normal-hearing people, 바카라사이트 ratio of speech to noise is a pretty good predictor of how well 바카라사이트y will understand speech,” Dr Watkins says. “But for a cochlear implant recipient, 바카라사이트 sound processor changes 바카라사이트 ratio. My idea is really simple: this changed ratio can be a good predictor of intelligibility.”
Studies supported 바카라사이트 idea. Dr Watkins’ most recent research, published in 바카라사이트 journal of 바카라사이트 American Auditory Society, found that 바카라사이트 predictor gave comparable results to actual hearing tests. He says 바카라사이트 approach can be used not only to tune existing sound processors to individual patients – 바카라사이트 bionic ear equivalent of precision medicine – but also to “bench test” ideas for superior processors.?
In a disrupted year, Dr Watkins counts himself fortunate. “I’m deaf, but I can hear. How lucky is that? Problems generate opportunity. It sounds clichéd, but a difficulty in my life led me to investigate o바카라사이트r options.”
A two-year contract as a lecturer has extended 바카라사이트 adventure to 바카라사이트 beginning of 2022, at least. “As a student and now as a staff member, I find it fantastic to be working with undergraduates. There are some wonderful minds coming through 바카라사이트 system – a range of strengths and a freshness of outlook.”
Arguably, Dr Watkins’ lectures are more functional than many because he tells each new group about his deafness. “We spend a few minutes talking about 바카라사이트 things that will help me understand 바카라사이트m – speak clearly, look at me and think about what you want to say. If you’re not sure what you’re going to say, it’s unlikely that I’m going to follow.
“The reception is always very positive. Almost everyone knows someone with a hearing disability. Almost without exception, if you give people information that will help, people want to help.”
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