# Smartphone-Based Open Research Platform for Hearing Improvement Studies

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS DALLAS · 2020 · $368,918

## Abstract

Smartphone-Based Open Research Platform for Hearing Improvement Studies
Summary:
Many advanced algorithms have been and are being developed in research labs to improve hearing of those
suffering from hearing loss as part of the signal processing pipelines in hearing devices including hearing aids,
cochlear implants, and sound amplifiers. Although there exist proprietary programmable platforms by hearing
device companies, currently there exists no open source, programmable and portable platform that allows
researchers to easily explore, run, and carry out clinical studies of research algorithms towards improving
users’ hearing. The objective of this project is to provide such an open source and mobile research platform
thus enabling seamless evaluation of research algorithms towards enhancing hearing of those suffering from
hearing loss. The successful completion of this project would have a significant impact on the deployment of
advanced signal processing algorithms in future generations of hearing devices as it places a programmable,
portable, flexible, and affordable research platform in the hands of researchers, audiologists, industry R&D
centers, and educators to test new/existing algorithms in realistic sound environments. As illustrated in the
figure shown, the proposed open source platform is based on smartphones or similar ARM-based mobile
devices that nearly all users already possess. Our approach involves the development of software shells to
run hearing algorithms, written in MATLAB or C, on the smartphone platform in real-time as apps in a
seamless and easy-to-use way. The outcome of this project will include: (1) a user’s guide of the proposed
open source platform describing a number of easy steps to take in order to run a research algorithm written in
MATLAB or C on a smartphone (both Android and iPhone) in real-time, (2) a public website where a repository
or library of representative speech processing algorithms source codes that go into a hearing device are
provided which can be run in real-time on smartphones, and (3) a document discussing how clinical
evaluations of these repository of representative research algorithms are conducted to provide a framework for
carrying out clinical evaluation of any research algorithm. An indication of the broad impact of the proposed
project is the support letters that our research team has received in response to the goals of this project
(Starkey and Zounds Hearing companies, andthe audiologists at Dallas Ear Institute and Family Audiology).

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9966941
- **Project number:** 5R01DC015430-05
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS DALLAS
- **Principal Investigator:** Issa Panahi
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $368,918
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2016-07-01 → 2023-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9966941

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9966941, Smartphone-Based Open Research Platform for Hearing Improvement Studies (5R01DC015430-05). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9966941. Licensed CC0.

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