# Open Source System for Audio Processing

> **NIH NIH R44** · CREARE, LLC · 2020 · $463,836

## Abstract

This proposal responds to RFA–DC-16-002, in which the NIDCD is seeking to support the development of
acoustic signal processing tools that have the potential to accelerate research studies and to facilitate the
translation of novel algorithms for hearing aids. Approximately 15% of American adults report some degree of
hearing trouble, and 12.7% of Americans aged 12 and over experience bilateral hearing loss (HL). The 2008
hearing aid industry survey MarkeTrack VIII reports that less than 1 in 10 people with mild hearing loss uses
amplification, while only 4 in 10 people with moderate-to-severe hearing loss use amplification, leaving still a
large swath of the hearing impaired population without rehabilitation. While the reasons for poor hearing aid
adoption are diverse and complex, out-of-pocket costs rank high as an issue to be addressed. And in fact, the
Senate Report Language for FY2013 appropriations “strongly urges NIDCD to support research grants that
could lead to less expensive hearing aids, so such aids could become accessible and affordable to more
people." As the lead federal agency promoting the nation’s hearing healthcare, NIDCD is actively seeking to
address accessibility from the public health perspective. Aside from cost, one of the primary barriers to
hearing aid adoption remains sound quality, and the sense that hearing aids are still not quite able to meet all
the needs of hearing impaired consumers.
Creare and its collaborators at Boys Town National Research Hospital (BTNRH) plan to develop and
disseminate an open-source audio processing platform to spur innovation in Hearing Aid (HA) research. The
result of this effort will be a user-friendly, portable, upgradable and wearable “master hearing aid” (MHA) that
will allow collaborative development and the open exchange of new processing algorithms within the broader
hearing research community, including both academia and industry. The hardware used in the MHA has an
open, published design architecture, using components currently available on the electronics market. We
envision three levels of users: (1) “expert” users implement and test new algorithms directly in firmware
through an interface that gives them access to the basic features of the hardware (audio input and output,
power management, housekeeping, etc.); (2) “developers” users interact at the software application
programming interface (API) level to modify parameters of the algorithms already implemented in firmware and
evaluate their performance in a variety of conditions; and (3) “professional” users have access to
“pre-programmed” algorithms with some degree of parameter control through a simple user interface, to test
the relative benefits of amplification variants available with the wearable master hearing aid.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9983692
- **Project number:** 5R44DC015445-05
- **Recipient organization:** CREARE, LLC
- **Principal Investigator:** ODILE H CLAVIER
- **Activity code:** R44 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $463,836
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2016-07-01 → 2023-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9983692

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9983692, Open Source System for Audio Processing (5R44DC015445-05). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9983692. Licensed CC0.

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