Introduction

Early intervention is crucial for the optimal speech and language development of children with impaired hearing. Underwater vibrostimulation could help develop behavioural reactions to low-frequency stimuli immediately after diagnosis and facilitate aural rehabilitation after hearing aid (HA) or cochlear implant (CI) activation.

Goals

To determine the limits of underwater vibrotactile stimuli perception and to measure the effect of vibrostimulation training on the aural rehabilitation of young children.

Methods

Two adults and three children with congenital hearing loss participated in the first part of the study. Pure tones between 100 and 4000 Hz and natural broadband sounds were delivered under water while the participants were sitting in a pool. The lower thresholds of perception and the maximum comfortable levels were measured and the subjective sensations were recorded. In the second part of the study, 15 children <3 years old were presented with the same stimuli until they developed stable conditioned reactions to the stimuli. The time until the development of “hearing behaviour” and the number of fitting sessions after HA or CI activation were compared between the vibrostimulation group and a control group who did not receive such training.

Results

In the first part of the study, participants were most sensitive to 100–400 Hz stimuli, while the stimuli >1000 Hz did not evoke any sensations. The vibrations were felt across all body parts and produced hearing-like sensations in the ear. In the second part of the study, children in the vibrostimulation group required fewer fitting sessions and developed “hearing behaviour” sooner than the control group.

Conclusions

Underwater vibrostimulation is a promising new method of early aural rehabilitation that could be recommended for implementation in paediatric audiology centres.

中文翻译：

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水下振动刺激对听力障碍儿童康复的益处

介绍

早期干预对于听力受损儿童的最佳言语和语言发展至关重要。水下振动刺激有助于在诊断后立即对低频刺激产生行为反应，并促进助听器 (HA) 或人工耳蜗 (CI) 激活后的听觉康复。

目标

确定水下振动触觉刺激感知的极限并测量振动刺激训练对幼儿听觉康复的影响。

方法

两名患有先天性听力损失的成人和三名儿童参加了研究的第一部分。当参与者坐在游泳池中时，100 到 4000 Hz 之间的纯音和自然宽带声音在水下传递。测量感知的下限和最大舒适度，并记录主观感觉。在研究的第二部分，15 名 3 岁以下的儿童接受相同的刺激，直到他们对刺激产生稳定的条件反应。比较振动刺激组和未接受此类训练的对照组之间“听力行为”发展的时间和 HA 或 CI 激活后的拟合次数。

结果

在研究的第一部分，参与者对 100-400 Hz 的刺激最敏感，而大于 1000 Hz 的刺激不会引起任何感觉。身体所有部位都能感受到振动，并在耳朵中产生类似听觉的感觉。在研究的第二部分，振动刺激组的儿童需要的试戴次数更少，并且比对照组更快地发展出“听力行为”。

结论

水下振动刺激是一种很有前景的早期听力康复新方法，可推荐在儿科听力中心实施。