About this Research Topic

Background

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 466 hundred million people worldwide suffer from hearing loss and the number is expected to double by 2050. As technologies advance, especially in digital communication, consumer electronics and machine learning, diagnosis and treatment of hearing loss will evolve rapidly not only to improve current hearing healthcare and service delivery but also to address the unmet and growing needs in tele-audiology and tele-rehabilitation. This trend has further gained momentum through the COVID-19 pandemic, which has led to an increased need to collect data remotely and could lead to further automation in the clinical pathway as well as to more direct interaction between the end-user and his or her assistive technology.

“The use and scale up of digital health solutions can revolutionize how people worldwide achieve higher standards of health, and access services to promote and protect their health and well-being.” - WHO.
The Topic Editors welcome all contributions focusing on the intersection of hearing research and digital health. This Research Topic aims to provide a platform for presenting original research, case reports, perspectives and opinions, (mini) reviews in digital hearing healthcare and related areas.

Topics of interest to this Research Topic include but are not limited to:

o The use of consumer electronics (e.g., mobile phones, earphones, and other wearable devices) in hearing-related applications.
o Internet, 5G, and wireless solutions for hearing healthcare.
o Artificial intelligence and its applications in hearing healthcare.
o Data mining of audiological data and other sources of data that would influence hearing.
o The computational infrastructure and standards needed to scale up to large user groups/datasets.
o Over-the-counter (OTC) hearing aids and self-fitting procedures.
o Stimulation techniques, signal processing methods, and simulation models used in assisted-hearing devices.
o Diagnostic techniques for pathologies in the auditory pathway.
o Applied neuroscience for hearing healthcare.
o Acoustic studies on listening environments best suited for speech communication in hearing-impaired individuals or on hearing protection.
o Hearing Healthcare for Children - especially digital fitting methods of hearing assistive devices for children
o Affordability and market penetration of assisted-hearing devices, such as hearing aids and cochlear implants, particularly in developing countries.
o Digital education and augmentation for hearing clinicians and researchers.


This collection is being organized in partnership with VCCA2020, the first conference on computational audiology. VCCA2020 participants are welcomed to contribute to this Research Topic.

We would like to acknowledge VCCA2020-Organizer Jan-Willem Wasmann, who has acted as coordinator and has contributed to the preparation of the proposal for this Research Topic.

Dr. Qinglin Meng is working on an audio project for Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. Dr. Jing Chen is working on research projects with Sonova AG. Dr. Fan-Gang Zeng owns stock in Axonics, Nurotron, Syntiant, Velox and Xsense. Dr. Dennis Barbour founded and owns equity in Bonauria. All other Topic Editor declare no conflicts of interest.

Keywords: tele-audiology, machine learning audiology, OTC hearing aids, hearing apps, aural rehabilitation, audiology

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.

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