METHOD FOR STUDYING PATIENTS WITH HEARING LOSS USING VIRTUAL REALITY TECHNOLOGY Russian patent published in 2020 - IPC A61F11/00 

FIELD: medicine.

SUBSTANCE: invention refers to medicine, namely to otorhinolaryngology and surdology. A method for investigating hearing-impaired patients using virtual reality techniques, involving evaluating speech, spatial and qualitative characteristics of hearing in a free sound field by feeding audio signals and analyzing response responses of the person being tested, characterized by that the examination is carried out in a computer audiovisual scenario using VR glasses and an acoustic system with four speakers mounted at distance of 1 m from the patient at angles 45°, 135°, 225°, 315° relative to its head, speech and nonverbal sound signals are used for analysis, which are transmitted through the speakers, the signals correspond to the audiovisual scenario and embrace high, medium and low frequency ranges, the study can be conducted in silence and background noise interference, loudness of the noise is controlled by the researcher, the sequence and orientation of the audio signals selects the computer program in chaotic order, the patient in the VR glasses determines the direction of the sound source by turning the head, after which VR glasses display visual reinforcement on the side of sound source, computer program coupled with VR glasses, automatically fixes the angle of rotation of the patient's head in degrees relative to the localization of the sound source using the method of determining the sign angle by three vectors: from test person to sound source, from the person being tested in the direction of view, normal vector to surface, speech sound signals are sent in the form of words that the person being tested should repeat, and questions to which the person being tested should respond, behavioral reactions to sound and verbal responses of the patient are recorded by recording on a web camera, examination can be performed several times to improve speech, spatial and qualitative characteristics of hearing, registration and storage of results of research in a computer program allows their evaluation in dynamics.

EFFECT: invention can be used in the process of investigating spatial and verbal hearing in patients with chronic sensorineural hearing loss, as well as for auditory training and rehabilitation after the procedure of hearing aids and cochlear implantation surgery.

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