Auditory fatigue models for prediction of gradually developed noise induced hearing loss

Existing noise metrics and modeling for noise induced hearing loss (NIHL) have limitations on prediction of gradually developing NIHL (GDHL) caused by high-level occupational noise. In this study, two auditory fatigue models have been proposed for prediction of GDHL in human. The generalized mammalian auditory model incorporating dual resonant nonlinear (DRNL) filter is used to obtain the velocity distribution on basilar membrane (BM). The velocities of BM as the input loads quantitatively reflect the mechanical fatigue failure of organ of Corti. In addition, experimental human hearing loss data are used to validate the effectiveness of the proposed auditory fatigue models. The regression analysis results show that both auditory fatigue models demonstrate high correlations with human hearing loss data.

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