Recruiting

Assistive Technology

Sponsor:

The University of Texas at Dallas

Code:

NCT06840015

Conditions

Hearing Loss, Adult-Onset

Hearing Aids

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 18 - 60

Healthy Volunteers: Accepted

Interventions

Airpod Pro as hearing assistive technology

Study Details

Brief summary:

The goal of this study is to investigate the suitability and effectiveness of the AirPod Pro 2nd and 3rd generation (AP) as hearing assistive technology for individuals with mild-to-moderate hearing loss when listening in noisy environments. Researchers will compare four types of assistive technology: hearing aids (HAs), AP, dedicated wireless remote microphones, and Smartphone wireless remote microphone.

The main questions it aims to answer are:

  • Which assistive technology provides the greatest benefit for speech recognition in noisy environments?
  • How do these devices impact listening effort, as measured by reaction time in a dual-task activity and changes in pupil size?
  • What are participants' preferences for each device based on how easy it is to understand speech and their overall satisfaction? Participants will visit the lab for a single 3-hour session. They will listen to sentences using each device and repeat what they hear. During this task, their reaction times for the secondary task and changes in pupil size will be measured.

Conditions

Hearing Loss, Adult-Onset

Hearing Aids

Study ID

NCT06840015

Start date

Jul 1, 2025

Status verified date

Mar, 2026

Completion date

Dec 18, 2026

Anticipated

Primary completion date

Dec 18, 2026

Anticipated

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 18 - 60

Healthy Volunteers: Accepted

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Adults aged 18 to 60 years.
  • Fluent English speakers.
  • Mild-to-moderate hearing loss confirmed by a pure-tone hearing test (average hearing threshold screening 25 to 55 dB HL across octave frequencies from 250 to 8000 Hz).
  • Individuals with no prior hearing aid experience for a year.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Normal hearing.
  • Hearing loss worse than moderate.
  • Neurological, psychiatric, or ophthalmological conditions that might alter the pupil response.
  • Non-fluent English speakers.
  • Individuals with prior hearing aid experience more than a year.

Study Design

Enrollment

24 participants

Anticipated

Intervention Model

Single group

Primary purpose

Treatment

Interventions and Outcome Measures

Arms

experimental: Treatment group

AP, HA, ... (Randomized)

Interventions

Airpod Pro as hearing assistive technology

All participants will use and evaluate four types of assistive technology: hearing aids, Airpod pro 2nd and 3rd generation, dedicated wireless remote microphones, and Smartphone wireless remote microphone.

Primary outcome measure

  • Speech recognition threshold at 70.7% [ Time Frame: The measurement will be conducted immediately following the intervention within the 2-hour single session. ]
  • Reponse time of secondary working memory task [ Time Frame: The measurement will be conducted immediately following the intervention within the 2-hour single session. ]
  • Pupil diameter [ Time Frame: The measurement will be conducted immediately following the intervention within the 2-hour single session. ]
  • Questionnaire [ Time Frame: The measurement will be conducted immediately following the intervention within the 2-hour single session. ]

Central Contacts and Locations

Central contacts

Linda Thibodeau, Ph.D.

972-883-3108thib@utdallas.edu

Seeon Kim, Ph.D.

4806164403Seeon.Kim@utdallas.edu

Locations

Callier Center for Communication Disorders

Recruiting

Richardson, Texas, United States, 75080

Contacts

Kim, Ph.D.

480-616-4403Seeon.Kim@utdallas.edu

Principal Investigator:

Linda Thibodeau, Ph.D.

More Information

Sponsor

The University of Texas at Dallas

Last update posted

Aug 10, 2026

Last verified

Mar, 2026

Keywords

  • AirPod Pro (AP)
  • Hearing Aids
  • Hearing Loss

Trial information was received from ClinicalTrials.gov and was last updated on 2026-09-10. This information was provided to ClinicalTrials.gov by The University of Texas at Dallas on 2026-08-10.