SBIR-STTR Award

Hearing Protection Devices (HPDs) can prevent occupational hearing loss among military and civilian personnel by reducing noise exposure, but only if properly fitted. Unfortunately, current best practice for testing an HPD’s fit is both time-consuming and labor-intensive. Traditionally, the only way to ensure proper fit of hearing protection is to perform a Real Ear Attenuation Threshold (REAT) test in an audiometric booth or using a testing-specific HPD. FTL’s “SonoPod” enables HPD fitment testing that meets the Acoustical Society of America national consensus standard for Field Attenuation Estimation Systems (FAES) and it is compatible with any commercial HPD. SonoPod applies emerging clinical test methods, speaker design, and room-correction algorithms to ensure reliable, repeatable, and efficient HPD fit-checks in a variety of environments. Additionally, SonoPod allows testing of multiple people simultaneously, and has been developed for rapid, continuous throughput of patients. This system enables rapid testing at the point-of-need, such as testing a large group of users as they file into a shooting range, for example. SonoPod can be field-calibrated for quantitative results in a variety of spaces, can work with any style and any manufacturer’s HPD, and can upload Personal Attenuation Ratings (PAR) results to health and safety records.

Hearing protection devices (HPD) can prevent occupational hearing loss among military and civilian personnel by reducing noise exposure, but only if properly fitted. Current best practice HPD fit testing is time and labor intensive, requiring a real ear attenuation threshold (REAT) test in an audiometric booth. While commercially available systems exist that can test subjects outside an audiometry booth, they are limited to testing one subject at a time. FTL Labs Corporation's SonoPod addresses this issue within the DoD by providing a portable fit-test system for hearing protection devices (HPDs) that can simultaneously test multiple people in a variety of settings. SonoPod applies emerging clinical test methods, speaker design, and room-correction algorithms to ensure reliable, repeatable, and efficient HPD fit checks in a variety of settings and noise landscapes. The system broadcasts test signals for scalable multi-person testing and receives user feedback on whether shared stimuli were heard. SonoPod also has a variety of options for presenting stimuli for settings that are too noisy or disruptive. SonoPod can be field-calibrated for quantitative results in a variety of spaces, can work with any style and any manufacturer’s HPD, and can provide Personal Attenuation Ratings (PAR) results that can viewed real time by a test proctor and uploaded to health and safety records. The technology, when implemented, will allow a significant enhancement in the U.S. Department of Defense’s and other OSHA compliant Hearing Conservation Programs by providing a method to quickly verify proper HPD fit in large groups of people as a daily routine task. In addition, SonoPod can be used by clinical audiologists to check hearing with individuals who can't use traditional audiologist headphones and to check OSHA related requirements on HPD fit at construction job sites and other loud workplaces.