The project will develop a practical high-current, wide-bandwidth, current-mode driver amplifier for induction loop assistive listening systems. The proposed driver will help make loop systems more common by simplifying installation and improving intelligibility for listeners. The improvements will make it practical to install loop systems in places where they now are not feasible, improving communications with people who wear hearing aids equipped with telephone pickup coils. The driver will work with loop assistive listening systems and components from any manufacturer. The driver will eliminate two specific problems that make conventional voltage-mode driver loop systems expensive to install and often limit their bandwidth and intelligibility. The driver will employ recent innovations in high-frequency switching power converters, which now make it practical to design an economical current-mode driver for this application. In Phase I, two protoytype vesrions of the basic driver will be designed, built, and tested: one for portable or fixed loops up to 10 meters across, the other for fixed loops up to 40 meters across. Both prototypes will be tested to verify that the proposed design actually solves the two major problems that hamper system installation with voltage-mode drivers.
Thesaurus Terms:bioengineering /biomedical engineering, biomedical engineering, biomedical equipment development, hearing aid, telecommunication auditory discrimination, clinical biomedical equipment, infrared radiation, magnetism, sound frequencyNational Center for Research Resources (NCRR)
