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Qian-Jie Fu, Ph.D.
Scientist II and Section Chief

Section on Speech Technology and Hearing Research

email: qfu@hei.org
EDUCATION:
  • 1997: Ph.D., Department of Biomedical Engineering; University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California
  • 1994: M.S., Department of Electrical Engineering; University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui, P. R. China
  • 1991: B.S., Department of Electrical Engineering; University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui, P. R. China

 

PRINCIPAL POSITIONS HELD:

  • 2002-: Research Associate Professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering ; University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA
  • 2001-: Section Chief, Speech Technology and Hearing Research ; House Ear Institute, Los Angeles, CA
  • 2001-: Scientist II, Department of Auditory Implants and Perception; House Ear Institute, Los Angeles, CA
  • 1998-2001: Scientist I, Department of Auditory Implants and Perception; House Ear Institute, Los Angeles, CA
  • 1996-1998: Research Associate, Department of Auditory Implants and Perception; House Ear Institute, Los Angeles, CA

 

HONORS AND AWARDS:

  • 2001-2006: NIDCD R01-DC04993 Grant: “Speech Pattern Recognition in Electric Hearing”, 7/1/2001-6/30/2006, $1,551,799 Total Costs, Qian-Jie Fu, P.I.
  • 2001-2006: NIDCD R01-DC04792 Grant: “Effects of Training on Adult Cochlear Implant Users”, 5/1/2001-4/30/2006, $1,568,415 Total Costs, Qian-Jie Fu, P.I.
  • 1998-2002: NIDCD R03-DC03861 Grant: “Speech Pattern Recognition in Electric Hearing”, 8/1/1998-7/31/2002, $163,034 Total Costs, Qian-Jie Fu, P.I.


RESEARCH PROJECT:

  • NIDCD R01 DC04792: Effects of Training on Adult Cochlear Implant Users: Summary. The long-term goal of the proposed study is to develop assessment and training strategies that maximize speech recognition in adults and children fitted with a cochlear implant (Cl). This study will focus on adult Cl users with lower than average (poor) speech recognition skills. It will capitalize on the benefits of a combined behavioral and neurophysiological approach to characterize psychophysical and speech recognition skills and construct individualized training strategies. The hypothesis of this study is that the discrimination abilities of simple and complex stimuli can be improved by intensive training. Therefore, we predict that a Cl user with poor speech recognition can significantly benefit from intensive psychophysical and speech training. We further hypothesize that neurophysiological measures of central auditory system activity [e.g., the mismatch negativity (MMN) and P3a], can be used to first assess potential discrimination abilities prior to training, then guide and monitor the effects of training.
     
  • NIDCD R01 DC04993: Speech Pattern Recognition in Electric Hearing: Summary. The long-term goal of this research is to understand the mechanisms involved in speech pattern recognition by the electrically stimulated auditory system, and further, the plasticity of the auditory cortex. The present proposal will address three fundamental questions of speech perception in electric hearing: 1) How are the electrically evoked peripheral neural patterns of speech affected by parametric variations of the speech processor? 2) How are the central speech pattern templates reshaped by new peripheral neural patterns? 3) What are the causes of the high variability in speech performance among cochlear implant patients? The hypothesis of this research is that speech recognition in electric hearing is primarily based on a similarity measure between electrically evoked peripheral neural discharge patterns and central speech pattern templates. Based on patients’ experience with the implant device, central speech pattern templates can accommodate new peripheral neural patterns, to some degree. We further hypothesize that a deficit in auditory resolution (temporal and/or spectral) can remarkably reduce cochlear implant users’ capabilities in speech pattern recognition. The high variability of speech performance among cochlear implant users is largely due to a deficit in the auditory resolution of the individual patient, as well as the mismatch between the peripheral neural patterns and central speech pattern templates.

 

PEER-REVIEWED PUBLICATIONS:

  • Fu, Q.-J. (2005). “Loudness Growth in Cochlear Implants: Effect of Stimulation Rate and Electrode Location,” Hearing Research, 202, 55-62.
  • Fu, Q.-J., Galvin, J.J., III, Wang, X. and Nogaki, G. (2005). “Moderate auditory training can improve speech performance of adult cochlear implant users,” Acoustics Research Letters Online 6(3), 106-111.
  • Fu, Q.-J. and Nogaki, G. (2005). “Noise susceptibility of cochlear implant users: the role of spectral resolution and smearing,” Journal of the Association for Research in Otolaryngology 6(1), 19-27.
  • Fu, Q.-J., Nogaki, G., and Galvin, J.J., III (2005). “Auditory training with spectrally shifted speech: an implication for cochlear implant users’ auditory rehabilitation,” Journal of the Association for Research in Otolaryngology 6(2), 180-189.
  • Fu, Q.-J., Chinchilla, S., Nogaki, G., and Galvin, J.J., III (2005). “Voice gender discrimination: the role of periodicity and spectral profile,” Journal of Acoustical Society of America, in press.
  • Galvin, J.J. III and Fu, Q.-J. (2005). “Effects of stimulation rate, mode, and levels on modulation detection by cochlear implant users,” Journal of the Association for Research in Otolaryngology, in press.
  • Jiang, H. and Fu, Q.-J. (2005). “Statistical noise compensation for cochlear implant processing,” 9th European Conference on Speech Communication and Technology, Lisbon, Portugal, September 2005.
  • Liu, C.-P, and Fu, Q.-J. (2005). “Relating the acoustic space of vowels the perceptual space in cochlear implant simulations,” Proceedings of 2005 IEEE International Conference on Acoustics, Speech, and Signal Processing III, 33-36.
  • Luo, X. and Fu, Q.-J. (2005). “Speaker Normalization for Chinese Vowel Recognition in Cochlear Implants,” IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering, July 2005, in press.
  • Luo, X. and Fu, Q.-J. (2005). “Enhancing Chinese Speech Recognition for Cochlear Implant Users by Using Hearing Aid in the Contralateral Ear”, Beijing Biomedical Engineering, in press.
  • Luo, X. and Fu, Q.-J. (2005). “Contributions of periodicity fluctuation cues in individual frequency channels to Chinese speech recognition,” Technical Acoustics, in press.
  • Yang, L.-P. and Fu, Q.-J. (2005). “Spectral subtraction based speech enhancement for cochlear implant patients in background noise,” Journal of Acoustical Society of America 117(3), 1001-1005.
  • Fu, Q.-J., Hsu, C.-J. and Horng, M.-J. (2004). “Effects of speech processing strategy on Chinese tone recognition by nucleus-24 cochlear implant patients,” Ear and Hearing 25(5), 501-508.
  • Fu, Q.-J., Chinchilla, S. and Galvin, J.J. (2004). “Voice gender discrimination and vowel recognition in normal-hearing and cochlear implant users,” Journal of the Association for Research in Otolaryngology 5 , 253-260.
  • Luo, X. and Fu, Q.-J. (2004). “Contributions of periodicity fluctuation cues in individual frequency channels to Chinese speech recognition,” in Proc. Int. Symposium Chinese Spoken Lang. Processing (ISCSLP), vol. 1, pp. 133-136
  • Luo, X. and Fu, Q.-J. (2004). “Importance of pitch and periodicity to Chinese-speaking cochlear implant patients,” Proceedings of 2004 IEEE International Conference on Acoustics, Speech, and Signal Processing, IV 1-4.
  • Luo, X. and Fu, Q.-J. (2004). “Enhancing Chinese tone recognition by manipulating amplitude contour: Implications for cochlear implants,” Journal of Acoustical Society of America 116(6), 3659-3667.
  • Shannon , R.V., Fu, Q.-J. and Galvin, J.J. III (2004). “The number of spectral channels required for speech recognition depends on the difficulty of the listening situation,” Acta Otolaryngol Suppl 552: 50-54.
  • Fu, Q.-J. and Galvin, J.J., III (2003). “The effects of short-term training for spectrally mismatched noise-band speech,” Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 113(2), 1065-1072.
  • Fu, Q.-J. (2002). “Temporal processing and speech recognition in cochlear implant users,” Neuroreport 13(13), 1635-1640.
  • Fu, Q.-J., Shannon, R.V., and Galvin, J.J., III (2002). “Perceptual learning following changes in the frequency-to-electrode assignment with the Nucleus-22 cochlear implant,” Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 112(4), 1664-1674.
  • Fu, Q.-J. and Shannon, R.V. (2002). “Frequency mapping in cochlear implants,” Ear and Hearing 23(4), 339-348.
  • Fu, Q.-J. and Galvin, J.J., III (2001). “Spectrally asynchronous speech recognition by normal-hearing listeners and Nucleus-22 cochlear implant users,” Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 109(3), 1166-1172.
  • Fu, Q.-J., Galvin, J.J., III, and Wang, X. (2001). “Time-altered sentence recognition by normal-hearing and Nucleus-22 cochlear implant listeners,” Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 109(1), 379-384.
  • Fu, Q.-J., and Zeng, F.-G. (2000). “Effects of envelope cues on Mandarin Chinese tone recognition,” Asia-Pacific Journal of Speech, Language and Hearing, 5(1), 45-57.
  • Fu, Q.-J. and Shannon, R.V. (2000). “Effects of dynamic range and amplitude mapping on phoneme recognition in Nuclues-22 cochlear implant users,” Ear and Hearing 21(3), 227-235.
  • Fu, Q.-J. and Shannon, R.V. (2000). “Effects of stimulation rate on phoneme recognition in cochlear implant users,” Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 107(1), 589-597.
  • Zeng, F.-G., Fu, Q.-J., and Morse, R.P. (2000). “Human hearing enhanced by noise,” Brain Research 869, 251-255.
  • Hsu, C.-J., Horng, M.-J., and Fu, Q.-J. (2000). “Effects of the number of active electrodes on tone and speech perception by Nucleus-22 cochlear implant users with the SPEAK strategy,” Adv Otorhinolaryngol. 57, 257-259.
  • Chatterjee, M., Fu, Q.-J., and Shannon, R.V. (2000). “Effects of phase duration and electrode separation on loudness growth in cochlear implant listeners,” Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 107(3), 1637-1644.
  • Fu, Q.-J. and Shannon, R.V (1999). “Recognition of spectrally degraded and frequency shifted vowels in acoustic and electric hearing,” Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 105(3), 1889-1900.
  • Fu, Q.-J. and Shannon, R.V. (1999). “Recognition of spectrally degraded speech in noise with nonlinear amplitude mapping,” Proceedings of 1999 IEEE International Conference on Acoustics, Speech, and Signal Processing, Vol. 1, 369-372.
  • Fu, Q.-J. and Shannon, R.V (1999). “Phoneme recognition by cochlear implant users as a function of signal-to-noise ratio and nonlinear amplitude mapping,” Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 106(2), L18-L23.
  • Fu, Q.-J. and Shannon, R.V. (1999). “Effects of electrode location and spacing on speech recognition with the Nucleus-22 cochlear implant,” Ear and Hearing 20(4), 321-331.
  • Fu, Q.-J. and Shannon, R.V (1999). “Effects of electrode configuration and frequency allocation on vowel recognition with the Nucleus 22 cochlear implant,” Ear and Hearing 20(4), 332-344.
  • Fu, Q.-J. and Shannon, R.V. (1999). “Effects of acoustic dynamic range on phoneme recognition in quiet and noise by cochlear implant listeners,” Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 106(6), L65-L70.
  • Fu, Q.-J., Zeng, F.-G., Shannon, R.V., and Soli, S.D. (1998). “Importance of tonal envelope cues in Chinese speech recognition,” Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 104(1), 505-510.
  • Fu, Q.-J., Shannon, R.V., and Wang, X. (1998). “Effects of noise and number of channels on vowel and consonant recognition: Acoustic and electric hearing, Journal of the Acoustical Society of America,” 104(6), 3586-3596.
  • Fu, Q.-J. and Shannon, R.V. (1998). “Effects of amplitude nonlinearity on phoneme recognition by cochlear implant users and normal-hearing listeners,” Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 104(5), 2570-2577.
  • Chatterjee, M., Fu, Q.-J., and Shannon, R.V. (1998). “Within-channel gap detection using dissimilar markers in cochlear implant listeners,” Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 103(5), 2515-2519.
  • Xia D. and Fu Q.-J. (1993). “Pitch Extraction Based on Auditory Model,” Acta Biophysica Sinica 9(1), 113-118.
  • Wang R.-H., Fu Q.-J., and Xia D. (1992). “Design of a Cochlear Filter,” Acta Biophysica Sinica 8(4), 610-615.
  • Wang R.-H., Xia D., and Fu Q.-J. (1991). “A Computational Model for the Peripheral Auditory System,” Acta Biophysica Sinica 7(4), 436-441.

 

 

NON-PEER-REVIEWED PUBLICATIONS:

  • Chang, Y.-P. and Fu, Q.-J. (2005). “Effects of talker variability in cochlear implants,” 9th Annual Proceedings of the Fred S. Grodins Graduate Research Symposium, 46-47.
  • Li, T. and Fu, Q.-J. (2005). “Adaptation to spectrally shifted speech: supervising learning or non-supervising learning,” 9th Annual Proceedings of the Fred S. Grodins Graduate Research Symposium, 80-81.
  • Shannon , R.V., Fu, Q.-J., Zeng, F.-G. and Wygonski, J. (2005). "Prosthetic Hearing: Implications for Pattern Recognition in Speech", Chapter 18 in "Listening to Speech: An Auditory Perspective", S. Greenberg and W. Ainsworth (Eds.), Lawrence Erlbaum Assoc., New jersey, pp 289-301.
  • Fu, Q.-J., Galvin, J.J., III, Wang, X. and Nogaki, G. (2004). “Effects of auditory training on adult cochlear implant patients: a preliminary report,” Cochlear Implant International Volume 5, Supplement 1, 84-90.
  • Hsu, C.-J., Shiao, S.-H., Chen, Y.-S., Horng, M.-J., and Fu, Q.-J. (2004), “Effects of speech-coding strategies on speech perception performance in Mandarin-speaking children with Nucleus-24 cochlear implants,” Cochlear Implant International Volume 5, Supplement 1, 44-45.
  • Shannon R.V., Fu Q.-J., Galvin JJ III, and Friesen L. (2003). Speech perception with cochlear implants, Chapter 8 in Auditory Prostheses, F-G Zeng, AN Popper and RR Fay (Eds.), Springer Handbook of Auditory Research, Vol. X, Springer-Verlag, New York.
  • Shannon , R.V. Fu, Q.-J., Wang, X., Galvin, J., Wygonski, J., and Robert, M. (2001). Critical cues for auditory pattern recognition in speech: Implications for cochlear implant speech processor design. In M. Houtsma, A. Kohlrausch, V.F Prijs and R. Schoonhoven (Eds.), Physiological and Psychological bases for Auditory Function: Proceedings of the International Symposium on Hearing, Maastricht, NL: Shaker Publishing BV, 2001; 500-508.
  • Chatterjee, M., Shannon. R.V., Galvin, J.J., Fu, Q.-J., and Robert, M. (2001). Spread of excitation and its influence on auditory perception with cochlear implants. In M. Houtsma, A. Kohlrausch, V.F Prijs and R. Schoonhoven (Eds.), Physiological and Psychological bases for Auditory Function: Proceedings of the International Symposium on Hearing, Maastricht, NL: Shaker Publishing BV, 2001; 403-410.
  • Shannon , R.V., Fu, Q.-J., Friesen, L, and Galvin, J. (2000). Present and Future Research on Cochlear Implants, CICI Contact, 13(4), 25-39.
  • Fu, Q.-J. and Shannon, R.V. (1998). “Effects of stimulation mode on speech recognition by cochlear implant users,” Proceedings of the 16 th International Congress on Acoustics, Seattle, 227-228.
  • Fu, Q.-J. (1997). Speech Perception in Acoustic and Electric Hearing, Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Southern California.
  • Xia D. and Fu Q.-J. (1992). A New Pitch Extraction Model, Proceedings of the National Human-Machine Communication Conference, 231-234.
  • Fu Q.-J., Wang R.-H., and Xia D. (1992). Lateralization of Speech Sounds by Binaural Distributing Processing, Proceedings of ICSLP'92, Canada, 1043-1046.
  • Wang R.-H., Fu Q.-J., and Xia D. (1991). A Nonlinear Cochlear Model Based on the Double Q Adaptive Circuit, Proceedings of the 14th ICA'91, Beijing, H5-10.
  • Fu Q.-J., Wang R.-H., and Xia D.(1991). HCS Auditory Neural Processing Model, Proceedings of the Second National Conference on Artificial Neural Network, 44-47.