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Sigfrid D. Soli, Ph.D.

Vice President, Technology Transfer, and Head, Department of Human Communication Sciences and Devices

ssoli@hei.org

Education

  • Ph.D., Experimental Psychology, Center for Research in Human Learning, University of Minnesota
  • Fellowship: NIH Pre-Doctoral Fellowship, Center for Research in Human Learning, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota

Recent Publications

  • Laroche C, Soli SD, Giguère C, Lagacé L, Vaillancourt V, Fortin M (2003). An approach to the development of hearing standards for hearing-critical jobs. Noise and Health, 6:21, 17-37. (This was an invited paper.)
  • Wong, LN and Soli, SD. Development of the Cantonese Hearing In Noise Test (CHINT). Ear & Hearing, in press.
  • Vaillancourt, V, Laroche, C, Mayer, C, Basque, C, Nali, M, Eriks-Brophy, A, Soli, SD, and Giguere, C. Adaptation of the HINT (hearing in noise test) for adult Canadian Francophone populations. International Journal of Audiology, in press.
  • Soli, SD (2003). Hearing and job performance. Paper commissioned by the Committee on Disability Determination for Individuals with Hearing Impairment, National Research Council, National Academy of Sciences (43 pp.).

Selected Publications

  • Nilsson M, Soli SD, Sullivan J. Development of the Hearing In Noise Test for the measurement of speech reception thresholds in quiet and in noise. J Acoust Soc Am 1994; 95:1085-99.
  • Dorman MF, Soli SD, Dankowski K, Smith LM, McCandless G, Parkin J. Acoustic cues for consonant identification by patients who use the Ineraid cochlear implant. J Acoust Soc Am 1990; 88:2074-9.
  • Soli SD. Perceptual evaluation of a neurally-based encoding strategy for cochlear implants. In: Miller JM, Spelman FA, eds. Cochlear Implants: Models of the Electrically Stimulated Ear, New York: Springer-Verlag, 1990.
  • Van Tasell DJ, Soli SD, Kirby VM, Widin GP. Speech waveform envelope cues for consonant recognition. J Acoust Soc Am 1987; 82:1152-61.
  • Soli SD, Arabie P, Carroll JD. Discrete representation of perceptual structure underlying consonant confusions. J Acoust Soc Am 1986; 79:826-37.
  • Soli SD. The role of spectral cues in the discrimination of voice onset time differences. J Acoust Soc Am 1983; 73:2150-65.
  • Soli SD. Structure and duration of vowels together specify final fricative voicing. J Acoust Soc Am 1982; 72:366-78.
  • Yeni-Komshian GH, Soli SD. Recognition of vowels from information in fricatives: Perceptual evidence of fricative-vowel coarticulation. J Acoust Soc Am 1981; 70:966-975.
  • Soli SD. Second formats in fricatives: The acoustic consequences of fricative-vowel coarticulation. J Acoust Soc Am 1981; 70:976-84.
  • Soli SD, Arabie P. Auditory versus phonetic accounts of observed confusions between consonant phonemes. J Acoust Soc Am 1979; 66:46-59.

Current Projects

  • Improving Effectiveness of Hearing Aids
  • Methods for Assessment of Functional Hearing
  • Noise Cancellation for Hearing Aids  


    Additional Information

  • Fellow, Acoustical Society of America
  • Founding Chair, Arrowhead Conference on Advanced Topics in Hearing Aid Research, 1990-1996
  • National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders Advisory Committee on Hearing Aid Research and Development, 1993-1996
  • Four US patents on signal processing technologies for auditory prostheses

Recent Scientific Presentations

  • Assessment of functional hearing ability, Sigfrid D. Soli, invited tutorial presentation, July 2001, National Institute Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD.
  • Issues in practical assessment of binaural hearing abilities, Sigfrid D. Soli, invited presentation at 2001 Asilomar meeting, August 2001, Pacific Grove, CA.
  • The Hearing In Noise Test (HINT), Sigfrid D. Soli, invited presentation at Academy of Dispensing Audiologists, October 2001, Asheville, NC.
  • Assessment of the classroom as a communication channel, Sigfrid D. Soli, invited presentation by the Acoustical Society of America, December 2001, Ft. Lauderdale, FL.
  • Assessment of noise levels for hearing-critical jobs, Sigfrid D. Soli, National Hearing Conservation Association, February 2002, Dallas, TX.
  • Development of the Hearing In Noise Test (HINT) in New Languages, Sigfrid D. Soli, Andrew Vermiglio, Karen Wen, Chantal Laroche, Christian Giguere, Takako Iwaki, Masae Shiroma, and Lena Wong, American Academy of Audiology, April 2002, Philadelphia, PA.
  • The bone-anchored hearing aid (BAHA) single-sided deafness study, Kenneth M Cox, Andrew J Vemiglio, John K Niparko, and SD Soli. American Academy of Audiology, April 2002, Philadelphia, PA.
  • Assessment of functional hearing ability with the Hearing In Noise Test, SD Soli, invited presentation at the Canadian Speech and Hearing Association, March 2002, Ottawa, Canada.
  • Rationale for acoustical performance criteria in classrooms, SD Soli, Orange County Chapter of the Acoustical Society of America, May 2002, Irvine, CA.
  • HEI’s experience with the BAHA as a treatment for single-sided deafness. SD Soli and DE Brackmann, invited presentation at Entific International Conference, June 2002, Sardinia, Italy.
  • Cross-language assessment of functional hearing, SD Soli, C Laroche, L Wong, M Shiroma, C Abdala, International Hearing Aid Research Conference, August 2002, Lake Tahoe, CA.
  • Development of the Hearing In Noise Test in Japanese, T Kubo, M Shiroma, T Iwaki, and SD Soli, Japanese Audiological Society, November 2002, Sendai, Japan.
  • Assessment of functional hearing abilities in noise, SD Soli, Audio Engineering Society, November 2002, Los Angeles, CA.
  • Hearing loss, background noise, and functional hearing ability, SD Soli, invited presentation to the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers, November 2002, Los Angeles, CA.
  • Development of the Hearing In Noise Test in Spanish, SD Soli, A Vermiglio, K Wen, and C Abdala, invited presentation at the Joint Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America and the Acoustical Society of Mexico, December 2002, Cancun, Mexico.
  • Reliability of speech tests for audiological assessment of hearing aid benefit, SD Soli, American Academy of Audiology, April 2003, San Antonio, TX.
  • Self-evaluation of hearing protection devices, SD Soli and V Larson, invited presentation at the National Center for Rehabilitative Audiology, May 2003, Portland, OR.
  • Multilingual assessment of functional hearing ability, SD Soli, invited presentation at the 9th Ajou Otology Symposium—Cochlear Implantation, May 2003, Ajou University Hospital, Suwon, Korea.
  • IMEHD output and in vitro modeling systems, invited presentation at the FDA Implantable Middle Ear Hearing Device (IMEHD) Strategy Meeting, October 2003, Rockville, MD.
  • Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada hearing standards, C Laroche, C Giguere and SD Soli, invited presentation to the Occupational Health Assessment Guide, Health Canada, October 2003, Ottawa, Canada.
  • Issues in practical assessment of binaural hearing abilities, SD Soli, invited presentation at the Alfred I duPont Hospital for Children, November 2003, Wilmington, DE.
  • Predicting speech intelligibility in noise for hearing-critical jobs, SD Soli, C Laroche, and C Giguere, invited presentation for the Acoustical Society of America, November 2003, Austin, TX.
  • Outcome Assessment: Comparing results for tonal and non-tonal languages, SD Soli, invited presentation for the 4th Congress of the Asia Pacific Symposium on Cochlear Implants and Related Sciences, December 2003, Taipei, Taiwan.
  • Use of the Bone-anchored hearing aid (BAHA) for trans-cranial stimulation of individuals with single-sided deafness, SD Soli, invited presentation for the 4th Congress of the Asia Pacific Symposium on Cochlear Implants and Related Sciences, December 2003, Taipei, Taiwan.
  • Choice and development of testing materials for hearing aid assessment, SD Soli, invited presentation at Prospects for Communicative Research in Hong Kong—2003 Seminar on Development of Language, Speech, and Hearing Assessment Instruments, December 2003, Hong Kong.
  • Use of audio VR to evaluate functional hearing abilities in the workplace, V Vaillancourt, C Laroche, SD Soli, and C Giguere, 2004 Conference on Cybertherapy, January 2004, San Diego, CA.
  • Devices and technologies for enhancing speech communication: What the present holds and the future promises, SD Soli, invited presentation at the National Summit on Deafness sponsored by the AG Bell Association, February 2004, Washington, DC.
  • Reliability of speech tests for audiological assessment of hearing aid benefit, SD Soli, American Academy of Audiology, April 2004, Salt Lake City, UT.
  • Applications of the Hearing In Noise Test (HINT), SD Soli, invited presentation at the Brazilian International Audiology Meeting, April 2004, Bauru, Brazil.
  • Development of the Hearing In Noise Test (HINT) in new languages, SD Soli, invited presentation at the Brazilian International Audiology Meeting, April 2004, Bauru, Brazil.
  • HINT: A clinical tool unknown to most Canadian audiologists, SD Soli, V Vaillencourt, C Laroche, C Giguere, invited presentation at the Canadian Association of Speech-Language Pathologists and Audiologists, May 2004, Ottawa, Canada.
  • Evaluation of functional hearing abilities in nosy workplaces, C Laroche, C Giguere, V Vaillencourt, and SD Soli, invited presentation at the Canadian Association of Speech-Language Pathologists and Audiologists, May 2004, Ottawa, Canada.
  • Clinical measures with IMEHDs: Patient selection, device fitting, outcome assessment, invited presentation at the FDA Implantable Middle Ear Hearing Device (IMEHD) Second Strategy Meeting, May 2004, Rockville, MD.
  • A measurement of sound level perception when using the bone-anchored hearing aid (BAHA) for trans-cranial stimulation of individuals with single-sided deafness, AJ Vermiglio and SD Soli, International Hearing Aid Research Conference, August 2004, Lake Tahoe, CA.
  • A model for prediction of functional hearing abilities in real-world noise environments, SD Soli, C Laroche, C Giguere, and V Vaillancourt, International Hearing Aid Research Conference, August 2004, Lake Tahoe, CA.
  • Comparative performance of adaptive anti-feedback algorithms in commercial hearing aids and integrated circuits, DJ Freed and SD Soli, invited oral presentation at the International Hearing Aid Research Conference, August 2004, Lake Tahoe, CA.
  • A quantitative evaluation of acoustic feedback cancellation algorithms used in contemporary digital hearing aids, SD Soli and DJ Freed, invited presentation at the International Symposium on Middle Ear Implants, October 2004, Kyungpook National University, Daegu, Korea.
  • Assessment of functional hearing ability in real-world sound environments, SD Soli, invited presentation to the Los Angeles chapter of the Acoustical Society of America, November 2004, Los Angeles, CA.
  • A system for assessing the fit of hearing protectors in the field, SD Soli and VD Larson, National Hearing Conservation Association, February 2005, Tucson, AZ.
  • Are speech tests superior to pure tones for assessing hearing impairment? SD Soli, invited oral presentation at the meeting of the National Hearing Conservation Association, February 2005, Tucson, AZ.
  • Use of the bone-anchored hearing aid as a treatment for single-sided deafness, SD Soli, invited oral presentation at the Speech and Hearing Association of Virginia, March 2005, Charlottesville, VA.
  •  

Special Honors and Awards

Distinguished Visiting Professor, Department of Surgery, Chinese University of Hong Kong, December 2001

Important Professional Activities

Teaching and Invited Lectures

Distinguished Visiting Professor Lecture series (four lectures), Department of Surgery, Chinese University of Hong Kong, December 9-11, 2001.

  • Direct stimulation of the ossicles via middle ear implant devices: Preliminary results
  • Assessment of the classroom as a communication channel
  • Measuring, preventing, and canceling acoustic feedback in hearing aids
  • Pure-tone audiometry and the Hearing In Noise Test (HINT)

 

Teaching and training related to development of HINT in new languages:

  • Taipei, Taiwan; Beijing, China; Osaka, Japan, December 2001
  • Suwon, Korea, October 2002
  • Warner-Robins AFB, GA; Travis AFB, CA, February 2003
  • Lisbon, Portugal; Pamplona, Spain, May 2003
  • Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, October 2004

 

Invited lectures:

  • Speech test materials for Asia-Pacific languages, Cochlear seminar, Asia-Pacific Symposium on Cochlear Implants and Related Sciences, Taipei, Taiwan, December 2003

  • Recent advances in implantable auditory prostheses for restoration of hearing, University of Alberta, Edmonton,
    Alberta, March 2004

  • Direct stimulation of the ossicles via middle ear implant devices, Kyungpook National University, Daegu, Korea, April 2004

  • Why two ears are better than one, Advanced Bionics seminar, American Academy of Otolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery, New York, NY, September 2004

  • Overview and validation of a direct connect system for testing cochlear implant patients, Advanced Bionics seminar, American Academy of Otolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery, New York, NY, September 2004

 

Other Service

  • Chair, Committee on Disability Determination for Individuals with Hearing Impairment, National Research Council, National Academy of Science, August-December 2002. (I resigned this position because of conflict of interest concerns related to my job responsibilities at HEI.)
  • Consultant, Committee on Disability Determination for Individuals with Hearing Impairment, National Research Council, National Academy of Science, January-October 2003. (I continued to serve the committee as a consultant after resigning as chair.)
  • Voting member, ENT Device Panel, US Food and Drug Administration, 2001-present
  • Expert testimony at the conference on ratings of hearing protection devices, Environmental Protection Agency, March 2003, Washington, DC
  • Expert testimony on bone-anchored hearing aids, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, US Public Health Service, July 2003, Washington, DC

 

Meetings and Conferences

  • International Hearing Aid Research Conference, August 2002, Lake Tahoe, CA
  • International Hearing Aid Research Conference, August 2004, Lake Tahoe, CA
  • Workshop on objective methods for characterizing the performance of feedback cancellation algorithms, October 2004, House Ear Institute