< Program

Technology Update Session

Session 2B
Gaining an Edge with Edge Mode+: On-demand hearing-aid processing with Genesis AI
Michelle Hicks, PhD, Starkey

While the MarkeTrak 2022 survey data indicate that more than 80% of hearing aid owners are satisfied with their devices, understanding speech in difficult listening environments remains a challenge. As hearing technology is transformed by machine learning, artificial intelligence, and embedded sensors, it is important to demonstrate how these advanced technologies can be optimized to enhance hearing performance and address real patient needs and deliver meaningful patient benefit. With the goal of helping hearing-aid users in difficult listening situations, Edge Mode+, an on-demand processing feature, was designed for Starkey hearing aids to provide additional signal processing to optimize listening experiences. When activated by the user, this feature prompts the hearing aid to analyze the current acoustic environment and apply specialized changes to the gain, microphone, and noise reduction settings to improve listening outcomes. This presentation will demonstrate the benefits of this app-based, on-demand processing on multiple measures of patient outcomes. Results will show how an on-demand processing feature like Edge Mode+ may provide broad benefits for listening effort and speech understanding in hearing aid users in realistic environments. Further, a review of patient demographics reveals that some specific sub-groups may see larger benefits than others, specifically those with greater hearing losses and older ages. In addition, the results of this study support using a multiplicity of measures when evaluating outcomes to gain a fuller picture of each participant's listening experiences.


Michelle Hicks, Ph.D., Vice President of Education and Audiology, leads the Clinical and Audiology Research team at Starkey. She received her Ph.D. in Speech and Hearing Science in 1997 from Arizona State University.  For the past 20 years, Dr. Hicks has held positions in clinical, academic, and industry settings. She has taught courses in Amplification, Pediatric Audiology, Psychoacoustics, Anatomy and Physiology, and Research Methodology, has numerous publications, and has presented at state, national, and international conferences on topics including Hearing Science, Amplification, and Tinnitus.