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Functional Hearing Evaluation for Military Occupational Specialties

Award Information
Agency: Department of Defense
Branch: Army
Contract: W81XWH-09-C-0048
Agency Tracking Number: O083-H17-3029
Amount: $1,749,940.00
Phase: Phase II
Program: SBIR
Solicitation Topic Code: OSD08-H17
Solicitation Number: 2008.3
Timeline
Solicitation Year: 2008
Award Year: 2009
Award Start Date (Proposal Award Date): 2009-11-17
Award End Date (Contract End Date): 2011-12-22
Small Business Information
P.O. Box 71
Hanover, NH 03755
United States
DUNS: 072021041
HUBZone Owned: No
Woman Owned: No
Socially and Economically Disadvantaged: No
Principal Investigator
 Odile Clavier
 Principal Investigator
 (603) 643-3800
 ohc@creare.com
Business Contact
 Michael Izenson
Title: Chief Financial Officer
Phone: (603) 643-3800
Email: contractsmgr@creare.com
Research Institution
N/A
Abstract

Mission readiness in the military depends on a soldier’s ability to perform a particular job or task safely and efficiently. Some military specialties require the soldier to perform hearing-critical tasks that may take place in noisy and distracting environments. Further, communication requirements vary widely across Military Occupational Specialties (MOS). However, the hearing ability of virtually all active-duty soldiers and trainees is currently assessed using existing audiology tools which rely primarily on standard auditory thresholds and do not take into account the specific nature of the task or environment. In Phase II, Creare proposes to complete development and testing of a portable Functional Hearing Assessment System which will determine: (1) if an individual meets hearing-critical measures sufficient to be assigned to or remain in a particular job, and (2) if hearing aids or hearing protection affect hearing-related MOS requirements. Our system includes several hearing tests including: speech intelligibility in noise; sound localization and detection; and automated thresholds with specific pass/fail criteria and tests tailored for each MOS. We will also develop a systematic approach to identify hearing-critical tasks, set performance parameters for these tasks, and relate functional hearing ability to scores on customized hearing tests.

* Information listed above is at the time of submission. *

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