Three-dimensional (3D) ear morphology is critical for the design of in-the-ear hearing aids, earphones, transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS) electrodes, and auricular reconstruction, yet most existing ear shape models still rely on manually placed landmarks....
No actionable clinical change for practicing audiologists now; this is an engineering methods paper, but the pipeline could eventually improve custom in-the-ear hearing aid fitting accuracy.
Automated 3D ear shape modelling could accelerate and improve the customisation of in-the-ear hearing aids and other ear-worn devices, reducing fitting errors and remakes.
- 01Annotation-free pipeline removes the need for manual landmark placement on ear scans.
- 02A statistical shape model captures natural variation in auricular bowl geometry across individuals.
- 03Primary application is improving the design and fit of in-the-ear (ITE) hearing aids.
- 04Methodology uses surface scans, making it compatible with existing ear-impression and scanning workflows.
- 05Potential to reduce hearing aid remake rates by better matching device to ear anatomy.
An annotation-free pipeline can successfully construct a 3D auricular bowl atlas and statistical shape model from surface scans.
studysupportedThe resulting shape model has direct applications for improving in-the-ear hearing aid design and fitting.
studypartially supported- PMID
- 42281011
- DOI
- 10.3390/s26113493.
- Journal
- Sensors
- Publication type
- research_article
- Evidence level
- na
- Population
- Surface scans of human outer ears (auricular bowl geometry)
- Intervention
- Annotation-free 3D auricular bowl atlas construction and statistical shape modelling pipeline
Primary outcomes
Accuracy and validity of the 3D auricular bowl atlas; Quality of the statistical shape model derived from surface scans