In conventional hearing tests, patients are often asked to indicate whether they can hear a sound or what they understand. This is not always straightforward for young children: they are sometimes too young to respond reliably or may lack the motivation to respond each time. Children with developmental difficulties may also find it hard to participate actively.
The new test at UZ Leuven aims to address this problem. The test requires no active participation from the patient: the child wears a cap fitted with small, damp sponges and watches an animated film for around half an hour. The test is designed to help assess how well the patient can hear, with or without a hearing aid.
“Even before a child with hearing loss turns three, we want to be certain that they can hear well with their hearing aid or cochlear implant and that no adjustments are needed. These are crucial years for speech and language development, yet this is precisely the age at which children are very difficult to assess using conventional hearing tests,” says Professor Nicolas Verhaert, ear, nose and throat specialist at UZ Leuven.
"These are crucial years for speech and language development, yet at the same time, this is precisely the age at which children are very difficult to assess using conventional hearing tests”
Prof. dr. Nicolas Verhaert
Objectively measuring speech understanding
Conventional hearing tests often use beeps and tones. These allow audiologists to determine whether a child can hear a sound, but do not reveal how well the brain processes speech.
Subjective tests are available to assess speech understanding, in which children point to pictures or repeat words, but these only become feasible from the age of four or five.
A key advantage of the CORGEE test is its use of natural, everyday speech. While the child watches the film, sensors in the cap continuously record brain activity. The system links these brain signals to the speech in the film to calculate how well the child can follow it. This gives audiologists an objective measure of how well the brain processes speech.
First use in patient care
CORGEE was developed by Brainphonics, a Leuven-based spin-off from KU Leuven’s ExpORL research group. The technology builds on years of research into how the brain processes speech and the benefits of hearing aids.
The technology is now being introduced into routine clinical care, making UZ Leuven the first hospital in the world to use CORGEE with patients outside a research setting.