Technical audiology and applied psychoacoustics

The aim of my research is to develop new technical and computational methods to aid hearing care professionals and benefit patients. 

My research topics include:

  • Design of experiments
  • Psychoacoustics
  • Electrophysiological measures: EEG, MEG
  • Tinnitus
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Principal Researcher: 

Petteri Hyvärinen, DSc, Adj. Professor

Auditory evoked response measurements and the development of hearing research methods


Auditory evoked response measurements quantify the response of the inner ear's sensory cells, auditory nerve or cerebral cortex generated by a sound or electric pulse stimulus. The measurements can be used, for example, in measuring the hearing of young children or in optimizing the settings of a cochlear implant. 

Thea aim of these studies are to: 
  • estimate the clinical usability of arousal response measurements (e.g. ECochG, eCAP) and the effect of different measurement settings.


In our studies focusing on hearing examination methods, we aim to improve the cost-effectiveness of hearing examinations, for example by utilizing machine learning methods to speed up the hearing examination and by enabling the patient's own hearing examination.

In addition, we investigate the use of realistic sound environments in the evaluation of functional hearing and in the optimization of hearing aid settings.

Principal Researcher: 

Pia Linder, Medical Physicist, PhD

Quantifying the benefits of Real-Ear Measurements (REM) for hearing aid fitting 

Benefits of REM (BREM)

  • Real-Ear Measurements (REM) is used to verify whether the output of the hearing aid at the eardrum matches the desired prescribed target
  • REM is recommended by the ISO-standard as the primary method of fitting hearing aids. However, it is time-consuming, requires know-how and expensive equipment

Main study questions are:

  • What is the real benefit of REM for the hearing aid user?
  • Does a hearing aid fitted with REM improve the patient's functional hearing compared to the easier-to-use algorithms by hearing aid manufacturers?

Principal Researcher: 

Laura Ihalainen, MD, PhD Student

Electrical measurements of the inner ear

Combining the information provided by the electric field created by the implant and other electrophysiological measurements with imaging and changes in the inner ear observed in experimental animals.

Principal Researcher: 

Matti Iso-Mustajärvi, MD, Adj. Professor

The development and validation of Finnish health-related Quality of life questionnaires for cochlear implant recipients

  • The lack of reliable and validated patient-reported outcome measures to assess hearing rehabilitation outcomes, hinders the development of quality and effectiveness in treating cochlear implant (CI) patients

The aim of this study is:

  • To develop and to validate hearing specific health-related quality of life questionnaire for Finnish CI patients, suitable for the clinical practice

Principal Researcher: 

Petrus Miettinen, MD, PhD Student

Development of criteria for cochlear implantation candidacy

The utilization of cochlear implantation in the Wellbeing services county of Northern-Savo: 

The development of evidence-based Finnish guidelines for cochlear implantation candidacy

For individuals with moderate-to-profound hearing loss, who no longer derive meaningful benefit from their hearing aids, cochlear implants have become the standard of care, demonstrating improvements in speech perception, quality of life, and cognitive abilities.

The absence of referral criteria is one of the main obstacles for adequate utilization of cochlear implants in Finland. Therefore, the main objective of this research is to develop evidence-based Finnish referral recommendations for cochlear implantation candidacy assessment, as well as Finnish cochlear implantation recommendations.

Principal Researcher:

Butoto Kazera, MD, PhD Student