Interacoustics introduces the Audible Contrast Threshold (ACT™) test: A revolutionary test that will change the way we think about hearing aid fitting
Following several years of research, Interacoustics is thrilled to bring the game-changing ‘Audible Contrast Threshold’ test to market; a fast method to accurately quantify a person’s real-world ability to hear in noise.
Around 86% of hearing aid users complain they struggle to hear and understand what people are saying in noisy environments. For more than a century, hearing aids have been fitted based on the pure tone audiogram. With the introduction of ACT, Interacoustics goes beyond the audiogram, and we are now able to address the number one complaint from people with hearing loss: hearing conversations in noisy situations.
ACT opens up a new way of thinking about the hearing aid fitting. Where the audiogram measures the quantity of hearing – how much you hear – ACT measures the quality of hearing – how well you hear in noise. By understanding the quality of hearing, the hearing care professional can confidently personalize the hearing aid fitting.
The result of the ACT test – the ACT value – can quickly and efficiently support the fitting of advanced adaptive features in any hearing aid and help the hearing care professional to provide the right amount of help in noise to the client during the first fitting. Having an up-front prediction of a person’s real-world ability to hear in noise allows for more targeted counseling and expectation setting regarding the outcome of the hearing aid fitting.
ACT is a language-independent test that only takes an average of 2 minutes to complete. If you know how to do an audiogram, you can also perform ACT.
Ole Lundsgaard, Senior Product Manager at Interacoustics, elaborates:
“ACT uses a contrasting stimulus which is non-language based. This means that for the first time in history, we can measure a client’s hearing-in-noise ability in less than 2 minutes with one standardized test. ACT is a truly personalized test that applies the client’s audiogram to ensure audibility of the ACT stimulus. In this way, we can provide a robust assessment that reflects a person’s real-world hearing abilities. With ACT and its many years of research by our own Interacoustics Research Unit, we have explored new ways to improve hearing care and provide the possibility to offer a new standard of care in hearing aid clinics.”
The ACT test has been created at the Interacoustics Research Unit (IRU). It is based on several years of research together with leading scientists and universities around the world, including colleagues at Oticon and the Eriksholm Research Centre.
With ACT, Interacoustics demonstrate their true commitment to advancing the field of audiology and creating new solutions and measurement methods that benefit hearing care professionals and their patients all over the world.
ACT launches globally on October 18, 2023, and will be showcased at conferences across the world during the coming months.
For further information, contact Charlotte Ellemose Sonne, Communications Manager, at
