Potential Errors of Real-Ear-to-Coupler-Difference Method Applied for a Prediction of Hearing Aid Performance in an Individual Ear

The sound pressure that a hearing aid or an insert earphone generates in an individual ear will depend on the impedance of an individual ear and will vary from person to person. Therefore it is important to calibrate a hearing aid for an individual ear in order to obtain a correct prescribed gain. Real Ear to Coupler Difference (RECD) is a measure that allows to predict the sound pressure that a hearing aid or an insert earphone will create in an occluded ear based on the results of the sound pressure measured in a 2-cc test coupler. The purpose of this article is to analyze the potential errors of the sound pressure in an occluded ear estimated via RECD.