A hearing device (19) such as a hearing aid comprising a function module (11), a rechargeable battery (15), and a battery power management unit (14), the battery power management unit (14) comprising: - a voltage regulator (16) in operative connection with the rechargeable battery (15), the voltage regulator (16) being adapted to output a supply voltage (V_HI) to the function module (11); - a control unit (17) in operative connection with the voltage regulator (16) and with the rechargeable battery (15), adapted to measure the rechargeable battery output voltage (V_BATT) and to control the supply voltage (V_HI) output by the voltage regulator (16); wherein the control unit (17) is adapted to encode a signal in dependence of the rechargeable battery output voltage (V_BATT) onto the supply voltage (V_HI). In consequence, the function module (11) can extract information on the state of charge of the rechargeable battery (15) so as to be able to inform the hearing device wearer accordingly.
G01R 31/36 - Arrangements for testing, measuring or monitoring the electrical condition of accumulators or electric batteries, e.g. capacity or state of charge [SoC]
H02J 7/00 - Circuit arrangements for charging or depolarising batteries or for supplying loads from batteries
A hearing device comprising a battery compartment including a metal-air battery and a microphone assembly arranged nearby or coupled to the battery compartment, the battery compartment and/or the microphone assembly in protected using an elastic polymer membrane.
A shell (10) for a hearing device, and a method of producing the same. The shell (10) comprises a sub-shell (11) produced by a generative method, and a thermoformed hull (12) covering the subshell (11). The sub-shell (11) comprises lateral openings (13) covered by the thermoformed hull (12) so as to render the shell (10) more flexible in the region of the openings (13), and thereby to relieve pressure exerted by the shell (10) due to dynamic changes in the shape of the wearer's ear canal during jaw movement.
The invention relates to a method of establishing a wireless network for audio data transmission comprising a first audio device (10, 10A) having a first transceiver (28) and a second wireless audio device (10B, 10C, 14, 14 A, 14B) having a second transceiver (61), wherein the first audio device is an audio signal transmission unit and comprises a switch (40) operable by a user (11, 13), wherein the first and second audio devices are assistive listening devices for enhancing speech understanding. The method comprises: periodically listening, via the second transceiver, at any time during operation of the second audio device, for pairing information, at at least one public frequency channel; operating the switch by the user to initiate pairing, wherein pairing is initiated by operating the switch by the user at any time during operation of the first audio device; transmitting pairing information via the first transceiver at said at least one public frequency channel upon operation of the switch; and automatically pairing the second audio device to the first audio device upon reception of said pairing information from the first transceiver; wherein the first transceiver and the second transceiver are controlled in such a manner that reception of the pairing information from the first audio device is accepted by the second audio device with a likelihood of more than 90% if the distance between the first audio device and the second audio device is less than 0.1 m and with a likelihood of less than 10% if the distance between the first audio device and the second audio device is more than 1 m, and wherein said at least one public frequency channel and the audio data transmission use only frequencies in the range of 2.400 to 2.483 GHz.
A magnetically-shielding housing for an electronic component, the housing being formed from a plurality of mating parts (1a, 1b), at least one of the mating parts (1a, 1b) being fabricated in a two-part injection moulding process from a harder material (3a, 3b) and a soft material (4a, 4b). The magnetic shielding is provided by a plating (7a, 7b) of a suitable magnetically-soft metallic material on the surface of the harder material (3a, 3b) of the said at least one of the mating parts (1a, 1b). The invention has particular application in miniaturised electronic devices such as hearing devices.
A self-administered hearing testing comprises carrying out a first and second test comprising adjustment by the patient of the sound pressure level of at least one audio stimulus to the same specified hearing perception level and selection of the corresponding sound pressure level, thereby generating a first and a second test result corresponding to the values of the sound pressure levels selected by the patient; comparing the first test result and the second test result. The result of the test is accepted or rejected based on the closeness of the test results, and feedback is provided to the patient based on this closeness. In consequence, since feedback is given based on closeness of results of the two tests rather than the level at which the patient hears the audio stimulus, the test gives more accurate results than tests based on providing feedback according to absolute hearing ability.
The invention relates to a hearing instrument to be worn at an ear of a user, comprising a first part (18) to be located at least in part in the ear canal and comprising a first antenna (22) to be located substantially within the ear canal and a second part (16) to be worn outside the ear canal at the concha and comprising a second antenna (24) to be located outside the ear canal, wherein the first antenna is to be operated by a first transceiver (46) in a first frequency range and the second antenna is to be operated by a second transceiver (38) in a second frequency range which is higher than the first frequency range.
The invention relates to a method for streaming an audio signal from an audio transmission device (10, 110) to an arrangement comprising a at least a first audio receiver device (12, 26) and a second audio receiver device (14, 112, 114, 126) via a standard Bluetooth link (16) using a protocol requiring repetition of transmission of an audio data packet (AP) in case of a missing positive packet receipt acknowledgement (PPRA), the method comprising: synchronizing the first audio receiver device to the audio transmission device in order to enable the first audio receiver device to receive an audio signal stream from the audio transmission device, synchronizing the second audio receiver device to the audio transmission device in order to enable the second audio receiver device to eavesdrop the audio signal stream from the audio transmission device to the first audio receiver device, wherein the first audio receiver device, at least in some cases, does not transmit a positive packet receipt acknowledgement to the audio transmission device after having correctly received an audio data packet, thereby causing the audio transmission device to repeat transmission of that audio data packet irrespective of whether the packet has been correctly received by the first audio receiver device.
A method of processing a signal in a hearing instrument with at least one outer microphone oriented towards the environment, an ear canal microphone oriented towards the user's ear canal, and at least one receiver capable of producing an acoustic signal in the ear canal includes the steps of: - Processing a first signal from the outer microphone and a second signal from the inner microphone to yield an ambient sound portion signal estimate and an own voice sound portion signal estimate; - Processing the ambient sound portion signal estimate into a processed ambient sound portion signal; - Processing the own voice sound portion signal estimate into a processed own voice sound portion signal; and - Adding the processed ambient sound portion signal and the processed own voice portion signal for obtaining an input for the receiver.
The invention relates to a method for simplified patient data exchange, e.g. between a patient and a hearing device dispenser. The information provided by the patient in visual form is digitally imaged, and the relevant patient information is extracted from thus-generated image data. This data is then applied for various hearing device dispensing and controlling functions.
G06F 19/00 - Digital computing or data processing equipment or methods, specially adapted for specific applications (specially adapted for specific functions G06F 17/00;data processing systems or methods specially adapted for administrative, commercial, financial, managerial, supervisory or forecasting purposes G06Q;healthcare informatics G16H)
11.
METHOD FOR OPERATING A BINAURAL HEARING SYSTEM AND BINAURAL HEARING SYSTEM
The present invention proposes a method for operating a binaural hearing system with two hearing devices (1, 1') operationally interconnected by means of a bidirectional link (8) which improves hearing perception in windy listening situations. The method comprises determining the level of wind noise present at each of the two hearing devices (1, 1') and sending the audio signal picked-up at the first hearing device (1) to the second hearing device (1') via the link (8) and then providing an output signal derived from the received signal to the electrical-to- mechanical output converter (3') of the second hearing device (1') if the level of wind noise at the second hearing device (1') exceeds the level of wind noise at the first hearing device (1) by a pre-set threshold value. Furthermore, a binaural hearing system capable of performing such a method is given.
The present invention relates to an encapulated hearing device (50), e.g. for long-term wear, in which an electronics module (10) is encapsulated into a thermoformed hull (30) by means of an appropriate adhesive (41). This thermoformed hull (30) acts as an improved barrier between the electronics module (10) and the environment of the inner ear, reducing the risk of moisture reaching electrical components.
The present invention provides a method for charging a NiMH battery, comprising estimating a state of charge of the battery (100), determining an end of charging time based on the estimated state of charge (200), applying a constant charging current with a rate in the range from 0.9 C to 2.1 C to the battery until a threshold voltage is reached (300), upon reaching the threshold voltage, applying a constant charging voltage substantially equal to the threshold voltage to the battery (400) and continuing applying the constant charging voltage to the battery until the end of charging time is reached (500). Furthermore, a battery charger adapted to perform such a method as well as a system comprising such a battery charger and a hearing device powered by a NiMH battery are given.
The invention relates to a method of manufacturing an acoustic seal (100, 110) for retaining a CIC hearing aid (30, 230) within a portion of the ear canal (10) by contact with the wall (20) of the ear canal, comprising: embedding sacrificial particles (70) having a size of at least 50μm and not more than 250μm into a silicone rubber matrix (72), wherein the concentration and the size of the sacrificial particles is selected such that a porosity of at least 40% is achieved; molding the silicone rubber matrix into a desired shape by using a mold and curing the silicone rubber matrix; removing the sacrificial particles from the silicone rubber matrix by leaching out the sacrificial particles in a solvent; and drying the silicone rubber matrix; wherein the seal is designed to surround at least part of the hearing aid and wherein the seal is designed, by selection of the size and/or the concentration and/or the distribution of the sacrificial particles, to provide for an acoustic attenuation of at least 20 dB in a frequency range between 200 Hz and 6 kHz, when the hearing aid is inserted into the ear canal, and for a compliance of at least 50 mm/N.
The surface of the casing or shell and/or a surface coating of an ear worn part of a hearing device, which is designed to be completely or at least partially inside the ear canal of a human comprises a substance reacting upon changing of environmental conditions in the ear canal, such as pH or moisture, blood or exudate.
METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR FITTING HEARING AIDS, FOR TRAINING INDIVIDUALS IN HEARING WITH HEARING AIDS AND/OR FOR DIAGNOSTIC HEARING TESTS OF INDIVIDUALS WEARING HEARING AIDS
A hearing aid is fitted to an individual and/or the individual is trained in hearing with the hearing aid. In a first step (60) a stimulus signal is provided. In a second step (70) the stimulus is presented to the individual. In a third step (80) a response of the individual in regard to the stimulus is obtained. In a forth step (90) a hearing aid parameter is adjusted based on the response. In an alternative or additional forth step (100) a further stimulus signal is selected based on the response. The second step (70) of presenting the stimulus signal comprises the sub-steps (71. 72) of obtaining a first and second signal based on the stimulus signal. In a further sub-step (73) the first signal is processed and presented by the hearing aid. Simultaneously, in a further sub-step (74), the second signal is presented by a supplementary loudspeaker for improving the stimulus presentation in regard to direct sound.
A method for operating a hearing system is disclosed, the method comprising a hearing device (2) being worn by a hearing device user (1), at least one communication device (21, 31, 44) being used by a person (20, 30) or by a group (40) of people (41, 42, 43), and a network (7). The method comprises the steps of establishing a connection between the hearing device (2) and the at least one communication device (21, 31, 44) via the network (7), identifying the person (20, 30) or the group (40) of people (41, 42, 43) using the at least one communication device (21, 31, 44), and adjusting settings in the hearing device (2) for adapting its acoustical behavior taking into account acoustic properties of at least one of the person (20, 30), the group (40) of people (41, 42, 43), the user (1), the hearing device (2) and the communication device (21, 31, 44). Furthermore, a hearing device (2) is disclosed.
The present invention provides a data transmission system for use in hearing devices, comprising a master unit (1) with a first local bit clock (4) and a slave unit (2) with a second local bit clock (4'). The master unit (1) and the slave unit (2) are connected to each other via a bus line (3), and are configured to communicate over the bus line (3) according to a communication protocol based on a frame- wise serial transmission of bits. Each frame comprises a clock reference, a master signalling interval, a slave signalling interval and a data payload. The slave unit (2) further comprises clock recovery means (5) for synchronising the second local bit clock (4') with the first local bit clock (4) based on the clock reference transmitted once per frame by the master unit (1). A corresponding method for data transmission is also provided. Moreover, hearing devices comprising such a data transmission system as well as uses of such a method for data transmission are proposed.
A method for operating a hearing device and a hearing device is disclosed, the hearing device comprising at least one input transducer for generating an input signal, an output transducer for generating an output signal and a signal processing unit operationally interconnecting the input transducer and the output transducer. The method comprises the steps of receiving context information (10) describing a possible current acoustic situation, selecting an adjustment scheme (12) taking into account the context information (10), the adjustment scheme (12) being one of the following: predefined adjustment scheme (13), and scenario dependent adjustment scheme (14) comprising at least two scenario adjustments (S1,..., Sn), each being assigned at least one hearing program (P1,..., Pm). The method further comprises the steps of selecting a hearing program (P1,..., Pm) based on the selected adjustment scheme (12), and processing the input signal by applying the selected hearing program (P1,.., Pm) to obtain the output signal of the hearing device.
Method of controlling a hearing instrument comprising at least one hearing device, the method comprising determination of an acoustic environment at least partially by means of calculating the complex coherence of signals from either a pressure microphone and a particle velocity transducer; a pair of pressure microphones in a single hearing device; or a pair of pressure microphones, one situated in each of a pair of hearing devices. This enables finer determination of acoustic environments, thus improving the hearing experience for the wearer of the hearing instrument. The invention further relates to a corresponding hearing instrument.
Method of estimating the shape of an individual ear comprising the steps of determining at least part of the shape of the individual ear, the shape being determined over a first extent and constituting a determined shape; taking a predefined template shape determined by statistical analysis of a plurality of previously measured ear shapes according to a statistical model, the template shape having a second extent; and generating an estimated shape corresponding to an estimated representation of the shape of the individual ear over the intersection of the first extent and second extent by modifying the template shape to substantially match the determined shape over the first extent or over the second extent within a predefined tolerance. This permits efficient estimation and infilling/extrapolation of data as required, and is particularly suited for determining the shape of a custom hearing device. The invention also concerns a method of optimising an ITE shell, BTE or CRT housing, or BTE sound tube to a given population group utilising the same template methodology.
A method for operating a hearing device (1) that is worn by a hearing device user is disclosed. The method comprises the steps of picking up an audio signal (a) by an input transducer (7) of the hearing device (1), the audio signal (a) comprising a source signal (s) of a sound source (SS) and a disturbing signal (d) of a disturbing source (DS), receiving a transmission signal (d_AIS) via an interface unit (12) of the hearing device (1), the transmission signal (d_AIS) comprising the disturbing signal (d) or at least characteristic features of the disturbing signal (d), at least partially eliminating the disturbing signal (d) from the audio signal (a) by using the disturbing signal (d) transmitted by the transmission signal (d_AIS) or by using the characteristic features of the disturbing signal (d) transmitted by the transmission signal (d_AIS) for obtaining an adjusted audio signal (a*), and processing the adjusted audio signal (a*) in the hearing device (1).
The present invention relates to an antenna module for a hearing device. The antenna module comprises a hollow core provided with an axial passageway and a winding around the core which is connectable with a hearing device. The antenna module is arranged to be at least partially contained within the ear canal of a user. This enables the antenna to be separated from sources of interference, since it can be positioned inside the ear canal away from hearing device electronics, thus reducing requirements for shielding and/or compensation. The invention further relates to an ear tip and a hearing device comprising such an antenna module.
The present invention is related to a fitting system for a bimodal hearing system, a method for fitting such a hearing system and a corresponding bimodal hearing system. The fitting system is operationally connectable to a hearing instrument (HI) and to an implantable device (CI) and comprises a first fitting software module (FSWHI) for fitting the hearing instrument (HI). Thereby the fitting system further comprises a second fitting software module (FSWCI) for fitting the implantable device (CI) by considering data of the hearing instrument (HI) received from the first fitting software module (FSWHI) via a data interface (DI) and/or vice versa.
A method for operating a binaural hearing system comprising a first and a second hearing device (1, 2), each comprising at least one input transducer (3, 4, 5, 6), a signal processing unit (7, 8), an output transducer (11, 12) and a link unit (9, 10) capable for exchanging information between the first and the second hearing device (1, 2), the method comprising the steps of operating the first hearing device (1) according to a first processing scheme, operating the second hearing device (2) according to a second processing scheme, monitoring acoustic situation by the first hearing device (1), monitoring acoustic situation by the second hearing device (12), generating a request for coordinating the two hearing devices (1, 2) if one hearing device (1, 2) detects an acoustic situation asking for coordinating the two processing schemes of the first and the second hearing device (1, 2), the hearing device (1, 2) detecting such an acoustic situation being an ipsi-lateral hearing device (1, 2) the other being a contra-lateral hearing device (1, 2), activating a link between the ipsi-lateral hearing device (1, 2) and the contra-lateral hearing device (1, 2) for transmitting the request to the contra-lateral hearing device (1, 2), and changing the processing scheme in at least one of the ipsi-lateral hearing device (1, 2) and the contra-lateral hearing device (1, 2) in accordance with the request.
The method for monitoring usage of a hearing device (1) comprises the steps of c) checking whether or not a message (m) has been received within a time period (dt) shorter than a predefined time period (Dt) via a long-distance communication network (3) in a remote device (2); and d) generating usage status data dependent on the result of said checking addressed in step c); wherein said usage status data are indicative of said usage of said hearing device (1), indicating "use" if said time period (dt) is smaller than or equal to said pre-defined time period (Dt) and indicating "non-use" if said time period (dt) is larger than said pre-defined time period (Dt), and wherein said message (m) comprises identification data (ID) for identifying said hearing device (1) or a user (U) of said hearing device (1), and wherein said remote device (2) is located remote from said hearing device (1) and connected to said long-distance communication network (3), and wherein said time period (dt) starts from a start event.
The invention relates to a method of manufacturing a hearing aid component (24, 25, 30, 32, 34), comprising: providing a substrate component (23); and applying a functional structure (22) of a viscoelastic material having a thickness of at least 50 μm onto a surface of the substrate component by an inkjet printing process utilizing a jet of droplets (18) having a volume from 0.1 nl to 10 nl, wherein the hardness of the functional structure is lower than the hardness of the substrate component.
A hearing device is provided with means for estimating the current consumed by its receiver. The hearing device comprises a signal input means for converting an input signal into a digital audio signal, a signal processing unit for processing the digital audio signal, a digital-to- analog converter for converting a processed audio signal from the signal processing unit, a power amplifier for amplifying a converted audio signal from the digital-to-analog converter, a receiver for generating sound according to an amplified audio signal from the power amplifier, and a battery for powering the hearing device. Furthermore, the inventive hearing device additionally comprises a receiver current estimation unit comprising a filter for filtering a receiver current indicative signal derived from the processed audio signal, the filter having a frequency response H(f) which is dependent on an impedance Z(f) of the receiver.
G01R 19/165 - Indicating that current or voltage is either above or below a predetermined value or within or outside a predetermined range of values
G01R 31/36 - Arrangements for testing, measuring or monitoring the electrical condition of accumulators or electric batteries, e.g. capacity or state of charge [SoC]
29.
A BATTERY-POWERED WIRELESS AUDIO DEVICE AND A METHOD OF OPERATING SUCH A WIRELESS AUDIO DEVICE
The present invention provides a wireless audio device (1) comprising an audio streaming unit (3) adapted to wirelessly transmit an audio signal to a remote hearing device (2) such as a hearing aid or a cochlear implant, a remote control unit (4) adapted to wirelessly control the remote hearing device (2), a battery monitoring means (5) adapted to determine a power level of a battery (6) and to provide a battery state signal indicative of the power level of the battery (6), and a power management unit (7) adapted to deactivate the audio streaming unit (3) when the battery state signal reaches or falls below a first threshold and to deactivate the remote control unit (3) when the battery state signal reaches or falls below a second threshold, wherein the first threshold is higher than the second threshold. The present invention further provides a method of operating such a wireless audio device (1) as well as a hearing system comprising such a wireless audio device (1) and a remote hearing device (2) being for instance a hearing aid or a cochlear implant.
The invention relates to a A system for providing sound to at least one user (13), comprising: at least one audio signal source (17) for providing an audio signal; a transmission unit (10, 110) comprising a digital transmitter (28) for transmitting the audio signal as audio data packets from the audio signal source via a wireless digital audio link (12); at least one receiver unit (14) for reception of audio signals from the transmission unit via the digital audio link, comprising at least one digital receiver (61); means (16, 64. 82) for stimulating the hearing of the user(s) according to audio signals supplied from the receiver unit; wherein the transmission unit is adapted to encode the audio signal in such a manner that each audio data block is distributed onto at least two audio data packets in such a manner that one of the packets is a low-quality packet including an encoded low-quality version of the audio signal, and one of the packets is a high quality packet including the surplus of an encoded high- quality version of the audio signal with regard to the low quality version, so that by decoding of the low-quality packets only a low-quality version of the audio signal is retrievable, whereas by decoding of both the low-quality packets and the high-quality packets a high- quality version of the audio signal is retrievable, and wherein the transmission unit is adapted to transmit the low-quality packets in dedicated slots of a multiple access protocol frame and to transmit the high-quality packets in other dedicated slots of the multiple access protocol frame, and wherein each receiver unit is either adapted to receive and decode both the low- quality packets and the high-quality packets or is adapted to receive and decode the low- quality packets only, while sleeping during the slots dedicated to the transmission of t he high- quality packets.
H04L 29/06 - Communication control; Communication processing characterised by a protocol
H04N 21/2343 - Processing of video elementary streams, e.g. splicing of video streams or manipulating encoded video stream scene graphs involving reformatting operations of video signals for distribution or compliance with end-user requests or end-user device requirements
H04N 21/2662 - Controlling the complexity of the video stream, e.g. by scaling the resolution or bitrate of the video stream based on the client capabilities
31.
METHOD FOR CONTROLLING OPERATION OF A HEARING DEVICE
A method for controlling operation of a hearing device is shown. The method comprises the steps of: generating a unique identification code for a hearing device; storing said unique identification code on a storage medium on said hearing device; assigning status and/or patient information to said unique identification code. Furthermore, the method comprises a step of receiving status and/or patient information by said hearing device during operation and disabling/enabling operation of said hearing device depending on said status and/or patient information. Further shown is a hearing device with safety function and a computer program product.
The present invention provides a tip-plate assembly for arrangement at a proximal end portion of a hearing device to be worn at least partially within an ear canal such that said proximal end portion faces towards an ear drum. Said tip-plate assembly comprises a tip-plate (9) having a seating aperture (10), a receiver module (5) having a sound output port (6) at a front end (11), and a suspension element (12). Said suspension element (12) at least partly envelopes said receiver module (5) at said front end (11) and said receiver module (5) is mounted in said seating aperture (10) by means of said suspension element (12). Said tip-plate assembly may further comprise a microphone module (15). Moreover, a hearing device comprising such a tip-plate assembly is given, and a method of manufacturing a hearing device comprising such a tip-plate assembly is proposed.
A hearing system (2) and an audio system (3) are jointly used by a user (1). The hearing system (2) presents a secondary sound (19) to the user (1). The audio system (3) functions as a sound source. It transmits a primary sound (17) to the hearing system (2). The secondary sound (19) is generated based on this primary sound (17) and on environment sound. The hearing system (20) is able to recognize user actions (20) by which the user (1) signals that he or she is not content with the sound quality. It determines if the sound quality can be better improved by adjusting the hearing system (2) or the audio system (3) and adjust accordingly. The solution is user-friendly because the user does not have to choose between multiple control buttons. The sound quality may be improved because wanted sources may be selectively amplified.
In accordance with an aspect of the invention, a method of estimating an acoustic transfer quantity representative of a sound pressure transfer to the eardrum is provided, the method comprising the steps of - Measuring, by an ear canal microphone of the hearing instrument, an acoustic signal in the ear canal when a sound signal is emitted into the ear canal by a receiver of the hearing instrument, the ear canal microphone being in acoustic communication with the ear canal; - Determining, from the acoustic signal and from a frequency dependent reference characteristics of the hearing instrument, an ear canal impedance; and - calculating, from the ear canal impedance, an estimate of the acoustic transfer quantity.
The invention relates to a hearing protection earpiece, comprising a shell (14) shaped according to the individual shape of the user's concha (52) and ear canal (54) and having an open hollow lateral portion (68) to be inserted into the user's concha to conform with the user's concha and a medial portion (70) to be inserted into at least an outer portion of the user's ear canal, wherein the medial portion of the shell is axially adjacent to the lateral portion of the shell, wherein the lateral portion of the shell forms part of an open portion (60) of the earpiece and the medial portion of the shell forms part of a closed portion (62, 162) of the earpiece (10, 12, 110), wherein the earpiece is designed to provide for a mechanical sound attenuation of at least 10 dB averaged over the audible frequency range, and wherein the lateral portion of the shell has a wall thickness of not more than 3 mm and is shaped to cover at least half of the concha area.
The present invention is related to the adjusting of a binaural hearing system and devices being operable according to said method. The hearing system comprises two hearing devices (10, 20), each comprising a signal processing unit (12, 22) for processing an audio input signal according to at least one hearing program (P) to provide an output signal being forwarded to an output transducer (13, 23) of the respective hearing device (10, 20). The method comprises the steps of: - determining device information (ACCorr ( P) ipsi, ACCorr ( P) contra) being related to the hearing devices (10, 20) and to at least one hearing device specific adjustment having been applied earlier to the at least one hearing program (P); - calculating synchronization data ( learnt_pref ( P) ) according to a function that depends on the device information (ACCorr ( P) ipsi, ACCorr ( P) contra); and; - synchronizing the hearing devices (10, 20) by taking into account the synchronization data ( learnt_pref ( P) ).
The present invention is related to the ventilation of a metal-air battery for a hearing device. The invention proposes a ventilation element (1) comprising a membrane (2) with at least one vent opening (3) of predetermined geometrical dimension for providing ventilation between the interior of the metal-air battery and its surroundings. Thereby the membrane (2) is obtained by depositing material, wherein the at least one vent opening (3) is a recess clearance in the material.
H01M 12/06 - Hybrid cellsManufacture thereof composed of a half-cell of the fuel-cell type and of a half-cell of the primary-cell type with one metallic and one gaseous electrode
H01M 12/08 - Hybrid cellsManufacture thereof composed of a half-cell of a fuel-cell type and a half-cell of the secondary-cell type
The invention relates to a method for providing sound to at least one user (13), comprising: capturing audio signals and transforming the audio signals into audio data, transmitting audio data, by applying a digital modulation scheme, via a digital wireless link (12, 212) from a transmission unit (10, 110, 210) to at least one receiver unit (14); generating audio signals from the received audio data; and stimulating the hearing of the user(s) according to audio signals supplied from the receiver unit; wherein the audio data is transmitted as audio data packets in separate slots of a TDMA frame structure, wherein the transmission unit and the receiver unit(s) are synchronized to form a wireless network (200) comprising at least the transmission unit and the receiver unit(s) as synchronized network members, wherein each of said TDMA frame structure comprises at least one listening slot (100) during which none of the synchronized network members is allowed to transmit data while at least one of the synchronized network members listens, and wherein control data (102) is transmitted from an external control device (101), which is not a synchronized network member, according to a sequence pattern selected according to the duration and periodicity (tdelta) of the listening slot(s) in order to be received by the at least one of the synchronized network members during said listening slot(s).
Distant support is provided to a personal hearing system user (1) by a support provider (16) over a network (11). Support provider (16) and user (1) communicate with each other by speech transmitted over the network (11). The user (1) depends in regard to understanding speech on his or her hearing aids (2, 3). During the support session the hearing aids (2, 3) may have to be removed, may have to be switched off or may be programmed in an unfavorable way. In this case, the user may not be able to understand the speech of the support provider (16) any more. The system enables the support provider to select a message (13) from a list of available messages (14) which is then presented as a visual image (10) to the user (1). The obstructed acoustical channel is bypassed by relying on visual communication.
A method is proposed for testing a hearing device (1) located at a first location (L1), said hearing device (1) comprising a microphone (2) and a receiver (3) operationally connected to said microphone (2). The proposed method comprises the steps of providing a test signal to a first loudspeaker (4), providing with said first loudspeaker (4) an input audio signal to said microphone (2), sensing with a second microphone (5) an output audio signal from said receiver (3) to provide a second microphone signal, transmitting said second microphone signal from said first location (L1) to a second location (L2) distant from said first location (L1) via a communication network (6) to provide a received second microphone signal, and providing said received second microphone signal to an individual (7) located at said second location (L2). Furthermore, a system is proposed for performing such a method for remotely testing a hearing device (1).
The invention relates to a system for speech enhancement in a room (10), comprising a directional lapel microphone arrangement for capturing an audio signal from a speaker's voice; audio signal processing means (32, 34, 38, 38', 56, 70) for generating a processed audio signal from the captured audio signal, comprising an adaptive beam former unit (32) for imparting a directivity to the microphone arrangement, wherein the maximum sensitivity is towards the speaker's mouth (21) and the minimum sensitivity is towards noise sources as identified by the beam former unit, a unit (38, 38') for shifting the frequency of components of the audio signal above a frequency threshold value only, a feedback cancelling unit (56) comprising an adaptive filter and a selection unit (68) adapted to automatically switch between a first mode in which the audio signal by-passes the adaptive filter when the total acoustic gain or the feedback is below a critical value and a second mode in which the audio signal is filtered by the adaptive filter when the total acoustic gain or the feedback is above said critical value: a loudspeaker arrangement (24) to be located in the room for generating sound according to the processed audio signal and comprising a plurality of loudspeakers (25) arranged to form a directional loudspeaker array.
The present invention is directed to a method and a hearing device for extending a usable frequency range of an analog input signal (i) being processed by a hearing device, the method comprising the steps of converting the analog input signal (i) to a first output signal (o1) and to an intermediate signal (om), the first output signal (o1) having a final sampling rate and the intermediate signal (om) having an intermediate sampling rate that is greater than the final sampling rate, applying a band-pass filter unit (31) to the intermediate signal (om) in order to obtain a filtered intermediate signal (omf), a lower cut-off frequency of the band-pass filter unit (31) being above half the final sampling rate, an upper cut-off frequency of the band-pass filter unit (31) being below half the intermediate sampling rate, and shifting a spectrum of the filtered intermediate signal (omf) to a frequency range being below the final sampling rate to obtain an intermediate output signal (om2).
A method for operating a hearing device by applying a frequency transposition scheme to an input signal of the hearing device comprising an input transducer, a signal processing unit and an output transducer, the method comprising the steps of transforming the input signal from time domain into frequency domain by applying a transformation function in order to obtain an input spectrum having a frequency range comprising a source region (20) and a destination region (30), adaptively selecting signal components of the source region (20) taking into account momentary characteristics of the input signal, transposing the selected signal components to the destination region (30), and supplying the output spectrum or a transformation thereof to the output transducer, the output spectrum comprising signal components of the destination region (30).
The present invention is related to a method for locating a hearing device (10) by means of a remote control (20) and to devices that are operable according to said method. The remote control (20) comprises an output user interface (26) and a receiving unit, which is wirelessly connected to the hearing device (10). The method comprises the steps of: emitting a call signal (SC) by the remote control (20) upon activation; receiving an input signal (SR) by the receiving unit (22), the input signal (SR) being transmitted from the hearing device (10) as a response to the call signal (SC); measuring a signal strength (SS) of the received input signal (SR); forwarding information to the output user interface (26), the information corresponding to the measured signal strength (SS); presenting an indication to the user of the remote control (20), the indication being presented by the output user interface (26) and being indicative of the measured signal strength (SS).
In accordance with an aspect of the invention, a method of processing a signal in a hearing instrument comprises the steps of: calculating a coherence between two microphone signals or microphone combination signals having different directional characteristics, determining an attenuation from the coherence, and applying the attenuation to the signal.
Venting means (24, 25, 26) of an open fitted ear mould (21) which are arranged at the medial end of the ear mould comprising a switch or valve-like element (24, 26), integrated in the ear mould being manually operable for opening or closing the venting means.
A hearing device comprising a locking mechanism for connecting an external component to the hearing device, the locking mechanism comprising a part (2) arranged at or in the housing wall (1) of the hearing device, moveable from or out of the housing wall such that by moving the part back towards the housing wall a section of the part is fixing a connecting element of the external component to the hearing device or housing of the hearing device respectively.
In accordance with an aspect of the invention, a hearing instrument microphone device, in particular a hearing aid microphone device, is provided, the microphone device comprising at least two microphone sound ports (or sound inlets), a pressure difference microphone in communication with at least two of the sound ports and a pressure microphone in communication with at least one of the sound ports, wherein the acoustic centers of the pressure difference microphone and the pressure microphone essentially coincide.
The invention relates to a CIC hearing aid (30) for operation within an ear canal (10) of a user, comprising a lateral module (32), a medial module (34) and a flexible joint assembly (36) connecting the medial end (38) of the lateral module and the lateral end (40) of the medial module in such a manner that the lateral module and the medial module are movable relative to each other in order to follow the shape of the ear canal, wherein the flexible joint assembly is adapted to removably receive an axially extending guide element (68) for temporarily stiffening the flexible joint assembly with regard to bending and/or axial motions when the hearing aid is pushed into the ear canal, and wherein the guide element is adapted to be removed at least from a medial portion (66) of the flexible joint assembly after insertion of the hearing aid.
The invention relates to a method for providing sound to at least one user (13), comprising: supplying audio signals (52) from an audio signal source (17) to a transmission unit (10) comprising a digital transmitter (28) for applying a digital modulation scheme; compressing the audio signals to generate compressed audio data (51, 51 A. 5 IB, 51C); transmitting compressed audio data via a digital wireless link (12) from the transmission unit to at least one receiver unit (14, 14 A, 14B. 14C) comprising at least one digital receiver (61); decompressing the compressed audio data to generate decompressed audio signals (54); and stimulating the hearing of the user(s) according to decompressed audio signals supplied from the receiver unit: wherein during certain time periods transmission of compressed audio data is interrupted in favor of transmission of at least one control data block (50) generated by the transmission unit via the digital wireless link in such a manner that audio data transmission is replaced by control data block transmission, thereby temporarily interrupting a flow of received compressed audio data, each control data block including a marker for being recognized by the at least one receiver unit as a control data block and a command for being used for control of the receiver unit.
The present invention provides a slim sound tube (2) for connecting a sound output port of a behind-the-ear component with a sound input port of an ear mould, wherein said sound tube (2) has a preformed shape and comprises a first end section (2.1) and a second end section (2.2), said first end section (2.1) having an inner diameter in the range of 1.2 mm to 1.6 mm, preferably in the range of 1.3 mm to 1.5 mm, more preferably of approximately 1.4 mm, and an outer diameter in the range of 1.7 mm to 2 mm, and said second end section (2.2) having an outer diameter which is less than the outer diameter of said first end section (2.1). Furthermore, the present invention pertains to a more inconspicuous hearing device with such a slim sound tube (2), to a kit of parts for assembling such a hearing device according to the individual needs of a user as well as a method for affixing such a slim sound tube (2) to an ear mould of such a hearing device.
The present invention is related to a diagnostic method for a hearing device (10), to a hearing device (10) and to further devices that are operable according to said method. The invention proposes a diagnostic method comprising the steps of: - providing life cycle data (LD) comprising a set of at least one parameter that relates to the lifetime of the hearing device (10) or a component thereof; - processing the life cycle data (LD) to provide a diagnostic information (DI); - providing the diagnostic information (DI) as a decision support for a maintenance action of the hearing device (10).
The present invention proposes two alternative methods for remote fitting of one or two hearing devices (5, 5'), i.e. where a hearing device fitter (1) located in a first room (R1) provides remote support to a user (6) of the one or two hearing devices (5, 5') located in a distant second room (R2) in order to adjust the one or two hearing devices (5, 5') to the individual needs of the user (6). According to a first method a voice rendering signal processing is applied to the fitter's voice, thus achieving that the fitter's voice is perceived by the user (6) as if the user (6) were at a virtual user location (L) in the first room (R1) wearing the one or two hearing devices (5, 5'). The same is achieved according to a second, alternative method, wherein the fitter' s voice is picked up by at least one or two microphones of one or two further hearing devices located at the virtual user location (L) at a first position (P1) and/or at a second position (P2).
The present invention proposes a hearing device with a housing and a receiver module which comprises a shell (16) with a cavity (15) having an opening (17), wherein at least part of the shell (16) forms part of the housing, and wherein an electro-acoustic transducer, comprising a motor assembly (2) and an acoustic assembly (3) including a membrane (10), is arranged within the cavity (15), the acoustic assembly (3) being disposed within the shell (16) such that the cavity (15) is divided into a front chamber (12) and a back chamber (13), the motor assembly (2) being disposed within the back chamber (13) and being drivingly connected to the membrane (10), and the front chamber (12) being in acoustic communication with the exterior of the shell (16) via the opening (17). Furthermore, a method for manufacturing such a receiver module is presented.
The present invention proposes a hearing device with a housing and a receiver module which comprises a shell (16) with a cavity having an opening (17), wherein at least part of the shell (16) forms part of the housing, and wherein an electro-acoustic transducer, comprising a motor assembly (2) and an acoustic assembly (3) including a membrane, is arranged within the cavity, the acoustic assembly (3) being disposed within the shell (16) such that the cavity is divided into a front chamber (12) and a back chamber (13), the motor assembly (2) being disposed within the back chamber (13) or the front chamber (12) and being operatively coupled to the membrane, and the front chamber (12) being in acoustic communication with the exterior of the shell (16) via the opening (17), wherein the shell (16) has an outer surface individually shaped according to a measured inner shape of a section of an ear canal of a user of the hearing device. Furthermore, a method for manufacturing such a receiver module is presented.
The method for providing an individual with signals to be auditorily perceived by said individual comprises the steps a) measuring at least one magnitude related to a state of mind of said individual; b) obtaining output audio signals, wherein said output audio signals are dependent on a result of said measuring; c) converting said output audio signals into signals to be auditorily perceived by said individual; and preferably also the step of p) providing data representative of a target state of mind of said individual, wherein said output audio signals are dependent on said data representative of said target state of mind of said individual. The portable appliance comprises a source of audio signals structured and configured for outputting output audio signals; an output converter structured and configured for converting said output audio signals into signals to be auditorily perceived by an individual; a sensing unit structured and configured for sensing at least one magnitude related to a state of mind of said individual; and a control unit operationally interconnected between said sensor and said source of audio signals, wherein said control unit is structured and configured for accomplishing that said output audio signals are dependent on a result of said sensing.
A method for adapting a hearing device (6,7) to the hearing needs and preferences of an individual (U) is presented, wherein sound processing in said hearing device (6,7) is programmable by means of adjustable parameters. The method comprises the steps of a) presenting at least one auditory test signal (Ia) to said individual (U); b) capturing at least one image (2a) of at least a portion of said individual's body; c) analyzing said at least one image (2a); d) deducing from said image analysis whether or not said individual (U) has shown a reaction upon said presenting said at least one auditory test signal (1a) and, if yes, which reaction said individual (U) has shown; e) determining, in dependence of said at least one auditory test signal (1a) and of said reaction or lack of reaction, a setting for at least one of said adjustable parameters.
A hearing system (1) capable of assisting a user of the hearing system (1) to find a location where satisfactory hearing performance is achievable is described. The hearing system (1) comprises at least one hearing device (11, 12) with an input transducer (20), an output transducer (40), and a processing unit (30) operatively connected to the input transducer (20) as well as to the output transducer (40). The hearing system (1) further comprises a first means (50) for determining from a signal of the input transducer (20) at least one parameter (60) representative of a current acoustic environment at a current location, and a second means (40, 200, 201) for indicating to a user of the hearing system (1) a degree of suitability of the current location to achieve satisfactory hearing performance based on the at least one parameter (60).
The invention relates to a mobile microphone assembly (10) comprising at least one microphone (40, 42) for generating an audio signal output (52) from sound impinging on the least one microphone, an acceleration sensor (48) for sensing the acceleration acting on the microphone assembly with regard to three orthogonal axes and for providing for an acceleration signal according to the sensed acceleration, and a control unit (50) for judging, by analyzing the acceleration signal, whether there is a drop-down event of the microphone assembly and for interrupting the audio signal output during a drop-down event.
Distant support is provided to a plurality of personal hearing system users (1, 2, 3) by one or more support providers (11, 12, 13) over a network (10). A sorted and/or tagged list (17) of support requests is shown to a support provider (11). The support provider can accept a support request by selecting it from the list (17). A personal hearing system adjustment user interface is automatically presented to the support provider (11) upon the accepting of a support request. The method and the corresponding system have the advantage that overall quality and efficiency of distant support is increased.
A method for operating a hearing device (1) that is openly coupled to an ear (4) of a hearing device user is described. The method comprising the steps of determining a momentary acoustic situation by processing an input signal of the hearing device (1), selecting a hearing program out of at least two hearing programs in dependence on the determined momentary acoustic situation, at least one of the at least two hearing programs being suitable for calm acoustic situations, and at least another one of the at least two hearing programs being suitable for noisy acoustic situations, applying a gain only above a predefined frequency limit to the input signal of the hearing device (1) if one of the at least one hearing program for calm acoustic situations is selected, and reducing noise in the input signal only in a frequency range within audible frequencies if one of the at least one hearing program for noisy acoustic situations is selected. Therewith, a remarkably better matching of the needs of mild to very mild hearing losses is obtained than with known hearing devices.
The invention relates to a system for providing hearing assistance to at least one user (13), comprising: at least one audio signal source (17, 20, 25, 110); a transmission unit (10) comprising a digital transmitter (28) for applying a digital modulation scheme in order to transmit the audio signals as data packets according to a frame structure from the audio signal source via a wireless digital audio link (12); at least one receiver unit (14) for reception of audio signals from the transmission unit via the digital audio link, wherein the receiver unit is connected to or integrated within an ear- worn device (16) comprising a power source (90) and means (42, 64, 82) for stimulating the hearing of the user(s) according to audio signals supplied from the receiver unit, wherein the receiver unit comprises a digital transceiver (61) which is powered by the power source of the ear- worn device and which is adapted to listen, and optionally transmit, during part of each frame and to sleep during the remainder of the frame; wherein the receiver unit comprises a capacitor (91) connected in parallel to the transceiver for supplying the transceiver during listening or transmission operation with current and for being recharged by the power supply of the ear- worn device and a controlled current source (88, 95, 195) including a control unit (92, 97) for controlling the current (I2) flowing from the power source to the transceiver and the capacitor a manner so as to prevent changes in the current flowing from the power source to the transceiver and the capacitor caused by the transceiver switching between sleeping and listening/transmission operation and vice versa, respectively, which are expected to add an audible noise signal to the audio signals supplied to the stimulation means.
Distant support is provided to a plurality of personal hearing system users (1) by a plurality of support providers (14). Prior to a support, users (1) are paired with providers (14) by storing a pairing information. When starting a support session, the stored pairing information is used to determine a support provider (14). The pairing information may be stored on a special pairing server (9). The pairing information comprises user identifications and/or support provider identifications. During a support session tasks such as remotely fine-tuning the personal hearing system (2, 3, 4) may be carried out. The method and the corresponding system have the advantage that support sessions can be initiated in a user friendly way.
A hearing instrument or earmold is characterized in that in or on the housing or shell a film or display is arranged that reflects light or is capable holding information and e.g. text upon at least short time, occasional or partial activation.
The invention relates to a system for providing sound to at least one user (13), comprising: at least one audio signal source (17, 20, 25, 110A, 110B, 110C) for providing audio signals; a transmission unit (10) comprising a digital transmitter (28) for applying a digital modulation scheme in order to transmit the audio signals as data packets from the audio signal source via a wireless digital audio link (12); at least one receiver unit (14, 14A, 14B, 14C) for reception of audio signals from the transmission unit via the digital audio link, comprising at least one digital receiver (61A, 61B); means (42, 64, 82) for stimulating the hearing of the user(s) according to audio signals supplied from the receiver unit; wherein the transmission unit (10) is adapted to transmit each data packet in a separate slot of a TDMA frame at a different frequency according to a frequency hopping sequence, wherein in at least some of the slots the audio signals are to be transmitted as audio data packets, wherein the same audio packet is to be transmitted at least twice in the same TDMA frame, without expecting acknowledgement messages from receiver unit(s), and wherein the TDMA frames are structured for unidirectional broadcast transmission of the audio data packets, without individually addressing the receiver unit(s).
H04B 7/26 - Radio transmission systems, i.e. using radiation field for communication between two or more posts at least one of which is mobile
H04B 7/06 - Diversity systemsMulti-antenna systems, i.e. transmission or reception using multiple antennas using two or more spaced independent antennas at the transmitting station
66.
WIRELESS SOUND TRANSMISSION SYSTEM AND METHOD USING IMPROVED FREQUENCY HOPPING AND POWER SAVING MODE
Wireless packet transmission system using TDMA and frequency hopping provides sound to a hearing aid device. The hearing aid device passively synchronises to the transmitting audio source unit by listening to the beacon packet that comprises information for hopping sequence synchronisation and for listening to audio and beacon packets. The hearing aid wakes up periodically to listen to the beacon packet. In the unsynchronised phase, the sleep period (or beacon listening period) differs from the beacon transmission period by a certain percentage to allow for final successful reception of the beacon packet. Once the beacon packet has been successfully received, the hearing aid switches into a synchronised mode whereby the reception unit of the hearing aid follows and uses the frequency hopping sequence and timing of the transmission unit.
The invention relates to a system for providing hearing assistance to at least one user (13), comprising a plurality of transmission units (10, 100), each comprising a microphone arrangement (17) for capturing audio signals and a digital transmitter (28, 128) for applying a digital modulation scheme in order to transmit the audio signals as audio data packets via a wireless digital audio link (12, 12'); at least one receiver unit (14, 100) to be worn at or at least in part in the user's ear; a relay unit (15), comprising a mixing unit (38) for mixing the audio signals received from the transmission units into a mixed audio signal and at least one digital transceiver (36, 36', 36A, 36B) for receiving audio signals from the transmission units via the digital audio link and for transmitting the mixed audio signal via the wireless digital audio link as audio data packets to the receiver unit(s), with each receiver unit comprising a digital receiver (48, 128) for reception of audio signals from the relay unit via the digital audio link; means (60, 68) for stimulating the hearing of the user(s) according to audio signals supplied from the receiver unit, wherein the relay unit and each transmission unit is adapted to transmit each audio data packet in at least one allocated separate slot of a TDMA frame at a different frequency according to a frequency hopping sequence.
The invention relates to a system for providing sound to at least one user (13), comprising: at least one audio signal source (17, 20, 25, 110A, 110B, 110C) for providing audio signals; a transmission unit (10) comprising a digital transmitter (28) for applying a digital modulation scheme in order to transmit the audio signals from the audio signal source via a wireless digital audio link (12); at least one receiver unit (14) for reception of audio signals from the transmission unit via the digital audio link, comprising at least two digital receivers (6 IA, 61B), each being connected to a common processing unit (74) and an antenna (38 A, 38B) and including a demodulator (58A, 58B) and a buffer (59A, 59B); means (42, 64, 82) for stimulating the hearing of the user according to audio signals supplied from the processing unit; wherein the wireless link is for transmitting the audio signals as audio data packets, each packet comprising a start frame delimiter (SFD), audio data and a frame check sequence (CRC), wherein each receiver is for receiving, verifying and buffering each of the audio data packets, and wherein the processing unit is adapted to read an audio data packet from the buffer of one of the receivers and, if the packet has been correctly received by that receiver, to flush the buffer of the other one(s) of the receivers and, if the packet has not been correctly received by that receiver, to read the audio data packet from the buffer of another one of the receivers.
H04B 7/26 - Radio transmission systems, i.e. using radiation field for communication between two or more posts at least one of which is mobile
H04B 7/06 - Diversity systemsMulti-antenna systems, i.e. transmission or reception using multiple antennas using two or more spaced independent antennas at the transmitting station
69.
SELF-LEARNING HEARING ASSISTANCE SYSTEM AND METHOD OF OPERATING THE SAME
The invention relates to a method of operating a system for providing hearing assistance to a user (13), comprising: capturing audio signals by a transmission unit (10, 110) comprising a user interface (44) for manual control of the transmission unit and means (46) for storing default values of the setting of at least one operating parameter of the transmission unit, and transmitting the audio signals from the transmission unit via a wireless audio link (12) to a receiver unit (14), with the audio signals being processed in the receiver unit and/or in the transmission unit; stimulating, via stimulation means (64, 82), the user's hearing according to the audio signals from the receiver unit; logging user preference data by recording data concerning the manual operation of the user interface of the transmission unit and by recording data concerning the respective use situation of the transmission unit; evaluating, in the transmission unit, the logged user preference data in order to extract user preferences concerning the use of the transmission unit; and adjusting, in the transmission unit, the stored default values of the setting of said at least one operating parameter of the transmission unit according to said extracted user preferences.
G09B 21/00 - Teaching, or communicating with, the blind, deaf or mute
H04B 1/38 - Transceivers, i.e. devices in which transmitter and receiver form a structural unit and in which at least one part is used for functions of transmitting and receiving
H04W 72/10 - Wireless resource allocation based on priority criteria
The invention relates to a system for providing hearing assistance to at least one user, comprising: at least one audio signal source (116, 120) for providing audio signals; a first transmission unit (110) comprising a digital transmitter (128) for applying a digital modulation scheme to the audio signals from the audio signal source in order to transmit the audio signals via a digital audio link (40); a second transmission unit (10) comprising a digital receiver (28) for receiving the audio signals transmitted via the digital audio link and an analog transmitter (26) for applying an analog modulation scheme to the received audio signals in order to transmit the audio signals via an analog audio link (34); at least one first receiver unit (14) comprising a digital receiver (158) for receiving audio signals from the digital transmitter and at least one second receiver unit (12) comprising an analog receiver (58) for receiving audio signals from the analog transmitter; and first means (42) for stimulating the hearing of a user according to audio signals supplied from the at least one first receiver unit and second means (42) for stimulating the hearing of a user according to audio signals supplied from the at least one second receiver unit.
The invention relates to a hearing system, comprising at least one earpiece (10, 12) to be worn at least partly in a user's ear canal, comprising a shell (22) and an insert unit (24, 124), the shell comprising an inwardly oriented sound tube portion (44) and an outwardly oriented interface portion (40) comprising a receptacle (42) for detachably receiving the insert unit, wherein the insert unit is a filter unit (124) comprising at least one sound attenuation filter (170) or an active electronic unit (24) comprising at least a loudspeaker (30), wherein the interface portion is provided with a laterally projecting holding element (70) extending around the receptacle and wherein an elastic membrane element (72) is stretched over the holding element in a manner so as to cover the receptacle and the insert unit in a liquid-tight manner.
The invention relates to a dynamic hearing protection device to be worn completely in a user's ear canal (10), comprising: a lateral part (32, 36) and a medial part (34, 36) flexibly connected in such a manner that the lateral part and the medial part can bend relative to each other so as to follow the shape of the ear canal, wherein the medial part is to be inserted at least in part into the bony part (16) of the ear canal and comprises an acoustic damping element (70) at its periphery which is adapted to touch the wall (18) of the bony part of the ear canal for attenuating sound impinging on the hearing protection device, wherein the lateral part includes a microphone arrangement (42) including a microphone port (41) for capturing audio signals from ambient sound, wherein the microphone port is to be located at least 1 mm inside the ear canal, wherein the hearing protection device includes a non-replaceable battery (48) and an audio signal processing unit (44) for processing the audio signals captured by the microphone assembly, wherein the medial part includes a loudspeaker (52) for stimulating the user's hearing according to the processed audio signals, and wherein the audio signal processing unit is adapted to provide at least for an attenuation mode in which the gain applied to the audio signals is less than the mechanical acoustic damping provided by the hearing protection device when worn in the ear canal.
A61F 11/08 - Protective devices for the ears internal, e.g. earplugs
G10K 11/178 - Methods or devices for protecting against, or for damping, noise or other acoustic waves in general using interference effectsMasking sound by electro-acoustically regenerating the original acoustic waves in anti-phase
Holding means for arranging and fixing a component such as e.g. a hearing aid or hearing aid related component (7) at or behind the ear, is characterized by a bow-like element (21) attached to the component (7) comprising a holding tip-like member (25) provided to be placed within the concha.
In a process for producing a hearing aid, comprising a housing made out, at least partially, of a metallic or ceramic part using powder injection molding technique (PIM) within the housing (1) at least one additional element (3) made out of a polymeric material is arranged for placing functional parts (5, 7, 13) within or at the housing (1) to reduce complexity of PIM parts and/or to compensate any tolerances due to the PIM process.
B22F 3/22 - Manufacture of workpieces or articles from metallic powder characterised by the manner of compacting or sinteringApparatus specially adapted therefor for producing castings from a slip
75.
METHOD FOR TESTING A HEARING DEVICE AS WELL AS AN ARRANGEMENT FOR TESTING A HEARING DEVICE
A method for testing a hearing device (1, 4) comprising at least one microphone unit (2) and a receiver unit (3) is disclosed. The method comprising the steps of positioning the hearing device (1) at a predefined position in relation to an accessory device (4) comprising a microphone (5) and a loudspeaker (6), generating a first sound signal (7) by the loudspeaker (6), recording the first sound signal (7) by the microphone unit (2), generating a second sound signal (8) by the receiver unit (3), the second sound signal (8) being at least partly dependent on the recorded first sound signal (7), recording the second sound signal (8) by the microphone (5), evaluating the recorded second sound signal (8), and at least triggering further action based on results of evaluating the recorded second sound signal (8) in case the results do not conform to predefined expectation. Furthermore, an arrangement for testing a hearing device (1, 4) is also disclosed.
The present invention proposes a method for operating a hearing device capable of receiving a plurality of input signals (il,..., 15). The method comprises the steps of extracting source identification information embedded in one or more of the input signals (il,..., 15), wherein the source identification information identifies a signal source (Si,..., SN) from which a particular input signal (ii,..., is) originates, and/or extracting audio type information embedded in one or more of the input signals (ii,..., is), wherein the audio type information provides an indication of the type of audio content present in a particular input signal (ii,..., is), selecting from the plurality of input signals (ii,..., is) one or more selected signals to be processed (ui,..., uM), processing the selected signals (ui,..., uM), and generating an output signal (o) of the hearing device by said processing of the selected signals (ui,..., uM). Thereby, the step of selecting is at least partly dependent on the extracted source identification information and/or the extracted audio type information, and/or wherein the step of processing is at least partly dependent on the extracted source identification information and/or the extracted audio type information. A corresponding hearing device is also disclosed.
The invention relates to a system for speech enhancement in a room (10), comprising: a microphone arrangement (12) comprising at least two spaced apart microphones (12 A, 12B) for capturing audio signals from a speaker's voice, an acoustic beamforming unit (28) for processing the captured audio signals in a manner so as to impart one of a plurality of different directional patterns to the microphone arrangement; a feedback cancellation unit (30) for applying a feedback cancellation algorithm to the processed audio signals and for providing a feedback status signal indicating how close an acoustic feedback loop (12, 17, 20, 22, 24, 28, 30, 40, 46) of the system is to feedback; means (20, 22) for amplifying the processed audio signals; a loudspeaker arrangement (24) to be located in the room for generating sound according to the amplified audio signals; and means (36) for selecting the directional pattern imparted to the microphone arrangement as a function of the feedback status signal.
The invention relates to a system for providing hearing assistance to a user (13), comprising at least one audio signal transmission unit (10A, 10B, 10C) comprising an audio signal source (17) and means for transmitting audio signals (19A, 19C, 19C) from the audio signal source via a wireless RF link (12); a left ear receiver unit (14B) and a right ear receiver unit (14A), wherein each receiver unit is connected to or comprises means (60, 68) for stimulating the user's hearing and comprises means (46, 48) for receiving an RF signal from the transmission unit(s) via the wireless RF link, and means (70) for measuring at least one parameter of the RF signal as received from the transmission unit(s) at the respective receiver unit in order to create left ear RF signal measurement data and right ear RF signal measurement data, respectively; means (40, 140) for estimating the angular localization of each transmission unit by comparing, for each transmission unit, the left ear RF signal measurement data and the right ear RF signal measurement data, and means (38, 138) for processing the audio signals received from the transmission unit(s) via the wireless RF link by distributing the audio signals onto a left ear channel to be supplied via the left ear receiver unit to the left ear stimulating means and a right ear channel to be supplied via the right ear receiver unit to the right ear stimulating means according to the estimated angular localization of each transmission unit in a manner so that the angular localization impression of the audio signals from each transmission unit as perceived by the user corresponds to the estimated angular localization of the respective transmission unit.
The present invention relates to a hearing device comprising a microphone (1) wherein the microphone (1) comprises a first opening (8), a second opening (9) and at least three compartments (2, 3, 4), a first membrane (6) being arranged between the first and the second compartment (2; 3) and a second membrane (7;) at least partly covering the third compartment (4), wherein the second and the third compartments (3, 4) are connected in communicative manner via a canal (11).
H04R 1/38 - Arrangements for obtaining desired frequency or directional characteristics for obtaining desired directional characteristic only by using a single transducer with sound reflecting, diffracting, directing or guiding means in which sound waves act upon both sides of a diaphragm and incorporating acoustic phase-shifting means, e.g. pressure-gradient microphone
In an electric or electronic device containing a battery for power supply the battery is a solid state battery based on thin film technology, the battery is at least partially responsible for the shape of the electric or electronic device.
The present invention is related to the adjusting of a hearing device (1) to the hearing preferences of a user of said hearing (1). The hearing device (1) comprises an input transducer (20) for providing an electrical signal that corresponds to an acoustical input signal, a processing unit (10) for processing the electrical signal according to a set of process parameters (G1,..., Gn) to provide an intermediate signal, and an output transducer (30) for providing an output signal to the user of said hearing device (1), wherein the output signal corresponds to the intermediate signal. The method comprises the step of providing a set of adjustment parameters (A1,..., Am), which, at least partly, represents an individual hearing characteristic of the user of said hearing device (1) and the further step of adapting the set of process parameters (G1,...,Gn) as a function of an adjustment control signal (ACS) and the set of adjustment parameters (A1,..., Am).
The invention relates to a hearing instrument comprising: an audio signal source (12, 14A, 14B) for providing for audio signals; an audio signal processing unit (16) for processing said audio signals; means (20) to be worn at or in a user's ear or to be implanted in the user's head for stimulating the user's hearing according to the processed audio signals, and a rechargeable power source (22, 122), wherein the rechargeable power source is a wound capacitor comprising a capacitor foil arrangement (23, 123) which comprises at least a first electrically conducting layer (32, 132), a second electrically conducting layer (34, 134) and a dielectric layer (36, 136) in-between and which is wound in a manner so as to form an induction coil (24) for generating a current for charging of the capacitor when exposed to an external alternating electromagnetic field generated by a charging device (30).
A method for adjusting a hearing device (1) to individual needs of a hearing device user is disclosed. The hearing device (1) comprises an input transducer (2), a signal processing unit (3) and an output transducer (4), the signal processing unit (3) being operatively connected to the input transducer (2) as well as to the output transducer (4), and the signal processing unit (3) defining an input /output behavior of the hearing device (1). The method comprising the steps of operationally connecting the hearing device (1) to a fitting device (5) comprising a display unit (6), displaying a hearing threshold level (22) of the hearing device user as a function of frequencies on the display unit (6), displaying characteristics of a predefined sound sample (25, 30) on the display unit (6), and adjusting the input/output behavior such that at least a part of the predefined sound sample (25, 30) lies above the hearing threshold level (22) at corresponding frequencies. An arrangement for adjusting a hearing device (1) is also disclosed.
The invention relates to a method of providing dynamic hearing protection to a user, comprising: measuring the open ear resonance of an ear canal of the user or an ear canal (56) approximating the user' ear canal, without a hearing protection device being worn in the ear canal, as a function of the angle of sound incidence; measuring the open ear resonance of the ear canal of the user or an ear canal approximating the user' ear canal, with a hearing protection device (10, 12) being worn in the ear canal, as a function of the angle of sound incidence; forming the difference between the two measurements order to determine a hearing protection device specific differential head related transfer function; inserting the hearing protection device into the user's ear canal; capturing audio signals from ambient sound emitted by a sound source by a microphone arrangement (19) of the hearing protection device; determining the angle of incidence of the sound emitted by the sound source; processing the captured audio signals by applying a frequency dependent gain function to the captured audio signals selected according to the determined angle of sound incidence to the audio signals, wherein each of the gain functions is determined by inverting said hearing protection device specific differential head related transfer function for the respective angle of sound incidence; and stimulating the user's hearing via the hearing protection device according to the processed audio signals.
G10K 11/178 - Methods or devices for protecting against, or for damping, noise or other acoustic waves in general using interference effectsMasking sound by electro-acoustically regenerating the original acoustic waves in anti-phase
A61F 11/14 - Protective devices for the ears external, e.g. earcaps or earmuffs
85.
METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR PROVIDING HEARING ASSISTANCE TO A USER
The invention relates to a method for providing hearing assistance to a user, comprising: capturing input audio signals by a microphone arrangement (42); estimating a speech level of the input audio signals and an ambient noise level of the input audio signals; applying a gain model to the input audio signals in order to transform the input audio signals into filtered audio signals, wherein, for a each ambient noise level, the gain varies as a function of the speech level and wherein the function varies according the ambient noise level in such a manner that the ratio of the gain at low speech levels and at high speech levels changes as a function of the ambient noise level; transmitting the filtered audio signals by a transmission unit (10) via a wireless audio link (34) to a receiver unit (14, 36, 38) comprising or being connected to means (18, 26) for stimulating the hearing of a user, the stimulating means being worn at or in the user's ear; and stimulating the user's hearing by the stimulating means according to the audio signals supplied by the receiver unit.
A hearing instrument with separated hearing device (1) and receiver (5) is characterised in that the receiver comprising a sound outlet (7) provided such to introduce the sound direct into the ear channel (19) or into an earmold.
The invention relates to a hearing instrument receiver system for operation in an ear canal (10) of a user for converting audio signals into sound, comprising a lateral receiver (42), a medial receiver (44) and a flexible joint assembly (46) connecting the medial end of the lateral receiver and the lateral end of the medial receiver in such a manner that the lateral receiver and the medial receiver are pivotable relative to each other in order to follow the shape of the ear canal.
The hearing device (1) comprises a hearing device body (1a); a battery door movably connected to the hearing device body; comprised in the hearing device body: a connector (2) comprising N ≥ 1 electrical contacts (6) and hearing device circuitry (10); comprised in the battery door (5) : a user interface (7) comprising one or more user controls (8), and M ≥ 1 contacting elements (9) operationally connected to the one or more user controls (8); wherein: the battery door (5) is movable from an open position into a closed position and vice versa. When the battery door (5) is in the closed position, a permanent electrical contact is present between at least one of the M contacting elements (9) and at least one of the N electrical contacts (6). The connector (2) is configured to enable to provide, when the battery door (5) is in the open position, an operational connection between the hearing device (1) and an appliance external to the hearing device (1).
The invention relates to a bone conduction hearing aid system, comprising: a right ear microphone arrangement (12A) and a left ear microphone arrangement (12B); a right ear signal processing unit (14A) and a left ear signal processing unit (14B) for processing the audio signals captured by the right ear microphone arrangement and the left ear microphone arrangement, respectively, from ambient sound; a right ear bone conduction output transducer (16A) for stimulating the user's right ear cochlea (20A) according to right ear output audio signals, and a left ear bone conduction output transducer (16B) for stimulating the user's left ear cochlea (20B) according to left ear output audio signals; a right ear cross-talk compensation filter unit (18A) for generating a right ear cross-talk compensation signal from the processed audio signals of the right ear signal processing unit according to an estimated transcranial transfer function (B12) from the right ear bone conduction output transducer to the left ear cochlea, and a corresponding left ear cross-talk compensation filter unit (18B); and means (22A, 28B, 30A, 30B, 32A, 32B) for subtracting the left ear cross-talk compensation signal from the processed audio signals of the right ear signal processing unit in order to generate the right ear output audio signals, and means (22B, 28B, 30A, 30B, 32A, 32B) for subtracting the right ear cross-talk compensation signal from the processed audio signals of the left ear signal processing unit in order to generate the left ear output audio signals.
The hearing device (1) comprises a behind-the-ear module (2) and an in-the-ear module (11) connected by a connector (12). A light emitting (4) and/or a light detecting (5) device are arranged in close proximity of an end (13) of the connector (12). The connector (12) functions as a light guide such that light (6) from the light emitting device (4) is emitted at sections (7) where the connector (12) has a rough surface. The hearing device (1) is less costly and more user friendly than a conventional one because there is no need for transparent windows in the casing and the location of light emission can be chosen more freely, for example half-way between the behind-the-ear module (2) and the in-the-ear module (11).
A method for operating a hearing system (1) is described, the hearing system comprising a signal processor (12) controlled by settings of sound processing parameters referred to as current settings, wherein the current settings are stored in a first memory unit (18), and a second memory unit (19) comprises former settings. The method comprises a) replacing the current settings in the first memory unit (18) by the former settings upon operation of a reset user control (4); and bl) automatically replacing the former settings by new former settings upon receiving a request for adjusting at least one setting of the current settings from an operation of a programming user control, provided that no adjustment to the current settings has been carried out for at least a pre-defined time span (δt) up to the receiving of that request; or b2 ) automatically replacing the former settings by new former settings upon receiving a request for adjusting at least one setting of the current settings from an operation of a programming user control, provided that a difference between the current settings and the former settings caused by one or more adjustments to the current settings carried out during a pre-defined time span (δt) up to the receiving of that request is larger than a pre-defined difference.
A hearing device (1) comprising a housing (10) position- able behind an ear of a hearing device user, the housing (10) comprising at least one acoustical/electrical transducer (9), an ear piece (5) comprising a sound outlet, the ear piece (5) being position-able in the ear canal of the hearing device user, a connecting element (6) for interconnecting the housing (10) and the ear piece (5). The inventive hearing is characterized in that the connecting element (6) comprises a proximal section (3) and a distal section (4), one end of the proximal section (3) being connected to the housing (10) and one end of the distal section (4) being connected to the ear piece (5), that a tube element (7) extends along the proximal section (3), the tube element (7) comprising a first sound inlet (8), and that the tube element (7) is operationally connected to one of the at least one acoustical/electrical transducer (9) to pick up sound via the first sound inlet (8).
Method for operating a hearing device (1) that is worn by a hearing device user (2), the method comprising the steps of receiving a transmission signal (4) comprising an audio signal (4) of a sound sources (S), determining a distance (d) between the sound source (S) and the hearing device (1), and generating an output signal supplied to an output transducer (8) of the hearing device (1) by at least taking into account the audio signal (4) of the transmission signal (3) and the distance (d). Further embodiments are directed to determining an angle (α) defined by a sagittal plane (5) of the hearing device user (2) and a line drawn between the hearing device (1) and the sound source (S). The angle (α) is additionally used to generate the output signal supplied to the output transducer (8) of the hearing device (1).
The device (2) is structured and configured for programming a hearing device (10), and it is in addition structured and configured for charging an energy storage unit (19) of a hearing device (10) and/or comprises a compartment (39) for retaining at least one energy storage unit (19) for use in said hearing device (10). The system (1) comprises such a device (2) plus said hearing device (10). The method comprises programming a hearing device (10) and providing energy for the operation of said hearing device (10), wherein one and the same device (2) is used for carrying out said steps, in particular wherein said programming and said providing said energy are carried out simultaneously. Said providing energy for the operation of said hearing device (10) can comprise supplying said hearing device (10) with energy for its operation and in particular transferring energy from said device (2) to said hearing device (10).
The method for configuring at least two devices of a hearing system (10) using a communication channel comprises the steps of a1) providing, using said communication channel, a first (11) of said devices with a request (R1) for the execution (El) of at least one first configuring command in said first device (11); b1) executing (El) said at least one first configuring command in said first device (11); a2) providing, using said communication channel, a second (12) of said devices with a request (R2) for the execution of at least one second configuring command in said second device (12); wherein step a2) is started before step bl) is completed, in particular wherein step a2) is completed before step bl) is completed. This way, time can be saved in configuring two or more devices (11;12;13) of a hearing system (10).
The method for adjusting a hearing system to individual hearing needs and preferences of a specific hearing system user by means of a fitting system comprising a visual display comprises : a) presenting on the visual display a visualization (33) simultaneously visualizing — for each of a group of data sets : whether or not the respective data set is accessible to a user of said fitting system; and — for each device selected in said fitting system to be part of said hearing system: whether or not the respective device is accessible to a user of said fitting system; by b1) displaying on the visual display a graphics object (33a, 33b,...)representing the respective data set or device, in case the respective data set and the respective device, respectively, is accessible to a user of said fitting system; and b2) not displaying on said visual display a graphics object (33a, 33b,...)representing the respective data set or device, in case the respective data set and the respective device, respectively, is not accessible to a user of said fitting system.
A hearing device for musicians combines customary hearing device operation and tuning ability to help the musician in tuning his instrument or voice. Based on system clock (7) the digital signal processing unit (3) of the hearing device synthesizes a reference signal at tuning frequency (fo). The resulting tuning signal is switched on the output converter (5) of the hearing device. So as to allow intermittent hearing of the tuning reference signal and of the tone as played by the instrument, a timing unit (6) may be provided so as to control when the reference signal is heard and when, by customary function of the hearing device, the tone as played is heard.
The present invention provides a system that allows an easy and quick exchange of small batteries of hearing devices as well as a method for exchanging a battery of a hearing device that combines the installation of a new battery into the hearing device with the deinstallation of the battery to be replaced from the hearing device in a single action using a single mechanism. The inventive battery exchange system comprises a carrier module 1, which features a hearing device receiving means shaped to receive a part of a hearing device 4 and a battery passage that traverses the carrier module 1, a battery dispensing module 2 adapted to accommodate at least one battery 7 and a battery ejection means 3 adapted to eject a battery 7 from the battery dispensing module 2 into the battery passage of the carrier module 1.
A method for monitoring a fit of a hearing device (1) that is at least partially inserted into an ear canal of a hearing device user is described. The method comprises the steps of estimating a feedback measure reflecting behavior between a receiver (4) and a microphone (2) of the hearing device (1) inserted into an ear, comparing the estimated feedback measure with a predetermined feedback measure, and indicating a misfit once the comparison of the estimated feedback measure with the predetermined feedback measure shows that the hearing device (1) is not properly inserted into the ear canal of the hearing device user.
A method is described for monitoring a link (6; 6', 6") between a hearing device (1; 2) and at least one further device (2; 8; 9). The method comprises the step of monitoring the link (6; 6', 6") between the hearing device (1; 2) and the at least one further device (2; 8; 9) and the step of indicating an interruption of the link (6; 6', 6") to a user of the hearing device (1; 2) as soon as the link (6; 6', 6") is interrupted. An interruption of the link () means that at least one of the hearing device () and the least one further device () is lost if the battery status for all the devices is high enough. Furthermore, a hearing system is also described.
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