| Entries |
| Document | Title | Date |
|---|
| 20080247577 | Method for reducing noise using trainable models - The object is to improve the effect of a noise reduction algorithm for hearing apparatuses and in particular hearing aids. This is achieved by a method wherein the input signal is modeled by a wanted signal model and a noise signal model. In addition, a signal statistic of the input signal is recorded in a data logging unit. The wanted signal model and/or the noise signal model can now be changed as a function of said signal statistic. Finally the noise component of the input signal is reduced using the noise signal model and/or the wanted signal model. This means that the models used can be continuously adapted to the hearing apparatus user's current situation. | 10-09-2008 |
| 20090087005 | Fully automatic switching on/off in hearing aids - In a hearing aid system comprising two hearing aids between which wireless signal transmission is provided. The hearing aids are automatically switched on and off. To this end, a field strength or value of an electromagnetic signal received by a hearing aid that is transmitted from the respective other hearing aid may be determined. The determined value is compared with a threshold value, the relevant hearing aid being switched off (sleep mode), as long as the field strength is greater than the threshold value and the hearing aid being switched on as long as the measured field strength is lower than the threshold value. | 04-02-2009 |
| 20090123009 | METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING ACOUSTICAL DEVICES AND FOR REDUCING ESPECIALLY WIND DISTURBANCES - A method for manufacturing an acoustical device, especially a hearing device. A device casing is provided with an acoustical/electrical input converter arrangement with an electric output. An audio signal processing unit establishes audio signal processing of the device according to individual needs and/or purpose of the device. At least one electrical/mechanical output converter is provided. A filter arrangement with adjustable high-pass characteristic has a control input for the characteristic. The following operational connections are established: between the output of the input converter arrangement and the input of the filter arrangement, between the output of the filter arrangement and the control input, between said output of the filter arrangement and the input of the processing unit, between the output of the processing unit and the input of the at least once output converter. | 05-14-2009 |
| 20090154746 | Method for Attenuating Interfering Noise and Corresponding Hearing device - Transient interfering sounds are to have a less disturbing effect in hearing devices. For this purpose, it is provided that an envelope curve of an input signal of a hearing device, particularly of a hearing aid, is detected. The slope and/or the height of edges of the envelope curve is continuously determined. The output signal of the hearing device is then attenuated in dependence on the slope and/or height of the respective edge determined. Transient sounds of high level are thus transmitted only in an attenuated manner by the hearing device. | 06-18-2009 |
| 20090180652 | Tinnitus rehabilitation device and method - A tinnitus method and device for providing relief to a person suffering from the disturbing effects of tinnitus is described. The method can be implemented entirely in software to spectrally modify an audio signal in accordance with a predetermined masking algorithm which modifies the intensity of the audio signal at selected frequencies. A predetermined masking algorithm is described which provides intermittent masking of the tinnitus wherein, at a comfortable listening level, during peaks of the audio signal the tinnitus is completely obscured, whereas during troughs the perception of the tinnitus occasionally emerges. In practice it has been found that such intermittent masking provides an immediate sense of relief, control and relaxation for the person, whilst enabling sufficient perception of the tinnitus for habituation and long term treatment to occur. Advantageously the predetermined masking algorithm is specifically tailored to the audiometric configuration of the person. For example, the masking algorithm may be partly tailored to the hearing loss characteristic of the person. A tinnitus rehabilitation device used in conjunction with a personal sound reproducing system is also described. | 07-16-2009 |
| 20090208044 | HEARING DEVICE, HEARING AID SYSTEM, METHOD OF OPERATING A HEARING AID SYSTEM AND USE OF A HEARING AID DEVICE - A hearing device ( | 08-20-2009 |
| 20090220114 | HEARING AID NOISE REDUCTION METHOD, SYSTEM, AND APPARATUS - A computer-implemented method including receiving a first signal from an input device of a hearing aid. The first signal may include a noise signal. The computer-implemented method may include low-pass filtering first periodic samples of the first signal, and the first periodic samples may be approximately periodic with respect to a period of the noise signal. The computer-implemented method may further include low-pass filtering second periodic samples of the first signal, and the second periodic samples may be approximately periodic with respect to the period of the noise signal. The second periodic samples may also be phase shifted relative to the first periodic samples. Hearing aid systems and apparatuses are also disclosed. | 09-03-2009 |
| 20090252358 | Multi-stage estimation method for noise reduction and hearing apparatus - The noise reduction for signals which can contain speech at least part of the time is to be improved. To this end a hearing apparatus and especially a hearing device with a first estimation device for estimating a first value of an input signal with a first estimation algorithm and a noise reduction device for reducing noise in the input signal are provided. A second estimation device, which is parameterized with the estimated first value, is used for estimating a second value of the input signal with a second estimation algorithm. The noise reduction device receives the estimated second value from the second estimation device for reducing the noise. The two-stage estimation method enables an adaptive estimation to be carried out which is always currently adapted to an input signal. | 10-08-2009 |
| 20090257609 | Method for Noise Reduction and Associated Hearing Device - The invention specifies a method for noise reduction of an input signal of a hearing device. The cepstrum coefficients of the input signal, of the changed input signal and/or of at least one parameter obtained from the input signal are modified. The modified cepstral coefficients are used for formation of an output signal from the input signal. The output signal has reduced noise in relation to the input signal. With instationary noises in particular, an estimation is improved and an improved auditive quality is achieved for the hearing device. | 10-15-2009 |
| 20090290734 | HEARING APPARATUS WITH AN EQUALIZATION FILTER IN THE FILTER BANK SYSTEM - Multi-stage filter bank systems with filter banks of different bandwidth frequently cause interference in hearing apparatuses and in particular in hearing devices. Therefore a hearing apparatus is proposed with a filter bank system having a multi-stage analysis filter bank and/or a multi-stage synthesis filter bank, to break down an input signal of the hearing apparatus into a number of partial band signals by way of a number of filter bank channels and/or to recombine partial band signals of a number of filter bank channels. The filter bank system is equipped with at least one equalization filter, to equalize differences in the complex frequency responses between filter bank channels. It is thus possible in particular to equalize group delay time differences as well as attenuation and/or amplification | 11-26-2009 |
| 20090304215 | HEARING AID AND A METHOD FOR ENHANCING SPEECH INTELLIGIBILITY - A hearing aid ( | 12-10-2009 |
| 20100034406 | Method for Operating a Hearing Aid, And Hearing Aid - The invention relates to a method for operating a hearing aid. A local source operating mode is established by a signal processing section of the hearing aid for tracking and selecting a local acoustic source of an ambient sound. Electrical acoustic signals from which the local acoustic source is determined by the signal processing section are generated by the hearing aid from the detected ambient sound. The local acoustic source is selectively taken into account by the signal processing section in an output sound of the hearing aid such that the local acoustic source is at least acoustically prominent and is therefore better perceived compared to another acoustic source for a hearing aid wearer. | 02-11-2010 |
| 20100104123 | METHOD FOR ADJUSTING A HEARING DEVICE AND CORRESPONDING HEARING DEVICE - A method for adjusting a hearing device, in particular a hearing aid, to an individual user, includes firstly recording data relating to at least one setting of the hearing device together with direct or indirect temporal information. Thereupon, a period of time during which the at least one setting was/is active is automatically determined. Finally, at least one parameter of the hearing device is automatically adapted as a function of the determined period of time and the at least one setting. This affords the possibility of adapting, for example, time constants according to individual usage. A corresponding hearing device is also provided. | 04-29-2010 |
| 20100128909 | Apparatus having hearing aid - A portable terminal includes an apparatus capable of providing a hearing aid service. The apparatus includes a sensor configured to measure a spatial tilt of the portable terminal. The apparatus also includes a controller that determines whether a left ear or a right ear is used for communication based on the measured spatial tilt of the portable terminal. An audio signal processor compensates an audio signal according to the characteristic of determined ear. | 05-27-2010 |
| 20100128910 | FILTER BANK SYSTEM HAVING SPECIFIC STOP-BAND ATTENUATION COMPONENTS FOR A HEARING AID - The circuit complexity or the filter order, respectively, of an analysis/synthesis filter bank system especially for hearing aids is to be reduced. For this reason, the stop-band attenuation of at least one of the transfer functions of the analysis filter bank is composed of a separately configurable, frequency-independent analysis pass-band attenuation component and a separately configurable frequency-dependent analysis attenuation component. Furthermore, the stop-band attenuation of at least one of the transfer functions of the synthesis filter bank is composed of a separately configurable, frequency-independent synthesis pass-band attenuation component, a separately configurable, frequency-dependent first synthesis attenuation component and a separately configurable, frequency-dependent second synthesis attenuation component which is also dependent on the manipulation of the sub-band signals. As a result, the stop-band attenuation can be reduced in dependence on frequency and the filter order can be correspondingly reduced. | 05-27-2010 |
| 20100172527 | HEARING AID HAVING IMPROVED RF IMMUNITY TO RF ELECTROMAGNETIC INTERFERENCE PRODUCED FROM A WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS DEVICE - A hearing aid has improved immunity to RF electromagnetic interference produced from wireless communications devices. A microphone receives audio signals from the environment. Audio circuitry is connected to the microphone and amplifies the audio signals. A speaker is connected to the audio circuitry and directs the audio signals into an ear canal of the user of the hearing aid. The audio connection lines connect the microphone and audio circuitry and the speaker and audio circuitry. A filter is connected into each of the audio connection lines and operative for reducing the RF coupling from a wireless communications device. | 07-08-2010 |
| 20100177916 | Method for Determining Unbiased Signal Amplitude Estimates After Cepstral Variance Modification - A method for determining unbiased signal amplitude estimates ( | 07-15-2010 |
| 20100183177 | USER-ADAPTABLE HEARING AID COMPRISING AN INITIALIZATION MODULE - The invention relates to a hearing aid to be arranged at and/or in an ear, comprising a microphone for converting acoustic signals into electrical signals, a hearing module for providing the electrical signals, a loudspeaker for converting the electrical signals outputted from the hearing module into acoustic signals. The hearing module comprises a means for noise suppression effecting a noise estimation to determine a signal-dependent filter and to provide a noise-reduced output signal. | 07-22-2010 |
| 20100183178 | BLIND SOURCE SEPARATION METHOD AND ACOUSTIC SIGNAL PROCESSING SYSTEM FOR IMPROVING INTERFERENCE ESTIMATION IN BINAURAL WIENER FILTERING - A method and an acoustic signal processing system for noise reduction of a binaural microphone signal (x | 07-22-2010 |
| 20100189293 | ENVIRONMENT ADAPTIVE TYPE HEARING AID - There is provided an environment adaptive type hearing aid capable of reducing the erroneous estimation of an ambient environment or the unnecessary changeover of a hearing aid process. The environment adaptive type hearing aid includes an input section ( | 07-29-2010 |
| 20100195855 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR IMPROVING THE SIGNAL-TO-NOISE RATIO OF A MEASURING SIGNAL DETECTED BY A HEARING DEVICE - An apparatus and an associated method for improving the signal-to-noise ratio of a measuring signal emitted and detected by a hearing device include a generator unit for generating a measuring signal, a modulation unit for modulating the measuring signal prior to or during emission in such a way that the detected measuring signal is modulated according to the generated measuring signal, and a detection unit for detecting the measuring signal on the basis of the modulation. The result of a measurement, for instance an OLG measurement, is therefore more independent of external disturbances and the signal-to-noise ratio is increased. | 08-05-2010 |
| 20100195856 | METHOD FOR DETERMINING THE ACOUSTIC FEEDBACK BEHAVIOR OF A HEARING DEVICE ON THE BASIS OF GEOMETRIC DATA OF AN EAR - A method at least partially determines acoustic feedback of a hearing device worn by a hearing device wearer. The method includes a detection of the geometry of the auditory canal and/or the concha of the ear of the hearing device wearer and a determination of the feedback from the detected geometry. The thus determined feedback can also be used to adjust a hearing device. This is advantageous in that a measurement of the feedback does not have to be implemented. | 08-05-2010 |
| 20100195857 | HEARING AID WITH INTERFERENCE COMPENSATION AND METHOD FOR CONFIGURATING THE HEARING AID - For reducing the influence of interference fields on hearing aids, a hearing aid is provided with an electronic component into which a first and a second electromagnetic disturbance component can be injected by providing a predetermined electromagnetic interference field. The electrical component is formed asymmetric and/or a compensation component is arranged on the electrical component such that the first and the second interference components largely compensate for one another. A compensation plate or an element which is provided in any case, such as a microphone, may be used as the compensation component. If the electrical component is a coil, then its core may, for example, be conical or configured such that its winding density varies. | 08-05-2010 |
| 20100202640 | Exterior power supply for hearing aid - An exterior power supply consists a positive and negative power contacts located in the hearing aid, a wire, and a power supply. The electrode contacts use two pieces of thin plate connecting to the wire, which passes through the battery container without modifying the structure of the hearing aid. At the other end of the wire is the power supply that can be a combination of a solar cell with a chargeable battery, or a normal small battery. The multi-functional power supply has a circuit offering an electricity conduction circuit, an auto loud noise control circuit detecting background noise volume and being stopped temporarily as though the noise is overloaded and started automatically once the background noise volume is back to the normal level, and a voltage regulator circuit to control an output voltage always be 1.4 V. | 08-12-2010 |
| 20100220880 | HEARING AID COMPRISING PARTS MADE OF ELECTRICALLY CONDUCTIVE AND SIMULTANEOUSLY SOUND-ABSORBENT MATERIAL - A hearing aid has parts made of electrically conductive and simultaneously sound-absorbent material. These parts are at the same time used as sound-absorbent elements of the design of the hearing aid, the housing thereof or the components thereof and as electrical contacts. | 09-02-2010 |
| 20100220881 | APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR REDUCING IMPACT SOUND EFFECTS FOR HEARING APPARATUSES WITH ACTIVE OCCLUSION REDUCTION - The invention specifies a hearing apparatus ( | 09-02-2010 |
| 20100226515 | HEARING APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR REDUCING AN INTERFERENCE NOISE FOR A HEARING APPARATUS - A noise reduction is provided for a hearing apparatus, with which both stationary and also non-stationary interference noises can be attenuated in an input signal. An output signal is in this way to convey a quite sound impression. A signal processing is provided, which effects a noise reduction on the basis of two different methods. Provision is made on the one hand for a noise reduction for stationary interference noises and on the other hand for a noise reduction for spatially oriented interference noises. A selection facility selects between the two noise reductions. | 09-09-2010 |
| 20100232633 | HEARING AID AND A METHOD OF MANAGING A LOGGING DEVICE - A hearing aid ( | 09-16-2010 |
| 20100266152 | METHOD AND ACOUSTIC SIGNAL PROCESSING DEVICE FOR ESTIMATING LINEAR PREDICTIVE CODING COEFFICIENTS - A method and an appropriate acoustic signal processing device estimate a set of linear predictive coding coefficients of a microphone signal using minimum mean-square error estimation with a codebook containing several predetermined sets of linear predictive coding coefficients. The method includes determining sums of weighted backward transition probabilities describing the transition probabilities between the predetermined sets of linear predictive coding coefficients. The backward transition probabilities are obtained from signal training data by mapping the signal training data to one set of the codebook and by determining relative frequencies of transitions between two of the sets of the codebook. Modelling the “memory” of the codebook has the advantage that the accuracy of estimating linear predictive coding coefficients is increased considerably also for speech components. | 10-21-2010 |
| 20100284557 | FREQUENCY TRANSLATION BY HIGH-FREQUENCY SPECTRAL ENVELOPE WARPING IN HEARING ASSISTANCE DEVICES - Disclosed herein, among other things, is a system for frequency translation by high-frequency spectral envelope warping in hearing assistance devices. The present subject matter relates to improved speech intelligibility in a hearing assistance device using frequency translation by high-frequency spectral envelope warping. The system described herein implements an algorithm for performing frequency translation in an audio signal processing device for the purpose of improving perceived sound quality and speech intelligibility in an audio signal when presented using a system having reduced bandwidth relative to the original signal, or when presented to a hearing-impaired listener sensitive to only a reduced range of acoustic frequencies. | 11-11-2010 |
| 20100329492 | METHOD FOR REDUCING NOISE IN AN INPUT SIGNAL OF A HEARING DEVICE AS WELL AS A HEARING DEVICE - A method for reducing noise in an input signal ( | 12-30-2010 |
| 20110007917 | Two Chip Solution Band Filtering - A behind the ear earpiece | 01-13-2011 |
| 20110013791 | NOISE REDUCTION IN AUDITORY PROSTHESES - A method of processing audio signals for an auditory prosthesis is provided. The method includes a noise reduction step ( | 01-20-2011 |
| 20110013792 | HEARING AID - A hearing aid comprises a noise suppressor that calculates noise suppression gain, an adjustment amount calculator that calculates an adjustment amount on the basis of a signal strength and a noise component strength, and a nonlinear compressor that calculates a reference gain on the basis of a signal strength and specific reference gain information and adjusts the reference gain on the basis of an adjustment amount, thereby calculating a nonlinear compression gain. | 01-20-2011 |
| 20110069852 | Hearing Aid - A hearing aid ( | 03-24-2011 |
| 20110069853 | Auditory Front End Customization - A method and system for implementing an acoustical front end customization are disclosed. The customization is implemented to optimize the sound level for each individual cochlear implant user. A known audio signal is generated using a sound source and captured by a microphone system. The captured sound signal is sampled at one or more locations along the signal processing pathway, and a spectrum is determined for the sampled signal and the known signal. A ratio of the two spectrums is related to the undesired transformation of the sampled signal, and a digital filter is designed based on the ratio to filter out the undesired transformation. | 03-24-2011 |
| 20110129107 | Communication Headset With A Circumferential Microphone Slot - A communication headset ( | 06-02-2011 |
| 20110158442 | NOISE REDUCTION SYSTEM FOR HEARING ASSISTANCE DEVICES - Disclosed herein is a system for binaural noise reduction for hearing assistance devices using information generated at a first hearing assistance device and information received from a second hearing assistance device. In various embodiments, the present subject matter provides a gain measurement for noise reduction using information from a second hearing assistance device that is transferred at a lower bit rate or bandwidth by the use of coding for further quantization of the information to reduce the amount of information needed to make a gain calculation at the first hearing assistance device. The present subject matter can be used for hearing aids with wireless or wired connections. | 06-30-2011 |
| 20110206226 | OFFENDING FREQUENCY SUPPRESSION IN HEARING AIDS - Adaptive notch filters can be used to estimate offending frequencies caused by feedback within a hearing aid system. The offending frequencies can be suppressed by filtering. Offending frequencies can be identified based on variability of the adaptive notch filter parameters. | 08-25-2011 |
| 20110249844 | METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR IMPROVED NOISE REDUCTION FOR HEARING ASSISTANCE DEVICES - Disclosed herein, among other things, are methods and apparatus for improved noise reduction for hearing assistance devices. In various embodiments, a hearing assistance device includes a microphone and a processor configured to receive signals from the microphone. The processor is configured to perform noise reduction which adjusts maximum gain reduction as a function of signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), and which reduces the strength of its maximum gain reduction for intermediate signal-to-noise ratio levels to reduce speech distortion. In various embodiments, the hearing assistance device includes a memory configured to log noise reduction data for user environments. Also provided are methods to further adjust the noise reduction based on the logged information. | 10-13-2011 |
| 20110249845 | STABILITY IMPROVEMENTS IN HEARING AIDS - A hearing aid includes an input transducer for provision of an input signal, a high pass filter configured for providing a high pass filtered part of the input signal, a low pass filter configured for providing a low pass filtered part of the input signal, a synthesizing unit configured for generating a synthetic signal from the high pass filtered part using a model based on a periodic function, wherein a phase of the synthetic signal is at least in part randomized, a combiner configured for combining the low pass filtered part with the synthetic signal for provision of a combined signal, a hearing loss processor configured for processing the combined signal for provision of a processed signal, and a receiver coupled to the hearing loss processor, wherein the receiver is configured for converting an audio output signal into an output sound signal. | 10-13-2011 |
| 20110261983 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR OWN VOICE RECOGNITION WITH ADAPTATIONS FOR NOISE ROBUSTNESS - Own voice recognition (OVR) for hearing aids, detects time instances where the person wearing the device is speaking. Classification of the own voice is performed dependent on a fixed or adaptive detection threshold. Automatic tuning in a real-time system depends on general noise statistics in the input signals. The noise is removed from the received signal and is characterized by signal-to-noise ratio and noise color. An optimal detection threshold for own voice recognition is determined based on the noise characteristics. A noise detection model is created by smoothed Voronoi tessellation. Own voice detection is performed by a processor. | 10-27-2011 |
| 20110280423 | HEARING INSTRUMENT WITH A WALL FORMED BY A PRINTED CIRCUIT BOARD - A hearing instrument includes a housing, a printed circuit board, a signal processor on the printed circuit board, wherein the signal processor is configured for generating an audio signal, and a receiver that is connected to an output of the signal processor for converting the audio signal into a sound signal, wherein the housing is configured to accommodate the receiver and the printed circuit board with the signal processor, and the housing has a trunk part that is coupled with a tip part, and wherein the printed circuit board forms a wall within the housing extending transversely relative to a longitudinal extension of the trunk part. | 11-17-2011 |
| 20110280424 | SYSTEM, METHOD, PROGRAM, AND INTEGRATED CIRCUIT FOR HEARING AID - To provide a hearing aid system ( | 11-17-2011 |
| 20110317858 | HEARING AID APPARATUS - A hearing aid frontend device for frontend processing of ambient sounds. The frontend device is adapted for wearing use by a user and comprises first and second sound collectors adapted for collecting ambient sound with spatial diversity. The sounds collected by the sound collectors are processed by a sound processor. The sound process comprises a digital signal processor for beamforming sounds collected by the first and second collectors, and the processed sounds are subsequently subject to adaptive noise cancellation. | 12-29-2011 |
| 20120008808 | HEARING AID WITH OCCLUSION REDUCTION - A hearing aid having hearing loss-compensating components, active occlusion reduction components, a vent, a tuned piston, and a flexible surround. The piston and the surround combination are assembled on the faceplate and cover the outside end of the vent that is situated on the faceplate. The piston and the surround combination minimize the adverse effects of walk-induced head vibrations. | 01-12-2012 |
| 20120008809 | PITCH PERCEPTION IN AN AUDITORY PROSTHESIS - A sound processing process is disclosed, with particular application to auditory prostheses. After input sound signals are processed into channels, an algorithm is applied to selectively increase the modulation depth of the envelope signals. | 01-12-2012 |
| 20120033839 | EXTERIOR POWER SUPPLY FOR HEARING AID - An exterior power supply for a hearing aid has a battery-shaped conductor, two thin power contacts, and a DC power source. The battery-shaped conductor is received in a battery container of the hearing aid and has a top electrode and a bottom electrode. The thin power contacts are mounted to the battery-shaped conductor and respectively and electronically connected to the top and bottom electrodes of the battery-shaped conductor. Each thin power contact has a thickness matching a gap between an opening and a door of the battery container of the hearing aid. The DC power source is electronically connected to the battery-shaped conductor through a power wire and the thin power contacts to output DC power to the top and bottom electrodes of the battery-shaped conductor. Therefore, the hearing aid obtains DC power from the battery-shaped conductor and the button cell is not replaced frequently. | 02-09-2012 |
| 20120076334 | HEARING AID WITH OCCLUSION SUPPRESSION AND SUBSONIC ENERGY CONTROL - A hearing aid includes an ambient microphone configured to receive and convert environmental sound into an electronic input signal, a hearing loss processor configured to compensate the electronic input signal in accordance with a hearing loss of a user of the hearing aid, and to generate an electronic output signal, a receiver, an ear canal microphone configured for converting ear canal sound pressure including subsonic energy into an ear canal signal, an occlusion suppressor connected for reception and processing of the ear canal signal, and for transmitting an occlusion suppression signal, a signal combiner configured for combining the occlusion suppression signal and the electronic output signal to form a combined signal, and for transmitting the combined signal to the receiver, and a subsonic filter for filtering subsonic energy, wherein the receiver is configured to receive the combined signal, and convert the combined signal into an acoustic output signal. | 03-29-2012 |
| 20120163641 | METHOD FOR PROCESSING THE SIGNALS FROM TWO OR MORE MICROPHONES IN A LISTENING DEVICE AND LISTENING DEVICE WITH PLURAL MICROPHONES - A method for processing the signals from two or more microphones in a listening device, and a listening device for conducting the method which has a casing holding the microphones, a signal processing unit which provides an output signal corresponding to the microphone signals and suited to the user's hearing, and a receiver unit for delivering the output signal to the user whereby the signals from the microphones are analyzed in order to detect when the casing of the listening device is being touched, whereby further the signal processing of the signal processing unit changes whenever touching of the casing is detected. | 06-28-2012 |
| 20120213395 | METHOD AND DEVICE FOR ESTIMATING INTERFERENCE NOISE, HEARING DEVICE AND HEARING AID - In order to enable better estimation of dynamic interference noise, a device and a method for estimating interference noise provide a value for the power density of a total signal, containing a wanted signal and the interference noise to be estimated, in a current time window. The value of the total signal is compared with an estimated value, multiplied with an amplification factor, of interference noise from a time window prior to the current time window and the smaller of the two values from the comparison is used as a preliminary estimated value for the interference noise in the current time window. A codebook estimated value for the interference noise in the current time window is also provided. Finally, the larger of the preliminary estimated value and the codebook estimated value is used as the estimated value for the interference noise in the current time window. | 08-23-2012 |
| 20120308060 | DIMINISHING TINNITUS LOUDNESS BY HEARING INSTRUMENT TREATMENT - A listening device comprises an input transducer providing an electric input signal comprising audio and a detector coupled to the input transducer, for determining whether the electric input signal is a broadband signal or not and providing a detection signal in response. The listening device furthermore comprises a controllable filter for filtering the electric input signal being coupled to the detector and the input transducer and for outputting a filtered electric input signal such that a component of the electric input signal in the tinnitus frequency range is dampened, if the detection signal indicates that the electric input signal is a broadband signal, and outputting an unfiltered electric input signal such that a component of the electric input signal in the tinnitus frequency range is not dampened, if the detection signal indicates that the electric input signal is not a broadband signal. | 12-06-2012 |
| 20120308061 | HEARING AID HAVING IMPROVED RF IMMUNITY TO RF ELECTROMAGNETIC INTERFERENCE PRODUCED FROM A WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS DEVICE - A hearing aid has improved immunity to RF electromagnetic interference produced from wireless communications devices. A microphone receives audio signals from the environment. Audio circuitry is connected to the microphone and amplifies the audio signals. A speaker is connected to the audio circuitry and directs the audio signals into an ear canal of the user of the hearing aid. The audio connection lines connect the microphone and audio circuitry and the speaker and audio circuitry. A filter is connected into each of the audio connection lines and operative for reducing the RF coupling from a wireless communications device. | 12-06-2012 |
| 20130010991 | HANDHELD ELECTRONIC DEVICE WITH HEARING AID FUNCTION - A handheld electronic device with a hearing aid function includes a sound collecting unit, a first amplifying unit, an A/D converter, a noise reducing unit, a D/A converter, a second amplifying unit, and a sound output unit. The sound collecting unit collects ambient sound signals. The first amplifying unit amplifies collected sound signals. The A/D converter converts amplified collected sound signals into digital sound signals. The noise reducing unit processes the digital sound signals to reduce noise signals. The D/A converter converts the digital sound signals processed by the noise reducing unit into analog signals. The second amplifying unit amplifies the analog signals converted by the D/A converter. The sound output unit outputs the amplified analog signals. | 01-10-2013 |
| 20130022223 | AUTOMATED METHOD OF CLASSIFYING AND SUPPRESSING NOISE IN HEARING DEVICES - The claimed invention is directed to a real-time noise classification and tuning system for cochlear implant and other hearing device applications. The system is capable of automatically selecting the optimized parameters of a noise suppression algorithm in response to different noisy environments. The feature vector and the classifier deployed in the system to automatically identify the background noise environment are selected so that the computation burden is kept low to achieve a real-time throughput. The results reported herein indicate improvement in speech enhancement when using this intelligent real-time hearing device system. | 01-24-2013 |
| 20130022224 | HEARING AID AND METHOD FOR CONTROLLING THE SAME - When hearing-aid processing and predetermined-sound suppression processing are performed, in order to reduce an increase in delay of an output sound in response to an input sound greater than a case where only the hearing-aid processing is performed, a hearing aid includes: a hearing-aid processing unit configured to amplify a first acoustic signal received by a microphone, according to an ability of a user to hear sound in each of frequencies, to produce a second acoustic signal; a predetermined-sound detection unit configured to detect a predetermined sound included in the first acoustic signal, and to produce a control signal indicating generation timing of the predetermined sound; and a predetermined-sound suppression unit configured to suppress the second acoustic signal produced in the hearing-aid processing unit at the generation timing of the predetermined-sound indicated by the control signal produced in the predetermined-sound detection unit. | 01-24-2013 |
| 20130039518 | METHOD AND DEVICE FOR ACOUSTIC MANAGEMENT CONTORL OF MULTIPLE MICROPHONES - An earpiece ( | 02-14-2013 |
| 20130051590 | Hearing Enhancement and Protective Device - A hearing aid is provided which includes (a) a receiver section equipped with a receiver; (b) a lateral section equipped with a microphone and a battery; (c) a sealing retainer concentrically positioned over said receiver section which conforms to the walls at the bony region of the ear canal, thereby seating the hearing device in the ear canal and providing acoustical sealing against feedback within the ear canal; and (d) a circuit which dampens or suppresses at least a portion of the acoustical footprint of a threshold event, or which deactivates the hearing aid for a time interval in response to a threshold event. | 02-28-2013 |
| 20130077807 | HEARING AID NOISE REDUCTION METHOD, SYSTEM, AND APPARATUS - A computer-implemented method including receiving a first signal from an input device of a hearing aid. The first signal may include a noise signal. The computer-implemented method may include low-pass filtering first periodic samples of the first signal, and the first periodic samples may be approximately periodic with respect to a period of the noise signal. The computer-implemented method may further include low-pass filtering second periodic samples of the first signal, and the second periodic samples may be approximately periodic with respect to the period of the noise signal. The second periodic samples may also be phase shifted relative to the first periodic samples. Hearing aid systems and apparatuses are also disclosed. | 03-28-2013 |
| 20130108092 | Dynamic Noise Reduction in Auditory Prosthesis Systems | 05-02-2013 |
| 20130142369 | METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR REDUCING AMBIENT NOISE BASED ON ANNOYANCE PERCEPTION AND MODELING FOR HEARING-IMPAIRED LISTENERS - Disclosed herein, among other things, are apparatus and methods for annoyance perception and modeling for hearing-impaired listeners. One aspect of the present subject matter includes a method for improving noise cancellation for a wearer of a hearing assistance device having an adaptive filter. In various embodiments, the method includes calculating an annoyance measure or other perceptual measure based on a residual signal in an ear of the wearer, the wearer's hearing loss, and the wearer's preference. A spectral weighting function is estimated based on a ratio of the annoyance measure or other perceptual measure and spectral energy. The spectral weighting function is incorporated into a cost function for an update of the adaptive filter. The method includes minimizing the annoyance or other perceptual measure based cost function to achieve perceptually motivated adaptive noise cancellation, in various embodiments. | 06-06-2013 |
| 20130182875 | HEARING AID AND A METHOD OF IMPROVED AUDIO REPRODUCTION - A hearing aid comprising a frequency shifter ( | 07-18-2013 |
| 20130202139 | METHOD OF INSTALLING A SIGNAL PROCESSING COMPONENT IN A HOUSING OF A HEARING APPARATUS AND HEARING APPARATUS - A hearing apparatus and in particular a hearing aid are to be optimized as regards the risk of feedback. The hearing apparatus contains a housing, having a first opening and a second opening, and with a frame, in or on which a signal processing component is attached, and which can be inserted into the first opening of the housing as far as an end position. A ramp is disposed in the housing which interacts with the frame such that the frame is also moved perpendicular to the direction of insertion toward the second opening during insertion into the housing along a direction of insertion only in one section as far as the end position, which is less than 30% of the insertion path from the first opening to the end position. | 08-08-2013 |
| 20130208933 | METHOD FOR OPERATING A HEARING DEVICE AS WELL AS A HEARING DEVICE - A method for operating a hearing device ( | 08-15-2013 |
| 20130259277 | HOWLING SUPPRESSION DEVICE, HEARING AID, HOWLING SUPPRESSION METHOD, AND INTEGRATED CIRCUIT - A howling suppression device includes: a subtractor which generates an error signal; an adaptive filter which applies filtering to the error signal; and a coefficient update control unit which controls an update rate of a filter coefficient and includes: a convergence analysis unit which determines whether or not a condition that the degree of convergence of filter characteristics is higher than a criterion value is satisfied; a change amount analysis unit which determines whether or not a condition that the degree of convergence has turned out to be higher is satisfied; and an update rate control unit which sets the update rate to a first rate when both the conditions are satisfied and to a second rate when at least one of the conditions is not satisfied. The adaptive filter updates the filter coefficient at the update rate. | 10-03-2013 |
| 20130272555 | AUDIO DEVICE WITH A VOICE COIL CHANNEL AND A SEPARATELY AMPLIFIED TELECOIL CHANNEL - A portable audio device has a voice coil audio signal processor in which a desired audio content signal is combined with an anti-noise signal produced by an active noise cancellation block. A voice coil amplifier receives a volume setting and is coupled to an output of the voice coil audio signal processor. A speaker is coupled to an output of the voice coil amplifier. In addition, a telecoil audio signal processor also receives the desired audio content, and feeds a telecoil amplifier that receives a telecoil coupling strength setting, followed by a telecoil. Other embodiments are also described and claimed. | 10-17-2013 |
| 20140023218 | SYSTEM FOR TRAINING AND IMPROVEMENT OF NOISE REDUCTION IN HEARING ASSISTANCE DEVICES - A system is provided for training and improvement of noise reduction in hearing assistance devices. In various embodiments the system includes a hearing assistance device having a microphone configured to detect sound. A memory is configured to store background noise detected by the microphone and configured to store a previous recording of speech. A processor includes a training module coupled to the memory and configured to perform training on a binary classifier using programmable feature extraction applied to a sum of the speech and the noise. The processor is configured to process the sound using an output of the binary classifier. | 01-23-2014 |
| 20140029778 | VISUAL SPEECH MAPPING - Described herein are an apparatus and method for displaying the signal processing effects of a hearing upon speech. Such visual speech mapping may include displaying text corresponding to words spoken to a patient wearing a hearing aid as derived from an input signal derived from the hearing aid. The text is displayed with indicia representing the effects of the signal processing function performed by the hearing aid upon individual letters or groups of letters. | 01-30-2014 |
| 20140064529 | APPARATUS AND METHOD OF SHIELDING EXTERNAL NOISE FOR USE IN HEARING AID DEVICE - Provided is an external noise shielding apparatus and method for use in a hearing aid device. The external noise shielding apparatus and method periodically monitors and shields external noise introduced into the hearing aid device to thus enable a user to discernibly hear a voice signal even in the external noise environment. | 03-06-2014 |
| 20140079261 | HEARING ASSISTANCE APPARATUS - A hearing assistance device includes two transducers which react to a characteristic of an acoustic wave to capture data representative of the characteristic. The device is arranged so that each transducers is located adjacent a respective ear of a person wearing the device. A signal processor processes the data to provide relatively more emphasis of data representing a first sound source the person is facing over data representing a second sound source the person is not facing. At least one speaker utilizes the data to reproduce sounds to the person. An active noise reduction system provides a signal to the speaker for reducing an amount of ambient acoustic noise in the vicinity of the person that is heard by the person. | 03-20-2014 |
| 20140140555 | HEARING APPARATUS WITH A FACILITY FOR REDUCING A MICROPHONE NOISE AND METHOD FOR REDUCING MICROPHONE NOISE - An input signal is provided with a low microphone noise in a hearing apparatus. The microphone noise in the input signal of the hearing apparatus is reduced, by the input signal being filtered by a Wiener filter, if a noise power determined at the input signal is smaller than a predetermined limit value. The Wiener filter is however deactivated, if the noise power is greater than the limit value or equal to the limit value. | 05-22-2014 |
| 20140153757 | METHOD OF PROCESSING SOUND AND HEARING APPARATUS USING THE SAME - A hearing apparatus and a method thereof for processing a noise included in an input signal are provided. The method of processing noise involves: pairing a hearing apparatus with an electronic appliance; extracting noise characteristic information of the paired electronic appliance; and processing noise from the electronic appliance included in an input signal based on the noise characteristic information. | 06-05-2014 |
| 20140153758 | HEARING DEVICE WITH ANALOG FILTERING AND ASSOCIATED METHOD - A hearing device includes: a microphone for converting audio into an audio signal; a preprocessing unit for analog processing of the audio signal and having an input and an output, wherein the input is connected to an output of the microphone; an A/D converter for converting the processed analog audio signal into a digital audio signal, the A/D converter having an input and an output, wherein the input of the A/D converter is connected to the output of the preprocessing unit; and a processing unit for digital processing of an output from the A/D converter, wherein the processing unit is connected to the preprocessing unit, and is configured to apply a first transfer function to the audio signal in a first mode of operation, or a second transfer function with a cutoff frequency to the audio signal in a second mode of operation, depending on a control signal. | 06-05-2014 |
| 20140177888 | ENVIRONMENT DETECTION AND ADAPTATION IN HEARING ASSISTANCE DEVICES - Method and apparatus for environment detection and adaptation in hearing assistance devices. Performance of feature extraction and environment detection to perform adaptation to hearing assistance device operation for a number of hearing assistance environments. The system detecting various noise sources independent of speech. The system determining adaptive actions to take place based on predicted sound class. The system providing individually customizable response to inputs from different sound classes. In various embodiments, the system employing a Bayesian classifier to perform sound classifications using a priori probability data and training data for predetermined sound classes. Additional method and apparatus can be found in the specification and as provided by the attached claims and their equivalents. | 06-26-2014 |
| 20140177889 | HEARING AID WITH ADAPTIVE NOISE REDUCTION AND METHOD - A method of noise reduction of low-level input signals in a hearing aid involves applying compression to the input signal using a first compression ratio if a detected measure of amplitude modulation in the input signal is below a selected modulation level, and using a second compression ratio if the measure of amplitude modulation is above the selected modulation level. This reduces the volume of low-level steady-state noise while increasing the volume of modulated signals, e.g. speech. A hearing aid having a noise reduction system (10) has means for determining a level of amplitude modulation from a noise level and an absolute average level of an input signal, and comprises a dynamic compressor having a first compression ratio and a second compression ratio. The means for determining the level of amplitude modulation is configured to control the dynamic compressor in such a way that, below a predetermined input level, unmodulated sounds are amplified less than unmodulated sounds. In this way, low-level, unmodulated sounds are dampened by the hearing aid. | 06-26-2014 |
| 20140193009 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR ENHANCING THE INTELLIGIBILITY OF SOUNDS RELATIVE TO BACKGROUND NOISE - A novel dual-microphone speech enhancement technique is proposed that utilizes the coherence function between input signals as a criterion for noise reduction. The technique is based on certain assumptions regarding the spatial properties of the target and noise signals and can be applied to arrays with closely spaced microphones, where noise captured by sensors is highly correlated (e.g., inside a mildly reverberant environment). The proposed algorithm is simple to implement and requires no estimation of noise statistics. In addition, it offers the advantage of coping with situations in which multiple interfering sources located at different azimuths might be present. | 07-10-2014 |
| 20140198938 | AUDIO DEVICE WITH A VOICE COIL CHANNEL AND A SEPARATELY AMPLIFIED TELECOIL CHANNEL - A portable audio device has a voice coil audio signal processor in which a desired audio content signal is combined with an anti-noise signal produced by an active noise cancellation block. A voice coil amplifier receives a volume setting and is coupled to an output of the voice coil audio signal processor. A speaker is coupled to an output of the voice coil amplifier. In addition, a telecoil audio signal processor also receives the desired audio content, and feeds a telecoil amplifier that receives a telecoil coupling strength setting, followed by a telecoil. Other embodiments are also described and claimed. | 07-17-2014 |
| 20140254842 | Situational Hearing Enhancement and Protection - System and methods can provide both hearing enhancement and hearing protection. An audiogram can be determined for either an individual person or a group of people. A frequency spectrum of an environment can be determined for an environment within which hearing enhancement and/or hearing protection is needed. The audiogram and the frequency spectrum of the environment can be used to modify an electronic signal to attenuate noise and to amplify information. The information can be voice, sirens, bells, or anything else that the user desires to hear. | 09-11-2014 |
| 20140348359 | NOISE REDUCTION SYSTEM FOR HEARING ASSISTANCE DEVICES - Disclosed herein is a system for binaural noise reduction for hearing assistance devices using information generated at a first hearing assistance device and information received from a second hearing assistance device. In various embodiments, the present subject matter provides a gain measurement for noise reduction using information from a second hearing assistance device that is transferred at a lower bit rate or bandwidth by the use of coding for further quantization of the information to reduce the amount of information needed to make a gain calculation at the first hearing assistance device. The present subject matter can be used for hearing aids with wireless or wired connections. | 11-27-2014 |
| 20150016647 | SIGNAL PROCESSOR FOR A HEARING DEVICE AND METHOD FOR OPERATING A HEARING DEVICE - A signal processor for a hearing device with an implantable stimulator having two or more electrodes for emitting electric charge pulses to neural-fibres of an individual. The processor has a signal path comprising an input circuit adapted to receive an acoustic-signal from the surroundings and provide at least one corresponding input audio-signal; a filter bank adapted to provide at least one band-limited audio-signal in dependence on the at least one input audio-signal; and a noise filter adapted to attenuate undesired signal components in the at least one band-limited audio-signal and to provide at least one corresponding noise-filtered signal. The processor is characterised in that the portion of the signal path preceding the noise filter neither causes an effective level compression nor an effective level expansion of the at least one noise-filtered signal when the at least one noise-filtered signal is derived from an acoustic signal having a level within the comfortable acoustic range. | 01-15-2015 |
| 20150030191 | METHOD FOR OPERATING A HEARING DEVICE AS WELL AS A HEARING DEVICE - A method for operating a hearing device worn by a hearing device user. The method includes picking up an audio signal (a) by an input transducer of the hearing device. The audio signal (a) includes a source signal (s) of a sound source (SS) and a disturbing signal (d) of a disturbing source (DS). The method also includes receiving a transmission signal (d_AIS) via an interface unit of the hearing device. The transmission signal (d_AIS) includes the disturbing signal (d) or at least characteristic features of the disturbing signal (d). The method also includes 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*). | 01-29-2015 |
| 20150036856 | INTEGRATION OF HEARING AIDS WITH SMART GLASSES TO IMPROVE INTELLIGIBILITY IN NOISE - Disclosed herein, among other things, are methods and apparatuses for integration of hearing aids with an MSD to improve intelligibility in noisy environments. One aspect of the present subject matter relates to a method of providing voice audio to a hearing aid or text in a hearing aid user's field of view, where the voice audio or text corresponds to a speaker of interest within a noisy environment, and where the speaker of interest is identified using smart glasses. An MSD graphical user interface is provided for a hearing aid user to identify a speaker of interest. The lip movement patterns of the speaker of interest are recorded by the smart glasses, and voice activity detection is performed on the lip movement patterns. Noise reduction is performed using the results of the voice activity detection. The noise-reduced voice audio may be transmitted to the hearing aid, or the speech recognition text may be transmitted to and displayed on the MSD. | 02-05-2015 |
| 20150043765 | HEARING ASSISTANCE SYSTEM WITH OWN VOICE DETECTION - A hearing assistance system includes a pair of left and right hearing assistance devices to be worn by a wearer and uses both of the left and right hearing assistance devices to detect the voice of the wearer. The left and right hearing assistance devices each include first and second microphones at different locations. Various embodiments detect the voice of the wearer using signals produced by the first and second microphones of the left hearing assistance device and the first and second microphones of the right hearing assistance device. Various embodiments use outcome of detection of the voice of the wearer performed by the left hearing assistance device and the outcome of detection of the voice of the wearer performed the right hearing assistance device to determine whether to declare a detection of the voice of the wearer. | 02-12-2015 |
| 20150092967 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR SELECTIVE HARMONIC ENHANCEMENT FOR HEARING ASSISTANCE DEVICES - Disclosed herein, among other things, are systems and methods for improved noise reduction for hearing assistance devices. One aspect of the present subject matter includes a method of enhancing speech in an audio signal for a hearing assistance device. An audio signal is received from a hearing assistance device microphone in a user acoustic environment, and speech components are identified and isolated from the audio signal. The speech components are harmonically enhanced in parallel with a primary path of the audio signal, in various embodiments. In various embodiments, the harmonically enhanced speech components are mixed with the audio signal to improve speech intelligibility, clarity or audibility for a user of the hearing assistance device | 04-02-2015 |
| 20150098600 | HEARING AID SPECIALIZED AS A SUPPLEMENT TO LIP READING - A hearing aid is disclosed. The hearing aid comprises a microphone adapted to receive sound signals, an amplifier configured to amplify signals received by the microphone and output means (e.g. a receiver). The hearing aid is configured to detect if speech is received by the microphone and the hearing aid is configured to provide amplification of the detected sound signals according to a non-speech mode when no speech is detected. The hearing aid is configured to provide amplification of the detected sound signals according to a speech mode when speech is detected. The amplification carried out according to the non-speech mode is different from the amplification carried out according to the speech mode. The invention also discloses a method for amplifying sound signals received by a microphone in a hearing aid. | 04-09-2015 |
| 20150110317 | OUTPUT PHASE MODULATION ENTRAINMENT CONTAINMENT FOR DIGITAL FILTERS - Method and apparatus for entrainment containment in digital filters using output phase modulation. Phase change is gradually introduced into the acoustic feedback canceller loop to avoid entrainment of the feedback canceller filter. Various embodiments employing different output phase modulation approaches are set forth and time and frequency domain examples are provided. Additional method and apparatus can be found in the specification and as provided by the attached claims and their equivalents. | 04-23-2015 |
| 20150319544 | Noise Reduction in Auditory Prosthesis - A method of processing audio signals for an auditory prosthesis is provided. The method includes a noise reduction step and a later compression step. A gain control step is provided prior to the compression step. The gain control step operates so as to minimize the occurrence of signal compression in the compression step. An auditory prosthesis arranged to provide the method is also provided. | 11-05-2015 |
| 20150326965 | Hearing assistance systems configured to detect and provide protection to the user from harmful conditions - The present universal wearable computing device relates to a hearing assistance system, device, method, and apparatus that provide a discreet approach to user hearing assistance, without relying on a conventional hearing aid. The hearing assistance system and the requisite electronics may be incorporated into frames that also function as eyeglasses with earphone(s) that may be connected to the frame to assist user hearing. An earphone may be configured with minimal electronics, such that a power source enable sound transmissions to the ear, is provided by a connection to the frame of the eyeglasses. In another example, the earphone is configured without any electronics and sound is transmitted to the user/listener's ear(s) via a psychoacoustic system. The sound quality of the transmissions to the earphones may be optimized using a tuning/equalizer application operating from a computing device, such as an app on a mobile device. The tuning/equalizer application can be used by the user/listener to optimize volume input levels to the earphone(s). The hearing assistance system may also protect from damaging environmental noise, provide heightened hearing capabilities, collect and process physiological and physical measurements, and provide communication capabilities for interacting with other computing devices. | 11-12-2015 |
| 20150358746 | ACOUSTICAL CROSSTALK COMPENSATION - A method for compensating for acoustic crosstalk between a first and a second microphone unit being acoustically connected to a shared volume. The method includes the steps of providing a first output signal, P | 12-10-2015 |
| 20150358747 | SIGNAL COMPENSATION METHOD AND APPARATUS - A signal compensation method and an electronic device adapted to the method are provided. The signal compensation method includes storing filter data related to a hearing aid in a storage unit, recording a first sound signal, and compensating for the first sound signal, based on the filter data. | 12-10-2015 |
| 20160005417 | A NOISE REDUCTION METHOD AND SYSTEM - Noise reduction methods and systems for reducing unwanted sounds in signals received from an arrangement of microphones are disclosed, the method including the steps of: sensing sound sources distributed around a specified target direction by way of an arrangement of microphones to produce left and right microphone output signals; determining the magnitude or power of the left and right microphone signals; attenuating the signals based on the difference of the magnitudes or powers or values derived from the magnitudes or powers of the left and right microphone signals. | 01-07-2016 |
| 20160029132 | SLIDING BIAS AND PEAK LIMITING FOR OPTICAL HEARING DEVICES - A processor comprises instructions to adjust a bias of an input signal in order to decrease a duty cycle of a pulse modulated optical signal. The bias can be increased, decreased, or maintained in response to one or more measured values of the signal. In many embodiments, a gain of the signal is adjusted with the bias in order to inhibit distortion. The bias can be adjusted slowly in order to inhibit audible noise, and the gain can be adjusted faster than the bias in order to inhibit clipping of the signal. In many embodiments, one or more of the bias or the gain is adjusted in response to a value of the signal traversing a threshold amount. The value may comprise a trough of the signal traversing the threshold. | 01-28-2016 |
| 20160066102 | METHOD AND DEVICE FOR THE IMPROVED PERCEPTION OF ONE'S OWN VOICE - A hearing aid device and a method for operating the hearing aid device. The hearing aid device has an acousto-electrical transducer, a signal processing unit, an electro-acoustic transducer and a unit for recognizing a wearer's own voice. The hearing aid device detects and recognizes the wearer's own voice by way of the recognition unit and, when the wearer's own voice has been detected, operates the signal processing unit with a modified signal processing parameter that is modified such that the sound of the wearer's own voice is improved. | 03-03-2016 |
| 20160088406 | Configuration of Hearing Prosthesis Sound Processor Based on Visual Interaction with External Device - As disclosed, an external device is associated with the recipient of a hearing prosthesis and provides to the hearing prosthesis a control signal carrying an indication that the recipient is looking at output of the external device, perhaps including an indication of one or more characteristics of visual output and/or audio output from the external device. In response to such a control signal, the hearing prosthesis then automatically configures its sound processor in a manner based at least in part on the provided indication, such as to help process audio coming from the external device and/or to process audio in a manner based on the indicated characteristic(s) of visual output and/or audio output. | 03-24-2016 |
| 20160105751 | METHOD FOR OPERATING A HEARING DEVICE AND A HEARING DEVICE - A method for operating a hearing device including an ambient microphone, a signal processing unit, a receiver and an ear canal microphone. The method includes steps of filtering the audio signal processed by the signal processing unit with a filter having a transfer function including a transfer function from an output of the receiver to an input of the ear canal microphone when the hearing device is turned on and being worn in an ear canal of the user, computing a difference between the audio signal picked up by the ear canal microphone and the filtered signal, and detecting a presence of own-voice of the user based on the difference. Furthermore, a hearing device including an own-voice detection unit is provided, which is adapted to perform the proposed method. | 04-14-2016 |
| 20160142832 | Signal Amplifier - A hearing prosthesis circuit includes a power source, a first amplifier coupled to the power source, and a second amplifier coupled to the power source. The circuit also includes a stimulation component coupled to the first amplifier and the second amplifier. The stimulation component is configured to provide an output in accordance with an electrical signal that includes audio data. Further, the circuit includes a controller coupled to the first amplifier and the second amplifier. The controller is operable in accordance with a first operational setting to use the first amplifier to provide the electrical signal to the stimulation component and the controller is also operable in accordance with a second operational setting to use the second amplifier to provide the electrical signal to the stimulation component. Generally, the first amplifier provides greater signal amplification of the audio data than the second amplifier. | 05-19-2016 |
| 20160165361 | APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR DIGITAL SIGNAL PROCESSING WITH MICROPHONES - At least a partial seal between a housing of a hearing instrument and an ear canal is provided. First signals are received from an internal microphone disposed in the ear canal. Second signals are received from an external microphone disposed outside of the ear canal. A condition of the at least a partial seal is determined, and when the condition of the at least a partial seal indicates a leak, one or more of the level and the spectrum of the first signals is adjusted to compensate for the leak and producing first adjusted signal. A first amount of the first adjusted signals is blended with a second amount of the second signals to produce a blended signal, the first amount and the second amount selected based upon a level of noise. | 06-09-2016 |
| 20160192089 | HEARING ASSISTANCE SYSTEM WITH OWN VOICE DETECTION - A hearing assistance system includes a pair of left and right hearing assistance devices to be worn by a wearer and uses both of the left and right hearing assistance devices to detect the voice of the wearer. The left and right hearing assistance devices each include first and second microphones at different locations. Various embodiments detect the voice of the wearer using signals produced by the first and second microphones of the left hearing assistance device and the first and second microphones of the right hearing assistance device. Various embodiments use outcome of detection of the voice of the wearer performed by the left hearing assistance device and the outcome of detection of the voice of the wearer performed the right hearing assistance device to determine whether to declare a detection of the voice of the wearer. | 06-30-2016 |
