Multi-coil coupling system for hearing aid applications

• US 20030152243A1
• Filed: 01/31/2003
• Published: 08/14/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 01/07/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: III Holdings 7, LLC
• Original Assignee: Etymotic Research Incorporated
• Inventors: Soede, Willem, Drambarean, Viorel, Julstrom, Stephen D.
• Granted Patent: US 7,099,486 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 381/315
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 2225/51 Aspects of antennas or their circuitry in or for hearing aids
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 2225/61 Aspects relating to mechanical or electronic switches or control elements, e.g. functioning
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 25/43 Electronic input selection or mixing based on input signal analysis, e.g. mixing or selection between microphone and telecoil or between microphones with different directivity characteristics H04R25/407 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 25/502 using analog signal processing
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 25/552 Binaural
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 25/554 using a wireless connection, e.g. between microphone and amplifier or using Tcoils
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 25/603 of mechanical or electronic switches or control elements

Abstract

A hearing improvement device using a multi-coil coupling system and methods for operating such a device are disclosed. An embodiment of the present invention may use an array microphone to provide highly directional reception. The received audio signal may be filtered, amplified, and converted into a magnetic field for coupling to the telecoil in a conventional hearing aid. Multiple transmit inductors may be used to effectively couple to both in-the-ear and behind-the-ear type hearing aids, and an additional embodiment is disclosed which may be used with an earphone, for users not requiring a hearing aid.

Claims

1. A hearing improvement device comprising:

at least one microphone for transducing sound into a first electrical signal;

at least one filter for modifying the first electrical signal producing a second electrical signal; and

at least one inductor for converting the second electrical signal into a magnetic field for coupling to a telecoil of a hearing aid.

2. The hearing improvement device of claim 1, wherein the at least one filter further comprises:

a high pass filter for a ttenuating the low frequency spectral components of the first electrical signal, the filter producing an output; and

an amplifier for amplifying the output of the high pass filter, the amplifier producing the second electrical signal.

3. The hearing improvement device of claim 2 wherein the amplifier is a c lass D amplifier.

4. The hearing improvement device of claim 2 further comprising a switch operatively connected to the amplifier for enabling and disabling a fixed amount of amplification.

5. The hearing improvement device of claim 1 wherein the winding of the at least one inductor comprises a first winding portion and a second winding portion, the first and second winding portions separated by an intervening gap, the winding portions disposed on a common core.

6. The hearing improvement device of claim 1 wherein the at least one microphone is a directional microphone.

7. The hearing improvement device of claim 1 wherein the at least one microphone is an array microphone.

8. The hearing improvement device of claim 7 wherein the array microphone comprises:

a plurality of microphones aligned in an array for generating a plurality of individual microphone electrical signals from sound energy received;

a plurality of summation points for adding the plurality of individual microphone electrical signals to generate the first electrical signal; and

a single signal wire electrically connecting the plurality of summation points.

9. The hearing improvement device of claim 1 wherein the at least one inductor comprises at least two inductors.

10. The hearing improvement device of claim 1, wherein the at least one inductor comprises:

a first inductor for converting the second electrical signal into a magnetic field for coupling to a telecoil of a first type of hearing aid; and

a second inductor for converting the second electrical signal into a magnetic field for coupling to a telecoil of a second type of hearing aid.

11. The hearing improvement device of claim 10, wherein the first type of hearing aid is an in the ear type hearing aid.

12. The hearing improvement device of claim 10, wherein the second type of hearing aid is a behind the ear type hearing aid.

13. The hearing improvement device of claim 10 further comprising a switch for selecting at least one of the first inductor and the second inductor.

14. The hearing improvement device of claim 1 further comprising a connector for coupling the second electrical signal to an external device.

15. The hearing improvement device of claim 1 wherein the total idle operating current is less than 500 microamps.

16. The hearing improvement device of claim 1 wherein the maximum field strength of the magnetic field measured at 1 KHz is greater than 20 mA/m.

17. The hearing improvement device of claim 1, wherein the microphone, the at least one filter, and the at least one inductor are contained within a single unit.

18. A hearing improvement device comprising:

at least one microphone for transducing sound into a first electrical signal;

at least one filter for modifying the first electrical signal, producing a second electrical signal; and

a connector for connecting the second electrical signal to a hearing aid of a user.

19. The hearing improvement device of claim 18 wherein the at least one microphone is an array microphone.

20. The hearing aid improvement device of claim 18, wherein the at least one filter comprises:

a high pass filter for attenuating the low-frequency spectral components of the first electrical signal; and

an amplifier for amplifying the high pass filtered first electrical signal, producing a second electrical signal.

21. A method of operating a hearing improvement device, the method comprising:

receiving a sound field;

tranducing the sound field into a first electrical signal;

filtering the first electrical signal producing a second electrical signal;

converting the second electrical signal into a magnetic field; and

coupling the magnetic field to the telecoil of a hearing aid.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein the filtering comprises:

high pass filtering the first electrical signal; and

amplifying the high pass filtered first electrical signal, producing the second electrical signal.

23. The method of claim 21, wherein the converting comprises:

selecting at least one of a first mode of conversion and a second mode of conversion; and

converting the second electrical signal into a magnetic field using the selected mode of conversion.

24. The method of claim 23 wherein the first mode of conversion is optimized for coupling with a first type of hearing aid, and the second mode of conversion is optimized for coupling with a second type of hearing aid.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein the first type hearing aid is an in the ear type of hearing aid.

26. The method of claim 24, wherein the first type hearing aid is a behind the ear type of hearing aid.

27. The method of claim 21 wherein the transducing, filtering, converting, and coupling are performed within a single unit.

28. The method of claim 21 wherein the maximum field strength of the magnetic field measured at 1 KHz is greater than 20 mA/m.

29. The method of claim 21 wherein the total idle operating current is less than 500 microamps.

30. A method of operating a hearing improvement device, the method comprising:

receiving a sound field;

tranducing the sound field into a first electrical signal;

filtering the first electrical signal producing a second electrical signal; and

coupling the second electrical signal to a hearing aid.

31. The method of claim 30, wherein the filtering comprises:

high pass filtering the first electrical signal; and

amplifying the high pass filtered first electrical signal, producing the second electrical signal.

32. A hearing improvement device comprising:

a first inductor for converting electrical signals representative of sound into a first magnetic field;

a second inductor for converting electrical signals representative of sound into a second magnetic field; and

a switch for selecting one of the first inductor and the second inductor for coupling a respective one of the first magnetic field and the second magnetic field to a telecoil of a hearing aid.

33. The hearing improvement device of claim 32 wherein the switch selects one of the first inductor and the second inductor based on a type of the hearing being used.

34. The hearing improvement device of claim 33 wherein the type of the hearing aid comprises one of a behind the ear hearing aid and an in the ear hearing aid.

35. The hearing improvement device of claim 32 wherein the switch selects the first inductor if the hearing aid comprises a behind the ear hearing aid and the second inductor if the hearing aid comprises an in the ear hearing aid.

36. The hearing improvement device of claim 32 wherein the first inductor comprises a first winding and a second winding spaced apart by a distance and located on a common core.

37. A hearing improvement device comprising a first inductor having a first winding and a second winding, the first and second windings being spaced apart by a distance and positioned on a first common core, the first inductor for converting electrical signals representative of sound into a magnetic field for coupling with a telecoil of a first type of hearing aid.

38. The hearing improvement device of claim 37 wherein the first type of hearing aid comprises a behind the ear hearing aid.

39. The hearing improvement device of claim 37 further comprising a second inductor located on second core, the second inductor for converting electrical signals representative of sound into a magnetic field for coupling with a telecoil of a second type of hearing aid.

40. The hearing improvement device of claim 39 wherein the second type of hearing aid comprises an in the ear hearing aid.

41. The hearing improvement device of claim 39 wherein the second core of the second inductor is coupled to the first common core of the first inductor between the first and the second windings.

42. A hearing improvement device comprising:

a housing;

a first inductor located in the housing, for converting electrical signals representative of sound into a magnetic field for coupling with a telecoil of a first type of hearing aid; and

a second inductor located in the housing, for converting electrical signals representative of sound i nto a magnetic field for coupling with a telecoil of a second type of hearing aid.

43. The hearing improvement device of claim 42 wherein the first type of hearing aid comprises a behind the ear hearing aid, and the second type of hearing aid comprises an in the ear hearing aid.

44. A hearing improvement device comprising:

a housing;

at least one microphone mounted with the housing for converting sound into electrical signals; and

at least one inductor located in the housing, for converting the electrical signals into a magnetic field for coupling with a telecoil located in a hearing aid housing.

45. A hearing improvement system comprising:

a first housing;

a telecoil located in the first housing;

a second housing;

at least one microphone mounted with the second housing for converting sound into electrical signals; and

at least one inductor located in the second housing, for converting the electrical signals into a magnetic field for coupling with the telecoil in the first housing.

46. The hearing improvement system of claim 45 wherein the first housing comprises a hearing aid housing.