TINNITUS TREATMENT SYSTEM AND METHOD
First Claim
1. A tinnitus masking system for use by a person having tinnitus comprising:
- a sound delivery system having left and right ear-level audio delivery devices, the sound delivery system being configured to deliver a masking sound to the person via the audio delivery devices such that the masking sound appears to originate from a virtual sound source location that substantially corresponds to the a spatial location in 3D auditory space of a source of the tinnitus as perceived by the person, the masking sound being represented by left and right audio signals that are converted to audible sound by the respective audio delivery devices.
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Abstract
A tinnitus masking system for use by a person having tinnitus The system comprises a sound delivery system having left and right ear-level audio delivery devices and is configured to deliver a masking sound to the person via the audio delivery devices such that the masking sound appears to originate from a virtual sound source location that substantially corresponds to the spatial location in 3D auditory space of the source of the tinnitus as perceived by the person. The masking sound being represented by left and right audio signals that are converted to audible sound by the respective audio delivery devices.
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Citations
32 Claims
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1. A tinnitus masking system for use by a person having tinnitus comprising:
- a sound delivery system having left and right ear-level audio delivery devices, the sound delivery system being configured to deliver a masking sound to the person via the audio delivery devices such that the masking sound appears to originate from a virtual sound source location that substantially corresponds to the a spatial location in 3D auditory space of a source of the tinnitus as perceived by the person, the masking sound being represented by left and right audio signals that are converted to audible sound by the respective audio delivery devices.
- View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A method of masking a person'"'"'s tinnitus comprising:
- delivering a masking sound to the person via left and right ear-level audio delivery devices such that the masking sound appears to originate from a virtual sound source location that substantially corresponds to a spatial location in 3D auditory space of a source of the tinnitus as perceived by the person.
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14. (canceled)
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15. A system for determining a spatial property of tinnitus as perceived by a person comprising:
- a sound generation system that is operable to present test sounds to the person from a series of virtual sound source locations in 3D auditory space; and
a feedback system that is arranged to receive person feedback indicative of the virtual sound source location that most closely corresponds to the spatial location in 3D auditory space of the source of the tinnitus as perceived by the person and output spatial information indicative of the spatial location of the source of the tinnitus based on the person'"'"'s feedback. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
- a sound generation system that is operable to present test sounds to the person from a series of virtual sound source locations in 3D auditory space; and
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24. A method of determining a spatial property of tinnitus as perceived by a person comprising the steps of:
- sequentially presenting test sounds to the person from a series of virtual sound source locations in 3D auditory space; and
receiving feedback from the person as to virtual sound source location that most closely corresponds to the spatial location in 3D auditory space of the source of the tinnitus as perceived by the person.
- sequentially presenting test sounds to the person from a series of virtual sound source locations in 3D auditory space; and
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25. A spatial masking sound generation system for a person having tinnitus comprising:
- a sound processor that is arranged to receive a masking sound and spatial information indicative of the spatial location in 3D auditory space of the source of the tinnitus as perceived by the person, and which is further configured to modify the spatial playback properties of the masking sound based on the spatial information so as to generate a spatial masking sound for playback to the person via left and right ear-level audio delivery devices such that the sound appears to originate from a virtual sound source location that substantially corresponds to the spatial location of the source of the tinnitus as perceived by the person.
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26. A method of generating a spatial masking sound for a person having tinnitus comprising the steps of:
- receiving or generating a masking sound;
receiving or assessing spatial information indicative of the spatial location in 3D auditory space of the source of the tinnitus as perceived by the person; and
modifying the spatial playback properties of the masking sound based on the spatial information so as to generate a spatial masking sound for playback to the person via left and right ear-level audio delivery devices such that the sound appears to originate from a virtual sound source location that substantially corresponds to the spatial location of the tinnitus as perceived by the person. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
- receiving or generating a masking sound;
Specification