HEARING SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR OPERATING A HEARING SYSTEM

• US 20130142345A1
• Filed: 07/23/2010
• Published: 06/06/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 07/23/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sonova AG (Sonova Holding AG)
• Original Assignee: Phonak AG (Sonova Holding AG)
• Inventors: Waldmann, Bernd
• Granted Patent: US 9,167,359 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 381/56
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 2225/41 Detection or adaptation of hearing aid parameters or programs to listening situation, e.g. pub, forest
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 2225/43 Signal processing in hearing aids to enhance the speech intelligibility
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 25/50 Customised settings for obtaining desired overall acoustical characteristics
• 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 25/558 Remote control, e.g. of amplification, frequency
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 25/70 Adaptation of deaf aid to hearing loss, e.g. initial electronic fitting

Abstract

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).

Claims

1. A hearing system (1) comprising 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);

characterised in that 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 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).

2. The hearing system (1) of claim 1, wherein the at least one parameter (60) representative for the current acoustic environment is one of the following:

average noise level;

reverberation time;

direct-to-reverberant ratio;

rate of acoustic shock events.

3. The hearing system (1) of claim 1 or 2, further comprising a third means (80) for determining from the at least one parameter (60) a figure of merit regarding the suitability of the current location to achieve satisfactory hearing performance.

4. The hearing system (1) of claim 3, wherein the third means (80) is adapted to compute the figure of merit based on at least one of the following:

a linear function of a single parameter (60) representative for the current acoustic environment;

a linear combination of multiple parameters (60) representative for the current acoustic environment;

a non-linear function, such as for instance a sigmoid function, of at least one parameter (60) representative for the current acoustic environment.

5. The hearing system (1) of one of the claims 1 to 4, wherein the second means is capable of providing an indication of the suitability of the current location to achieve satisfactory hearing performance in the form of an acoustic signal via the output transducer (40), wherein for instance the acoustic signal comprises one or a combination of the following:

one or more tones;

one or more beeps;

a jingle or melody;

a voice message.

6. The hearing system (1) of one of the claims 1 to 5, wherein the second means is capable of varying in dependence of the degree of suitability of the current location to achieve satisfactory hearing performance at least one of the following properties of the acoustic signal:

volume;

pitch or frequency;

modulation;

repetition rate;

composition of the jingle or melody;

content of the voice message.

7. The hearing system (1) of one of the claims 1 to 6, wherein the second means is capable of indicating a difference between the degree of suitability of the current location and that of at least a further location to achieve satisfactory hearing performance, for instance in the form of a relative difference, such as an indication of increased or decreased suitability to achieve satisfactory hearing performance.

8. The hearing system (1) of one of the claims 1 to 7, wherein the second means is capable of adapting the indication of the degree of suitability of the current location to achieve satisfactory hearing performance based on feedback provided by the user.

9. The hearing system (1) of one of the claims 1 to 8, further comprising one or more external accessories (13), such as for instance a remote control unit (13), a mobile telephone or a personal digital assistant, which are operationally connectable to the at least one hearing device (11, 12), wherein at least one of the following applies:

the second means is located at the at least one hearing device (11, 12);

the second means is located at the at least one accessory (13) or the at least one accessory (13) comprises a further second means capable of indicating to the user of the hearing system the degree of suitability of the current location to achieve satisfactory hearing performance, wherein for instance the indication of the degree of suitability of the current location is in the form of a visual presentation on a display (200, 201) of the accessory (13) or in the form of a vibration signal, for instance from a piezoelectric vibration unit at the accessory (13).

10. The hearing system (1) of one of the claims 1 to 9, further comprising a user control (100, 102) for initiating a request for information regarding the suitability of the current location to achieve satisfactory hearing performance.

11. The hearing system of the claims 9 and 10, wherein at least one of the following applies:

the user control (100) is located at the at least one hearing device (11, 12);

the user control (102) is located at the at least one accessory (13) or the at least one accessory (13) comprises a second user control (102) for initiating a request for information regarding the suitability of the current location to achieve satisfactory hearing performance.

12. A method for assisting a user of a hearing system to find a location where satisfactory hearing performance is achievable comprising the steps of:

determining from a signal of an input transducer (20) of the hearing system (1, 11, 12) at least one parameter (60) representative of a current acoustic environment of a current location; and

indicating to the user of the hearing system the degree of suitability of the current location to achieve satisfactory hearing performance based on the at least one parameter (60).

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the at least one parameter (60) representative for the current acoustic environment is one of the following:

average noise level;

reverberation time;

direct-to-reverberant ratio;

rate of acoustic shock events.

14. The method of claim 12 or 13, further comprising determining from the at least one parameter (60) a figure of merit regarding a suitability of the current location to achieve satisfactory hearing performance.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the determining a figure of merit comprises one of the following:

relating the figure of merit to a single parameter representative for the current acoustic environment;

relating the figure of merit to a linear combination of multiple parameters representative for the current acoustic environment;

relating the figure of merit to a value of a non-linear function, such as for instance a sigmoid function, of at least one parameter (60) representative for the current acoustic environment;

relating the figure of merit to an estimate of speech intelligibility.

16. The method of one of the claims 12 to 15, wherein the indication of the suitability of the current location to achieve satisfactory hearing performance is provided in one or several of the following forms:

an acoustic signal via the output transducer (20) of the hearing system (1, 11, 12), wherein for instance the acoustic signal comprises one or a combination of the following;

one or more tones;

one or more beeps;

a jingle or melody;

a voice message;

a visual presentation on a display (200, 201);

a vibration signal.

17. The method according to one of the claims 12 to 16, wherein the indication of the degree of suitability provided to the user is an indication of a difference between the degree of suitability of the current location and that of at least a further location, for instance in the form of a relative difference, such as an indication of increased or decreased suitability.

18. The method according to one of the claims 12 to 17, wherein the indication of the degree of suitability is adapted based on feedback provided by the user.

19. The method of claim 12 or 18, which further comprises initiating via a user control (100, 102) a request for information regarding the suitability of the current location to achieve satisfactory hearing performance.