Control for Hearing Prosthesis Fitting

• US 20140275730A1
• Filed: 03/15/2013
• Published: 09/18/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 03/15/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cochlear Limited
• Original Assignee: Cochlear Limited
• Inventors: Banna, Rami, James, Christopher J., Lievens, Stefan, Stainsby, Thomas
• Granted Patent: US 9,656,071 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 600/25
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 1/36039 fitting procedures
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 25/606 acting directly on the eardrum, the ossicles or the skull, e.g. mastoid, tooth, maxillary or mandibular bone, or mechanically stimulating the cochlea, e.g. at the oval window
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 25/70 Adaptation of deaf aid to hearing loss, e.g. initial electronic fitting

Abstract

A method for adjusting parameters of a hearing prosthesis system includes adjusting a control to shift an audiogram associated with a first stimulator, applying a prescription rule using the shifted audiogram to adjust a cross-over frequency that defines a first frequency range and a second frequency range. The first stimulator is configured to apply stimulation signals in the first frequency range and a second stimulator is configured to apply stimulation signals in the second frequency range. The method also includes applying the prescription rule using the shifted audiogram to determine gain and maximum power output (MPO) levels for the first frequency range associated with the first stimulator.

Claims

1. A method for adjusting parameters of a hearing prosthesis system that includes a first stimulator and a second stimulator, the method comprising:

adjusting a control to shift an audiogram associated with the first stimulator;

applying a prescription rule using the shifted audiogram to adjust a cross-over frequency that defines a first frequency range and a second frequency range, wherein the first stimulator is configured to apply stimulation signals in the first frequency range and the second stimulator is configured to apply stimulation signals in the second frequency range; and

applying the prescription rule using the shifted audiogram to determine gain and maximum power output levels for the first frequency range associated with the first stimulator.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first stimulator includes an acoustic stimulator and the second stimulator includes an electrical stimulator.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the electrical stimulator includes a cochlea electrode array.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the audiogram is a population average audiogram.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the first frequency range is lower than the second frequency range.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising adjusting a second control to adjust gain and MPO levels for the second frequency range associated with the second stimulator.

7. A bimodal hearing prosthesis, comprising:

first stimulation electronics configured to apply first stimulation signals in a first frequency range;

second stimulation electronics configured to apply second stimulation signals in a second frequency range; and

a processor configured to receive an audiogram and to apply a prescription rule using the audiogram,

wherein applying the prescription rule using the audiogram adjusts a cross-over frequency between the first and second frequency ranges,

and wherein applying the prescription rule using the audiogram calculates parameters for the first frequency range associated with the first stimulation electronics.

8. The bimodal hearing prosthesis of claim 7, wherein the parameters include gain and maximum power output levels.

9. The bimodal hearing prosthesis of claim 7, wherein the first stimulation electronics include an acoustic stimulator and the second stimulation electronics include an electrical stimulator.

10. The bimodal hearing prosthesis of claim 9, wherein the electrical stimulator includes a cochlea electrode array.

11. The bimodal hearing prosthesis of claim 7, wherein the audiogram is a population average audiogram.

12. The bimodal hearing prosthesis of claim 7, wherein the processor is further configured to receive instructions to linearly shift the audiogram up or down, and to apply the prescription rule to the shifted audiogram.

13. The bimodal hearing prosthesis of claim 7, wherein the first frequency range is lower than the second frequency range.

14. The bimodal hearing prosthesis of claim 7, wherein the processor is further configured to receive instructions to adjust parameters for the second frequency range associated with the second stimulation electronics.

15. A control device for a hearing prosthesis, comprising:

a communications interface module for establishing a communications link with the hearing prosthesis;

a user interface that includes a first control and a second control; and

a processor configured to utilize the first control as an electrical stimulation control for adjusting levels for electrical stimulation frequency channels of the hearing prosthesis and to utilize the second control as an acoustic stimulation control for shifting an audiogram that is used by a prescription rule to adjust parameters for substantially only acoustic stimulation frequency channels of the hearing prosthesis and to adjust a cross-over frequency between the electrical stimulation frequency channels and the acoustic stimulation frequency channels of the hearing prosthesis.

16. The control device of claim 15, further comprising a third control, wherein the processor is configured to utilize the first control as a master volume control to adjust levels for all electrical stimulation frequency channels of the hearing prosthesis and to utilize the third control as a treble control to adjust levels across higher frequency electrical stimulation frequency channels of the hearing prosthesis.

17. The control device of claim 15, wherein adjusting the second control corresponds to a linear shift of the audiogram.

18. An article of manufacture including a non-transitory computer-readable medium with instructions stored thereon, the instructions comprising:

instructions for shifting an audiogram associated with a first stimulator of a hearing prosthesis;

instructions for applying a prescription rule using the shifted audiogram to adjust a cross-over frequency that defines a first frequency range and a second frequency range, wherein the first stimulator is configured to apply stimulation signals in the first frequency range and a second stimulator of the hearing prosthesis is configured to apply stimulation signals in the second frequency range; and

instructions for applying the prescription rule using the shifted audiogram to determine gain and maximum power output levels for the first frequency range associated with the first stimulator.

19. The article of manufacture of claim 18, wherein the first stimulator includes an acoustic stimulator and the second stimulator includes an electrical stimulator, and wherein the first frequency range is lower than the second frequency range.

20. The article of manufacture of claim 18, wherein the instructions for shifting the audiogram includes instructions for linearly shifting the audiogram in response to receiving input from a user interface.