Upper audio range hearing apparatus and method

• US 6,731,769 B1
• Filed: 10/14/1999
• Issued: 05/04/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 10/14/1998
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Sound Techniques Systems LLC
• Original Assignee: Sound Techniques Systems LLC
• Inventors: Lenhardt, Martin L.
• Primary Examiner(s): Kuntz, Curtis
• Assistant Examiner(s): DABNEY, PHYLESHA LARVINIA
• Application Number:
  US09/417,771
• Time in Patent Office: 1,664 Days
• Field of Search: 381/312, 381/316, 381/320, 381/321, 381/326, 381/328, 381/380, 381/98
• US Class Current: 381/316
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 2225/43 Signal processing in hearing aids to enhance the speech intelligibility
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 2430/03 Synergistic effects of band splitting and sub-band processing
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 2460/13 Hearing devices using bone conduction transducers
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 25/502 using analog signal processing
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 25/505 using digital signal processing
• 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

Abstract

A system and method upper auditory frequency range hearing. A speech signal is filtered, and then modulated to an upper auditory frequency range. The modulated signal is then provided to a transducer, which causes a vibration in the ear canal, the head or the neck of a user, which is received in an inner ear of the user. That vibration is translated as a signal to the brain, which interprets that signal as intelligible speech.

Claims

1. An upper audio range hearing aid, comprising:

at least one channel with a filter that receives a sound signal and outputs a filtered signal;

a second channel with a second filter that is tuned to a different frequency than the filter in the at least one channel;

a modulation unit that separately modulates outputs of the at least one channel and the second channel to within the upper audio frequency range and to thereby output a first and second modulated signal, respectively; and

a vibration unit configured to vibrate in accordance with the modulated signal provided thereto;

wherein the vibration unit includes a first vibrator configured to vibrate based on the first modulated signal, and a second vibrator configured to vibrate based on the second modulated signal, and is affixed to at least one of an ear canal, a head and a neck of a user, and provides a vibration that is received by an inner ear of the user and is provided to a brain of the user and decoded as intelligible speech.

2. The upper audio frequency range hearing aid according to claim 1, wherein the vibration unit is affixed to the user at a location in or adjacent to an ear of the user.

3. The upper audio frequency range hearing aid according to claim 1, further comprising a third channel configured to receive the sound signal and to provide the sound signal directly to the vibration unit as an unmodulated signal.

4. The upper audio frequency range hearing aid according to claim 1, further comprising:

an envelope extractor configured to extract an envelope of the filtered signal and to provide the envelope-extracted signal to the modulation unit.

5. The upper audio frequency range hearing aid according to claim 1, wherein, when the vibration unit is affixed to the ear canal, the vibration unit provides sound signals via bone conduction and via air conduction.

6. The upper audio frequency range hearing aid according to claim 5, wherein the sound signals provided via bone conduction are sent by wall of vibration of at least one wall of the ear canal that touches the vibration unit.

7. The upper audio range hearing aid according to claim 1, wherein the upper audio range corresponds to a frequency range of between 10 kHz and 20 kHz.

8. The upper audio range hearing aid according to claim 7, wherein both bone conduction audiometric signals and air conduction audiometric signals are provided to the brain of the user and are decoded as intelligible speech.