Hearing aid with sound replay capability
First Claim
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1. A hearing aid comprising sound reproduction apparatus adapted to be mounted on a wearer on, in, or proximate to an ear of the wearer, the sound reproduction apparatus comprising:
- sound data acquisition apparatus adapted to acquire current sound data representing sound that occurs in the vicinity of the hearing aid;
sound production apparatus adapted to produce sound in accordance with sound data acquired by the sound data acquisition apparatus; and
sound replay apparatus, the sound replay apparatus comprising;
a sound data accumulation device for accumulating replay sound data representing sound occurring during a replay time; and
a sound data selection device for selecting either the current sound data or the replay sound data to be transmitted to the sound production apparatus for use in producing sound.
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Abstract
A hearing aid includes a sound replay capability. The hearing aid can operate in a normal mode, augmenting sound as the sound occurs, or the hearing aid can operate in a replay mode (typically in response to input from the wearer of the hearing aid), replaying sound beginning up to a specified duration of time prior to the current time.
24 Citations
30 Claims
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1. A hearing aid comprising sound reproduction apparatus adapted to be mounted on a wearer on, in, or proximate to an ear of the wearer, the sound reproduction apparatus comprising:
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sound data acquisition apparatus adapted to acquire current sound data representing sound that occurs in the vicinity of the hearing aid;
sound production apparatus adapted to produce sound in accordance with sound data acquired by the sound data acquisition apparatus; and
sound replay apparatus, the sound replay apparatus comprising;
a sound data accumulation device for accumulating replay sound data representing sound occurring during a replay time; and
a sound data selection device for selecting either the current sound data or the replay sound data to be transmitted to the sound production apparatus for use in producing sound. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
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29. A hearing aid that can acquire current sound data representing sound that occurs in the vicinity the hearing aid, produce sound in accordance with sound data, accumulate replay sound data representing sound occurring during a replay time, and select either the current sound data or the replay sound data to be used in producing sound.
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30. A method for aiding hearing, comprising the steps of:
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acquiring current sound data representing sound that occurs in the vicinity of a hearing aid;
producing sound in accordance with sound data;
accumulating replay sound data representing sound occurring during a replay time; and
selecting either the current sound data or the replay sound data to be used in producing sound.
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Specification