Portable system programming hearing aids
First Claim
1. A hearing aid programming system comprising:
- a host computer to provide at least one hearing aid program;
a hearing aid programming card coupled to the host computer to interact with the host computer to control downloading of the at least one hearing aid program from the host computer for use in programming at least one hearing aid; and
portable programming means removably coupled to the hearing aid programming card for storing one or more selected programs downloaded from the host computer, the portable programming means including an ear select to set the at least one hearing aid to be programmed as a left hearing aid or right hearing aid;
program select buttons to activate the selected programs downloaded for the left hearing aid or right hearing aid selected by the ear select; and
coupling means for wirelessly coupling the at least one hearing aid program to at least one hearing aid to be programmed.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An improved hearing aid programming system with a host computer for providing at least one hearing aid program and having at least one personal computer memory card international association (PCMCIA) defined port in combination with a PCMCIA card inserted in the port and arranged for interacting with the host computer for controlling programming of a hearing aid. The host computer provides power and ground to the PCMCIA card and provides for downloading the hearing aid programming software to the PCMCIA card upon initialization. A microprocessor on the PCMCIA card executes the programming software. A hearing aid interface for adjusting voltage levels and impedance levels is adapted for coupling signals to the hearing aid being programmed. A portable programming arrangement utilizes a portable multiprogram unit to store one or more hearing aid programs, and having an electrical interconnection to a portable multiprogram unit interface, whereby one or more programs selected at the host computer can be downloaded and stored in the portable multiprogram unit. The portable multiprogram unit includes a wireless interconnection for transmitting selected ones of the programs to hearing aids to be programmed.
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Citations
31 Claims
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1. A hearing aid programming system comprising:
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a host computer to provide at least one hearing aid program;
a hearing aid programming card coupled to the host computer to interact with the host computer to control downloading of the at least one hearing aid program from the host computer for use in programming at least one hearing aid; and
portable programming means removably coupled to the hearing aid programming card for storing one or more selected programs downloaded from the host computer, the portable programming means including an ear select to set the at least one hearing aid to be programmed as a left hearing aid or right hearing aid;
program select buttons to activate the selected programs downloaded for the left hearing aid or right hearing aid selected by the ear select; and
coupling means for wirelessly coupling the at least one hearing aid program to at least one hearing aid to be programmed. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. For use with a host computer having a memory system for storing hearing aid programs for a user, and operating system software, a hearing aid programming card comprising:
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memory means for storing hearing aid programming software and for temporarily storing hearing aid programs;
interface means to couple to the host computer for providing card information structure (CIS) signals indicative of the identification of the hearing aid programming card and for providing interface control with the host computer;
microprocessor means coupled to the memory means and to the interface means for executing the hearing aid programming software; and
hearing aid interface means coupled to the microprocessor means for providing hearing aid programs to program a hearing aid, the hearing aid interface means including a first variable impedance circuit to connect to a left hearing aid and a second variable impedance circuit to connect to a right hearing aid. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. For use with a host computer having a memory for storing predetermined hearing aid programs and programming software, and operating with an operating system, a hearing programmer system comprising:
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host interface means for providing communication with the host computer and for providing configuration control signals to the host computer for use by the operating system to verify the configuration and for receiving power and signals from the host computer;
processor means coupled to the host interface means for performing hearing aid programming functions, including downloading the predetermined hearing aid programs from the host computer;
initialization means coupled to the processor means for causing the processor means to request downloading of the predetermined hearing aid program from the host computer memory;
memory means coupled to the processor means for temporarily storing the predetermined hearing aid program downloaded from the host computer;
portable multiprogram unit interface means coupled to the processor means for providing indication of the predetermined hearing aid program signals and for receiving control signals; and
coupling means for coupling the portable multiprogram unit interface means to a portable multiprogram unit to provide a communication path on which hearing aid program signals are sent to the portable multiprogram unit and on which control signals are received from the portable multiprogram unit. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27)
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28. A method for programming a hearing aid comprising:
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storing one or more programs for programming a digital hearing aid in a host computer, each of the one or more programs defining a predetermined set of hearing adjusted parameters for hearing aids to be programmed;
coupling a hearing aid programming card to the host computer;
coupling a portable programming unit to the hearing aid programming card;
downloading selected ones of the one or more programs from the host computer through the hearing aid programming card to the portable programming unit;
decoupling the portable programming unit from the hearing aid programming card;
selectively actuating an ear select in the portable programming unit to select a right digitally programmable hearing aid or a left digitally programmable hearing aid as a hearing aid to be programmed;
selectively actuating a program select button in the portable programming unit to select one of the selected ones of the one or more programs to program the selected right digitally programmable hearing aid or left digitally programmable hearing aid; and
selectively actuating the portable programming unit to wirelessly transmit the selected one of the selected ones of the one or more programs to the selected digitally programmable hearing aid to program the digitally programmable hearing aid to a first set of hearing adjusted parameters. - View Dependent Claims (29)
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30. For use with a host computer having a memory system for storing one or more selected hearing aid programs defining hearing adjusted parameters, hearing aid programming software, and operating system software, a hearing aid programming card comprising:
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a memory to store hearing aid programming software;
an interface coupled to the host computer, the interface including a card information structure (CIS) to provide CIS signals indicative of the identification of the hearing aid programming card and to provide interface control with the host computer;
a microprocessor coupled to the memory and to the interface, the microprocessor to execute the programming software to download one or more selected hearing aid programs from the host computer;
a hearing aid interface coupled to the microprocessor to provide signals for programming a hearing aid; and
a portable multiprogramming unit interface coupled to the microprocessor to provide the downloaded hearing aid programs to another unit for use in programming one or more hearing aids. - View Dependent Claims (31)
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Specification