Hearing aid, hearing-aid apparatus, hearing-aid method and integrated circuit thereof

• US 8,363,868 B2
• Filed: 04/07/2009
• Issued: 01/29/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 04/09/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Panasonic Corporation (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Panasonic Corporation (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Fusakawa, Kazue, Yokokura, Megumi, Takagi, Yoshiaki
• Primary Examiner(s): Kuntz, Curtis
• Assistant Examiner(s): ETESAM, AMIR HOSSEIN
• Application Number:
  US12/663,761
• Publication Number:
  US 20100254554A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,393 Days
• Field of Search: 381/315, 381/60, 381/314, 340/571, 3405391-53912
• US Class Current: 381/315
• 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

Abstract

A hearing aid (100) fits in an ear of a user and amplifies a sound and outputs the amplified sound. Specifically, the hearing aid includes: a microphone (110) as a pick-up unit which picks up the sound; a wireless communicating unit (130) which receives, from an external apparatus connected via wireless, an instruction for outputting a searching sound, the instruction for outputting a searching sound which is used for outputting a searching sound; an amplifier (140) which amplifies the outputted sound; an earphone (150) as an outputting unit which outputs the sound amplified by the amplifier (140); and an operation switching unit (120) which switches between a hearing mode and a searched mode, the hearing mode causing the amplifier (140) to amplify a hearing sound which is a sound picked up by the microphone (110) with a use of a first amplification factor, and the searched mode causing the amplifier (140) to amplify the searching sound, in response to the reception of the instruction for outputting a searching sound, with a use of a second amplification factor greater than the first amplification factor.

Claims

1. A hearing aid which fits in an ear of a user, amplifies a sound and outputs the amplified sound, said hearing aid comprising:

a pick-up unit configured to pick up the sound;

a wireless communicating unit configured to receive, from a wirelessly connected external apparatus, an instruction for outputting a searching sound;

an amplifying unit configured to amplify the sound;

an outputting unit configured to output the sound amplified by said amplifying unit;

an operation switching unit configured to switch between a hearing mode and a searched mode, the hearing mode causing said amplifying unit to amplify a hearing sound, which is the sound picked up by said pick-up unit, with use of a first amplification factor, and the searched mode causing said amplifying unit to amplify the searching sound, in response to the reception of the instruction for outputting the searching sound, with use of a second amplification factor greater than the first amplification factor; and

a storing unit configured to store a parameter indicating a frequency band suitable for a remaining hearing capability of the user,

wherein, when said operation switching unit is in the searched mode, said amplifying unit extracts the frequency band indicated by the parameter from the searching sound, and amplifies the frequency band extracted from the searching sound with use of the second amplification factor.

2. The hearing aid according to claim 1, further comprising a storage unit configured to store the searching sound,

wherein said amplifying unit amplifies the searching sound read from said storage unit using the second amplification factor when said wireless communicating unit receives the instruction for outputting the searching sound.

3. The hearing aid according to claim 1,

wherein said wireless communicating unit is further configured to receive, from the external apparatus, both (i) the instruction for outputting the searching sound and (ii) the searching sound, and

said amplifying unit amplifies the searching sound using the second amplification factor when said wireless communicating unit receives the searching sound from the external apparatus.

4. The hearing aid according to claim 3, further comprising a providing delay unit configured, in the searched mode, to delay the searching sound for a predetermined delay time, and to provide the delayed searching sound to said outputting unit, the searching sound being amplified by said amplifying unit using the second amplification factor.

5. The hearing aid according to claim 4, wherein the predetermined delay time is between 0.2 seconds and 5 seconds.

6. The hearing aid according to claim 3, wherein said operation switching unit is further configured to switch to a searching mode causing said wireless communicating unit to transmit the instruction for outputting the searching sound to another hearing aid.

7. The hearing aid according to claim 6, wherein, in the searching mode, said operation switching unit causes said wireless communicating unit to transmit, as the searching sound, the sound picked up by said pick-up unit to the other hearing aid.

8. A hearing aid apparatus comprising:

a first hearing aid which fits in an ear of a user and is the hearing aid according to claim 1; and

a second hearing aid which fits in another ear of the user and is the hearing aid according to claim 1.

9. The hearing aid apparatus according to claim 8, wherein said wireless communicating unit of each of said first hearing aid and said second hearing aid is configured to:

mutually hold wireless communication using a first communicating mode in a case where both of said first hearing aid and said second hearing aid are in the hearing mode; and

mutually hold wireless communication using a second communicating mode in a case where said first hearing aid and said second hearing aid are in the searched mode, the second communicating mode having a wider communication area than the first communicating mode.

10. The hearing aid apparatus according to claim 8, further comprising a remote control which wirelessly transmits the instruction for outputting the searching sound to at least one of said first hearing aid and said second hearing aid.

11. A hearing aid method for amplifying a sound and outputting the amplified sound, using a hearing aid fitting in an ear of a user, said hearing aid method comprising:

picking up the sound;

receiving, from a wirelessly connected external apparatus, an instruction for outputting a searching sound;

amplifying the sound;

outputting the sound amplified in said amplifying; and

in said amplifying, switching between a hearing mode and a searched mode, the hearing mode involving amplifying a hearing sound, which is the sound picked up in said picking up, with use of a first amplification factor, and the searched mode involving amplifying the searching sound, in response to the reception of the instruction for outputting the searching sound, with use of a second amplification factor greater than the first amplification factor,

wherein, when said amplifying is in the searched mode, said amplifying extracts a frequency band suitable for a remaining hearing capability of the user from the searching sound and amplifies the frequency band extracted from the searching sound with use of the second amplification factor.

12. An integrated circuit which amplifies a sound and outputs the amplified sound, said integrated circuit comprising:

a pick-up unit configured to pick up the sound;

a wireless communicating unit configured to receive, from a wirelessly connected external apparatus, an instruction for outputting a searching sound;

an amplifying unit configured to amplify the sound;

an outputting unit configured to output the sound amplified by said amplifying unit; and

an operation switching unit configured to switch between a hearing mode and a searched mode, the hearing mode causing said amplifying unit to amplify a hearing sound, which is the sound picked up by said pick-up unit, with use of a first amplification factor, and the searched mode causing said amplifying unit to amplify the searching sound, in response to the reception of the instruction for outputting the searching sound, with use of a second amplification factor greater than the first amplification factor,

wherein, when said operation switching unit is in the searched mode, said amplifying unit extracts a frequency band suitable for a remaining hearing capability of a user from the searching sound, and amplifies the frequency band extracted from the searching sound with use of the second amplification factor.