Method for actively reducing occlusion comprising plausibility check and corresponding hearing apparatus

• US 8,553,917 B2
• Filed: 03/12/2009
• Issued: 10/08/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 03/20/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sivantos Pte. Ltd. (WS Audiology A/S)
• Original Assignee: Siemens Medical Instruments Pte Ltd (WS Audiology A/S)
• Inventors: Arndt, Georg-Erwin, Koch, Frank
• Primary Examiner(s): Lee, Eugene
• Assistant Examiner(s): Jiang, Fang-Xing
• Application Number:
  US12/381,491
• Publication Number:
  US 20090238387A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,671 Days
• Field of Search: 381/56, 381/94, 381312-328, 381/72, 381/156
• US Class Current: 381/318
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 2460/05 Electronic compensation of the occlusion effect
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 25/305 Self-monitoring or self-testing

Abstract

Adaption of signal processing for actively reducing occlusion in hearing apparatuses, and in particular in hearing aids, is to be automated further. For this purpose, a transducer transmission function, which is defined for the transmission path from the input of a receiver via the auditory canal to the output of a microphone, be subjected to an automatic plausibility check. An adjustable filter via which the microphone signal is fed back is only altered if the transducer transmission function is plausible according to a predefined criterion.

Claims

1. A method for actively reducing occlusion in a hearing apparatus, comprising:

receiving a sound in an auditory canal via a microphone located in the auditory canal while outputting a corresponding microphone signal;

filtering the microphone signal using an adjustable filter;

feeding back the filtered microphone signal to an input of a receiver which is used to emit sound in the auditory canal, wherein the feeding back is performed by way of a signal combiner configured to invert a polarity of the filtered microphone signal;

defining a transmission path from the input of the receiver via the auditory canal to an output of the microphone;

measuring at least one characteristic of a transducer transmission function of the transmission path;

determining if the transducer transmission function for the transmission path is plausible via a plausibility check; and

automatically adjusting the adjustable filter to optimize occlusion reduction only when the transducer transmission function is plausible according to the plausibility check.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the transducer transmission function is smoothed for the plausibility check.

3. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the transducer transmission function is measured in a first frequency range and extrapolated to a second frequency range.

4. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the transducer transmission function is implausible when an absolute value of the transducer transmission function in a predefined frequency range is lower than a predefined threshold.

5. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the transducer transmission function is implausible when a phase of the transducer transmission function in a predefined frequency range is below a predefined minimum phase.

6. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the transducer transmission function is implausible when a value of the transducer transmission function, including absolute value and phase, is outside of a predefined tolerance enclosure in the space which is defined by the coordinates absolute value, phase and frequency.