Hearing aid in which signal processing is controlled based on a correlation between multiple input signals

• US 8,744,100 B2
• Filed: 05/27/2009
• Issued: 06/03/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 05/27/2008
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Panasonic Corporation (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Panasonic Corporation (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Kojima, Mariko
• Primary Examiner(s): Ensey, Brian
• Application Number:
  US12/472,627
• Publication Number:
  US 20090296965A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,833 Days
• Field of Search: 381/56, 381/57, 381/312, 381/317, 381/321
• US Class Current: 381/312
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 25/407 Circuits for combining signals of a plurality of transducers

Abstract

The user'"'"'s personal intention is conveyed to a hearing aid using a method that does not place heavy physical and psychological loads. A hearing aid to be worn by a user for auditory compensation comprises: at least one microphone which converts a sound to an input signal; a hearing-aid signal processing unit configured to generate an output signal from the input signal; a receiver which outputs, as a sound, the output signal generated by the hearing-aid signal processing unit; and a hearing-aid processing control unit configured to generate control information for controlling signal processing, based on a non-audible sound which is made by the user and is hard to hear from outside, wherein, when the hearing-aid processing control unit generates the control information, the hearing-aid signal processing unit is configured to generate the output signal according to the generated control information.

Claims

1. A hearing aid to be worn by a user for auditory compensation, said hearing aid comprising:

a first microphone which converts a sound transmitted through air to a first input signal;

a second microphone which converts a sound transmitted through a body of the user to a second input signal;

an intention identification unit configured to determine a threshold such that the threshold is greater when a loudness of a noise detected from the first input signal is greater;

a hearing-aid processing control unit configured to generate control information for controlling signal processing, based on the second input signal when a correlation value between the first input signal and the second input signal is smaller than the threshold;

a hearing-aid signal processing unit configured to generate an output signal from the first input signal according to the generated control information, when said hearing-aid processing control unit generates the control information; and

an output unit configured to output, as a sound, the output signal generated by said hearing-aid signal processing unit.

2. The hearing aid according to claim 1,

wherein said hearing aid further comprises a correlation calculation unit configured to determine, for each of a plurality of time segments, whether or not power of the first input signal exceeds a first threshold and whether or not power of the second input signal exceeds a second threshold, and to calculate the correlation value between the first input signal and the second input signal so that the correlation value decreases with an increase in the number of time segments for which the power of the first input signal is determined as not exceeding the first threshold and the power of the second input signal is determined as exceeding the second threshold.

3. The hearing aid according to claim 1,

wherein said hearing-aid processing control unit includes a noise suppression unit configured to subtract the first input signal from the second input signal, and

wherein said hearing-aid processing control unit is configured to detect a sound included in the second input signal after the subtraction by said noise suppression unit.

4. The hearing aid according to claim 3,

wherein said intention identification unit is configured to estimate an intention of the user based on characteristics indicated by the detected sounds, and

wherein said hearing-aid processing control unit includes

a control information generation unit configured to generate the control information according to the intention of the user estimated by said intention identification unit.

5. The hearing aid according to claim 4,

wherein said hearing-aid processing control unit further includes:

an environment identification unit configured to detect the loudness of the noise from the first input signal; and

a speech identification unit configured to determine presence or absence of language information in the first input signal, and

wherein said control information generation unit is configured to generate the control information based on the intention of the user estimated by said intention identification unit, the loudness of the noise determined by said environment identification unit, and the determination by said speech identification unit as to presence or absence of the language information.

6. An integrated circuit for use in a hearing aid to be worn by a user for auditory compensation, wherein the hearing aid includes:

a first microphone which converts a sound transmitted through air to a first input signal;

a second microphone which converts a sound transmitted through a body of the user to a second input signal; and

an output unit configured to output an output signal as a sound, said integrated circuit comprising;

an intention identification unit configured to determine a threshold such that the threshold is greater when a loudness of a noise detected from the first input signal is greater;

a hearing-aid processing control unit configured to generate control information for controlling signal processing, based on the second input signal when a correlation value between the first input signal and the second input signal is smaller than the threshold; and

a hearing-aid signal processing unit configured to generate the output signal from the first input signal according to the generated control information, when said hearing-aid processing control unit generated the control information.

7. A hearing-aid processing method for use with a hearing aid to be worn by a user for auditory compensation, wherein the hearing aid includes:

a first microphone which converts a sound transmitted through air to a first input signal;

a second microphone which converts a sound transmitted through a body of the user to a second input signal; and

an output unit configured to output an output signal as a sound, said hearing-aid processing method comprising;

determining a threshold such that the threshold is greater when a loudness of a noise detected from the first input signal is greater;

generating control information for controlling signal processing, based on the second input signal when a correlation value between the first input signal and the second input signal is smaller than the threshold; and

generating the output signal from the first input signal according to the generated control information, when said generating the control information generates the control information.

8. A computer program recorded on a non-transitory computer-readable recording medium, said computer program causing a computer included in a hearing aid to be worn by a user for auditory compensation to execute processing, wherein the hearing aid includes:

a first microphone which converts a sound transmitted through air to a first input signal;

a second microphone which converts a sound transmitted through a body of the user to a second input signal; and

an output unit configured to output an output signal as a sound, and wherein said computer program causes the computer to execute a method comprising;

determining a threshold such that the threshold is greater when a loudness of a noise detected from the first input signal is greater;

generating control information for controlling signal processing, based on the second input signal when a correlation value between the first input signal and the second input signal is smaller than the threshold; and

generating the output signal from the first input signal according to the generated control information, when said generating the control information generates the control information.