System for automatic fitting using real ear measurement
First Claim
1. A hearing assistance device for a wearer having an ear and an ear canal, the wearer having a plurality of target gains determined for the ear, comprising:
- a housing;
a hearing assistance device microphone within the housing adapted to sample sound from the wearer'"'"'s ear canal using a probe tube, the hearing assistance device microphone situated in an opening of the ear canal and configured to be used as both a device microphone and a real-ear measurement microphone;
a receiver adapted to play a sound stimulus to the wearer'"'"'s ear canal; and
hearing assistance electronics within the housing in communication with the hearing assistance device microphone and the receiver, the hearing assistance electronics programmed to process signals received by the hearing assistance device microphone to automatically self-correct frequency dependent gain of signals played by the receiver in the wearer'"'"'s ear canal using real-ear measurements by the hearing assistance device microphone to approximate the plurality of target gains for each of a plurality of frequency ranges by iterating until an overall target matching error for the plurality of frequency ranges is less than a programmable threshold by adjusting gain in each frequency range by an amount proportional to the target matching error for the frequency range, wherein the hearing assistance electronics use an attenuation factor of the probe tube to process the signals.
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Accused Products
Abstract
According to a method embodiment for performing a real ear measurement (REM), a stimulus signal is transformed into a frequency domain stimulus signal with a plurality of frequency ranges. The frequency domain stimulus signal is amplified with a desired gain for each of the plurality of frequency ranges to provide an amplified stimulus signal. The amplified stimulus signal is transformed into the acoustic signal in the ear canal, which is detected to provide a detected acoustic signal, and the detected acoustic signal is transformed into a frequency domain detected signal with the plurality of frequency ranges. A sound level for the plurality of frequency ranges is measured. The desired gain for the frequency ranges is automatically adjusted based on the measured sound levels and the desired sound pressure levels for the plurality of frequency ranges. The method can be performed within a hearing assistance apparatus.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A hearing assistance device for a wearer having an ear and an ear canal, the wearer having a plurality of target gains determined for the ear, comprising:
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a housing; a hearing assistance device microphone within the housing adapted to sample sound from the wearer'"'"'s ear canal using a probe tube, the hearing assistance device microphone situated in an opening of the ear canal and configured to be used as both a device microphone and a real-ear measurement microphone; a receiver adapted to play a sound stimulus to the wearer'"'"'s ear canal; and hearing assistance electronics within the housing in communication with the hearing assistance device microphone and the receiver, the hearing assistance electronics programmed to process signals received by the hearing assistance device microphone to automatically self-correct frequency dependent gain of signals played by the receiver in the wearer'"'"'s ear canal using real-ear measurements by the hearing assistance device microphone to approximate the plurality of target gains for each of a plurality of frequency ranges by iterating until an overall target matching error for the plurality of frequency ranges is less than a programmable threshold by adjusting gain in each frequency range by an amount proportional to the target matching error for the frequency range, wherein the hearing assistance electronics use an attenuation factor of the probe tube to process the signals. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A method for automatically adjusting gain of a hearing assistance device for a wearer having an ear and an ear canal, the method comprising:
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generating an acoustic stimulus signal; playing the acoustic stimulus signal in the ear canal using a receiver; detecting signals in the ear canal using a hearing assistance device microphone within a housing of the hearing assistance device, the hearing assistance device microphone situated in an opening of the ear canal and configured to be used as both a device microphone and a real-ear measurement microphone using a probe tube; and processing signals received by the hearing assistance device microphone to automatically self-correct frequency dependent gain using real-ear measurements by the hearing assistance device microphone to approximate a plurality of target gains for each of a plurality of frequency ranges for the wearer by iterating until an overall target matching error for the plurality of frequency ranges is less than a programmable threshold by adjusting gain in each frequency range by an amount proportional to the target matching error for the frequency range, including using an attenuation factor of the probe tube to process the signals. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification