Hearing implant bilateral matching of ILD based on measured ITD
First Claim
1. A bilateral hearing implant system comprising:
- implanted left-side and right-side electrode arrays, each with a plurality of stimulation contacts for delivering electrode stimulation signals to adjacent auditory neural tissue;
left- and right-side filter banks configured to process left- and right-side audio input signals to generate corresponding left- and right-side pluralities of band pass signals, wherein each band pass signal represents an associated band of audio frequencies in the audio input signal;
an interaural time delay (ITD) processing module configured to;
i. estimate ITDs for the band pass signals by calculating an ITD histogram from overlapping measurement time windows,ii. determine a standard deviation of the ITD histogram to characterize accuracy of the estimated ITDs, andiii. use the estimated ITDs as a function of estimation accuracy to adjust interaural level differences (ILDs) in the band pass signals; and
a plurality of audio processing stages configured to use the adjusted band pass signals to generate left-side and right-side electrode stimulation signals for the stimulation contacts in the corresponding left-side and right-side electrode arrays.
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Abstract
Arrangements are described for generating electrode stimulation signals for stimulation contacts in implanted electrode arrays of a bilateral hearing implant system having electrode arrays on both the left- and right-sides. Left-side and right-side audio input signals are processed to generate corresponding left-side and right-side band pass signals, which each represent an associated band of audio frequencies in the audio input signal. Frequency-specific interaural time delays (ITDs) are estimated for the band pass signals, and the estimated ITDs are used to adjust interaural level differences (ILDs) in the band pass signals. The adjusted band pass signals then are used to generate left-side and right-side electrode stimulation signals for the stimulation contacts in the corresponding left-side and right-side electrode arrays.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A bilateral hearing implant system comprising:
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implanted left-side and right-side electrode arrays, each with a plurality of stimulation contacts for delivering electrode stimulation signals to adjacent auditory neural tissue; left- and right-side filter banks configured to process left- and right-side audio input signals to generate corresponding left- and right-side pluralities of band pass signals, wherein each band pass signal represents an associated band of audio frequencies in the audio input signal; an interaural time delay (ITD) processing module configured to; i. estimate ITDs for the band pass signals by calculating an ITD histogram from overlapping measurement time windows, ii. determine a standard deviation of the ITD histogram to characterize accuracy of the estimated ITDs, and iii. use the estimated ITDs as a function of estimation accuracy to adjust interaural level differences (ILDs) in the band pass signals; and a plurality of audio processing stages configured to use the adjusted band pass signals to generate left-side and right-side electrode stimulation signals for the stimulation contacts in the corresponding left-side and right-side electrode arrays. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A method of generating electrode stimulation signals for stimulation contacts in implanted electrode arrays of a bilateral hearing implant system having a left-side electrode array and a right-side electrode array, the method comprising:
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processing left-side and right-side audio input signals to generate corresponding left-side and right-side pluralities of band pass signals, wherein each band pass signal represents an associated band of audio frequencies in the audio input signal; estimating frequency-specific interaural time delays (ITDs) for the band pass signals by calculating an ITD histogram from overlapping measurement time windows; determining a standard deviation of the ITD histogram to characterize accuracy of the estimated ITDs; using the estimated ITDs as a function of estimation accuracy to adjust interaural level differences (ILDs) in the band pass signals; and using the adjusted band pass signals to generate left-side and right-side electrode stimulation signals for the stimulation contacts in the corresponding left-side and right-side electrode arrays. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification