JPS6254000B2 - - Google Patents

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a hearing aid fitting device, and more particularly to a hearing aid fitting device including a novel display method of a measurement method.

[Technical background of the invention]

In general, the aspects of hearing loss for people with hearing loss vary depending on each individual.
The degree of hearing loss and the width of the auditory field differ, and this situation also differs depending on the frequency. Hearing aids to supplement the auditory functions of such hearing-impaired people are equipped with functions to control the acoustic gain, maximum output, frequency characteristics, etc. of the hearing aid, and to compress the variation width of the acoustic signal level in order to adapt to the aforementioned aspects of hearing loss. etc.

These various adjustments are made to suit the aspect of hearing loss of the hearing-impaired person. This adjustment work is generally called fitting.

Regarding conventional fitting work,
Hearing status of a hearing-impaired person, such as minimum audible threshold (minimum sound pressure level that the subject can hear), discomfort threshold (maximum sound pressure level that the subject feels uncomfortable when listening to),
Hearing measurement work involves measuring the comfort threshold (the sound pressure level at which the subject can hear normally without discomfort) for each frequency, as well as hearing aid gain, maximum output, frequency characteristics,
This work is divided into a characteristic measurement task in which compression characteristics and the like are measured as a function of frequency, and dedicated devices were used for the hearing ability measurement device and the hearing aid characteristic measurement device.

Here, the aspect of the subject's hearing ability is recorded on a predetermined recording paper using the measurement result as a function of frequency. Further, various performances of the hearing aid are measured by a hearing aid characteristic measuring device and recorded on a recording sheet. In this case, it is necessary to change each adjustment element of the hearing aid according to the auditory characteristics, but it is necessary to re-measure each time. What's more, while adjusting each adjustment element of the hearing aid in various ways, we measure its characteristics.
This procedure had to be repeated until hearing aid characteristics that seemed to match the hearing characteristics of the hearing-impaired person, which had previously been carried out, were obtained, making fitting the hearing aid extremely time-consuming.

[Purpose of the invention]

The present invention was made in an attempt to eliminate the above-mentioned drawbacks of the prior art, and an object of the present invention is to provide a hearing aid fitting device that can measure auditory characteristics and adjust the output characteristics of a hearing aid while visually observing the auditory characteristics. do.

[Summary of the invention]

To achieve this objective, according to the invention:
a signal generation source that generates an audible band signal related to a plurality of frequencies; an output control device that adjusts the characteristics of the signal so that the output signal of the signal generation source is heard by a subject; a display device for displaying the output characteristics of the hearing aid in the form of a graph; and an input control device for displaying the output characteristics of the hearing aid on the display device; The characteristics are displayed on the display device so that the auditory characteristics and the output characteristics of the hearing aid can be viewed simultaneously.

[Embodiments of the invention]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a system diagram according to an embodiment of the present invention, in which a signal generation source 10, an output control device 2
0, a display device 30, an input control device 40, and a main control device 50.

The signal generation source 10 is an audible band signal, for example 50Hz~
A bandpass filter 12 or 13 comprising a white noise generator 11 containing frequency components up to 10KHz.
into multiple measurement frequency bands. That is, the filters 12 and 13 have the same configuration,
For example, 250Hz, 500Hz, 1000Hz, 2000Hz, 4000Hz,
It is equipped with a plurality of band pass filters each having a width of 1/3 octave with a center frequency of 6000 Hz, and each band is sequentially switched at a predetermined timing by a control signal CK1 from the main controller 50. .

Here, the output of the filter 12 is the output of the output control device 2.
0 and is sent to the display device 30. The output of the filter 13 is sent to the output amplifier 14 and output to the speaker 1 only when the speaker output switch 16 is turned on.
Drive 5. The output acoustic signal from the speaker 15 can be used to measure the characteristics of the hearing aid, as will be described later.

In this way, using a signal generator that includes white noise allows measurement to be performed using a signal that has components close to the actually existing sound, thereby obtaining desirable test results. However, since it is sufficient to measure using audible band signals of a plurality of frequencies, it goes without saying that a pure tone oscillator may be used.

The output control device 20 adjusts the characteristics of the output signal of the signal generation source 10 so that the subject can hear it, and includes a compressor 21, an attenuator 22, a correction circuit 23, an output amplifier 24, an earphone 25, and an earphone output. It includes a switch 26 and an interrupter 27.

That is, the frequency characteristics of the output signal from the signal generation source 10 are matched to the auditory characteristics of a normal person by a compressor 21, and the overall signal level is adjusted by an attenuator 22 during measurement. The correction circuit 23 is for correcting the characteristics of the earphone 25 as will be described later, and then the test signal is made to be heard by the subject via the output amplifier 24 and the earphone. Further, the output of the attenuator 22 is sent to the display device 30, and the sound pressure level being heard by the subject is displayed as will be described later.

In addition, the earphone output switch 26 is connected to the earphone 25.
The interrupter 27 is for switching whether to send a signal constantly or intermittently to the earphone 25.
This is used to cut off the output of the sensor and make it easier to make measurement decisions.

The display device 30 is a device for displaying the sound pressure level in a graph for each of a plurality of frequencies, and includes a measurement selector 31, a detector 32, a logarithmic converter 33, an AD converter 34, a display 35, and a memory 36. , and a measurement selection switch 37.

The measurement selector 31 is operated by the measurement selection switch 37 and is for selecting and displaying either the signal from the attenuator 22 or the signal from the filter 12, and selects a so-called display mode. In the mode in which the signal from the attenuator 22 is selected (hereinafter referred to as test mode), the sound pressure level that the subject hears through the earphone 25 during the test is displayed on the display 35, and in the mode in which the signal from the filter 12 is selected ( In the fitting mode (hereinafter referred to as fitting mode), the output characteristics of the hearing aid are displayed on the display 35.

In this embodiment, the display device 35 is one in which LEDs are arranged in a matrix, for example, a display panel 60 as shown in FIG.
The display shall be as shown in . For this reason, the signal selected by the measurement selector 31 is extracted by the detector 32 to extract the ripple component of the signal, and after passing through the logarithmic converter 33 so that it can be displayed on a predetermined scale, the digital signal is converted by the AD converter 34. The predetermined value of the profit display 35
Turn on the LED. This digital signal is stored in the memory 36 as a command signal sent from the control device 52 by operating the memory switch 55 of the main control device 50.

The input control device 40 is a pre-stage circuit for displaying the output characteristics of the hearing aid on the display device 30, and includes a microphone 41, a head amplifier 42, an amplifier 43, and
It is equipped with a 1KHz oscillator 44.

The output of the hearing aid input from the microphone 41, for example, the acoustic signal from the speaker 15 via the hearing aid, is
Head amplifier 42, amplifier 43, and filter 1
2 to the display device 30 and displayed on the display 35. Here, the amplification degree of the amplifier 43 can be adjusted. The oscillator 44 is for calibration.

The main controller 50 drives the controller 52, the display 35, and the memory 36 using a so-called clock signal CK0 from a reference oscillator 51, and also sends a signal so that the controller 52 executes a predetermined command.
Based on CK0, other signals CK1, CK2, and CK3 are sent out. Filters 12, 13, correction circuit 23, AD converter 34, and memory 36 are driven by these signals CK1 to CK3. Control device 5
Each command of 2 is performed based on the operation of the frequency changeover switch 53, the clear switch 54, and the memory switch 55. The frequency selection switch 53 is used to change the measurement frequency, for example, 250Hz, 500Hz, 1000Hz, 2000Hz.
Switch the frequencies of Hz, 4000Hz, 6000Hz,
The clear switch 54 clears the contents of the memory 36, and the memory switch 55 clears the input data from the memory 3.
6.

Next, we will explain the operation of this embodiment in (1) inspection mode and (2)
It will be explained separately in the fitting mode.

(1) Test mode As mentioned above, this is a mode for testing the auditory characteristics of the subject, and for example, the minimum audible threshold and discomfort threshold are measured and tested.

First, the measurement selection switch 37 is operated to switch the measurement selector 31 to the test mode, and the subject is made to wear the earphones 25 in order to perform the test. First, for example, in order to check the minimum audible range value at each frequency, select 250Hz with the frequency selector switch 53 and turn the attenuator 2
Adjust 2. By operating this switch 53, the command signal CK1 from the control device 52 selects a bandpass filter having a center frequency of 250 Hz from among the filters 12. The minimum sound pressure level that a subject can hear by adjusting the attenuator 22 is the minimum audible range value for that subject at a frequency of 250 Hz. This value is displayed on the display 35 via the measurement selector 31, and is assumed to be 70 dB, for example. This value is stored in the memory 36 by operating the memory switch 55.

Similarly, 500Hz, 1000Hz, 2000Hz, 4000
The subject is asked to listen to audible band signals related to frequencies of Hz and 6000 Hz, and display and memorize the minimum sound pressure level.
The minimum sound pressure level for each frequency is 80dB,
Assuming that the values are 85 dB, 90 dB, 90 dB, and 85 dB, the auditory characteristics indicating the minimum audible range value will be as shown by the curve 61 in FIG.

Conversely, the attenuator 22 is adjusted in the same manner to increase the sound pressure level, and the points at which the subject complains of discomfort are plotted for each frequency. This is,
250Hz, 500Hz, 1000Hz, 2000Hz, 4000Hz, 6000Hz
For each frequency, 110dB, 115dB,
120dB, 120dB, 115dB, 110dB, the auditory characteristic indicating the discomfort threshold is curve 62 in Figure 2.
This is shown in the figure below, and is sequentially displayed and stored.

Note that the fitting may be inappropriate due to differences in the characteristics of the various earphones 25, so the earphones 25 are calibrated. To do this, the earphone 25 is connected to the microphone 41, the oscillator 44 is operated, and the output sound pressure of the earphone 25 is adjusted by the correction circuit 23 so that a predetermined sound pressure level (for example, 110 dB) is obtained for each frequency. to correct. Furthermore, by superimposing a bias current on the signals applied to the various earphones 25, the optimum characteristics of the various earphones 25 can be obtained. This makes it possible to change the direct current superimposed on the signal.

(2) Fitting mode This is a mode in which the output characteristics of the hearing aid are examined, and further adjustments are made to suit the subject while visually observing these characteristics.

Attach earphones of a hearing aid (not shown) to the microphone 41 via a cover (not shown), and at the same time operate the measurement selection switch 37 to select the measurement selector 31.
Switch to fitting mode. memory 36
2, the curves 61 and 62 in FIG. 2 remain displayed on the display board 60 of the display 35.

Generally, the comfort threshold is considered to be between the minimum audible threshold 61 and the discomfort threshold 62, so the output characteristics of the hearing aid are made to fall within this range.

Therefore, the hearing aid is turned on and the audio signal is input to the input microphone of the hearing aid. At this time, the audio signal passes through the filter 12 of the signal generation source 10 and is automatically decomposed into each frequency component. That is, each band pulse filter of the filter 12 is sequentially controlled from 250Hz to 250Hz by the signal CK1.
Since the frequency is switched to 6000Hz, the output of the hearing aid for each frequency is displayed on the display 35. Adjust the adjustment part of the hearing aid while looking at the display on the display 35, and adjust the hearing aid output characteristics (second
Curve 63) in the figure is obtained. In this way, using a filter to decompose the audio signal as an input signal is desirable for determining characteristics, and is one of the features of the present invention.

In this case, the audio signal is input to the hearing aid and the output is adjusted, and the speaker output switch 16 is turned on to input the band noise corresponding to each frequency from the speaker 15 of the signal generation source 10 to the hearing aid, taking into account the control. It is practical to improve the output characteristics of hearing aids by At this time, filters 12 and 13
are automatically switched synchronously.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above, the present invention can provide a hearing measurement and adjustment device that can immediately perform testing and fitting of hearing characteristics while visually viewing them on a single display panel. The device according to the present invention is extremely desirable because it allows the fitting operation to be carried out easily and quickly even at a store or the like.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figure 1 is a system diagram showing an embodiment of this invention, Figure 2 is a system diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.
The figure is an explanatory diagram of a main part of an embodiment of the present invention. 10... Signal generation source, 20... Output control device,
30...Display device, 40...Input control device, 50
...Main control device.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A signal generation source that generates audible band signals related to a plurality of frequencies; an output control device that adjusts the characteristics of the signal so that the output signal of the signal generation source is heard by a subject; A display device for displaying the sound pressure level in a graph for each of a plurality of frequencies, and an input control device for displaying the output characteristics of the hearing aid on the display device, and controlling the output to measure the auditory characteristics of the subject. 1. A hearing aid fitting device, which displays the auditory characteristics on the display device so that the auditory characteristics and the output characteristics of the hearing aid can be viewed simultaneously. 2. In the device according to claim 1,
A hearing aid compatible device, wherein the signal source comprises a white noise generator and a plurality of bandpass filters. 3. In the device according to claim 1 or 2, the output control device includes a correction circuit that corrects the output sound pressure of the earphone by inputting its output to the input control device via the earphone. A hearing aid compatible device comprising: 4. A hearing aid fitting device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the signal generation source includes an acoustic signal generation device that serves as an input signal to the hearing aid. 5. In the device according to claim 2,
A hearing aid fitting device, wherein the output of the input control device is sent to the next stage via the bandpass filter. 6. A hearing aid compatible device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the output control device is capable of adjusting the bias current of the earphone.