EP1310138B1 - Hörhilfegerät mit verzögerter aktivierung - Google Patents

Hörhilfegerät mit verzögerter aktivierung Download PDF

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Publication number
EP1310138B1
EP1310138B1 EP01957779A EP01957779A EP1310138B1 EP 1310138 B1 EP1310138 B1 EP 1310138B1 EP 01957779 A EP01957779 A EP 01957779A EP 01957779 A EP01957779 A EP 01957779A EP 1310138 B1 EP1310138 B1 EP 1310138B1
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
hearing aid
delay period
signal
user
comfort
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Expired - Lifetime
Application number
EP01957779A
Other languages
English (en)
French (fr)
Other versions
EP1310138A1 (de
Inventor
René Mortensen
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
GN Hearing AS
Original Assignee
GN Resound AS
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by GN Resound AS filed Critical GN Resound AS
Priority claimed from US10/359,915 external-priority patent/US7031481B2/en
Publication of EP1310138A1 publication Critical patent/EP1310138A1/de
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of EP1310138B1 publication Critical patent/EP1310138B1/de
Anticipated expiration legal-status Critical
Expired - Lifetime legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04R—LOUDSPEAKERS, MICROPHONES, GRAMOPHONE PICK-UPS OR LIKE ACOUSTIC ELECTROMECHANICAL TRANSDUCERS; DEAF-AID SETS; PUBLIC ADDRESS SYSTEMS
    • H04R25/00—Deaf-aid sets, i.e. electro-acoustic or electro-mechanical hearing aids; Electric tinnitus maskers providing an auditory perception
    • H04R25/45—Prevention of acoustic reaction, i.e. acoustic oscillatory feedback
    • H04R25/453—Prevention of acoustic reaction, i.e. acoustic oscillatory feedback electronically
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04R—LOUDSPEAKERS, MICROPHONES, GRAMOPHONE PICK-UPS OR LIKE ACOUSTIC ELECTROMECHANICAL TRANSDUCERS; DEAF-AID SETS; PUBLIC ADDRESS SYSTEMS
    • H04R25/00—Deaf-aid sets, i.e. electro-acoustic or electro-mechanical hearing aids; Electric tinnitus maskers providing an auditory perception
    • H04R25/50—Customised settings for obtaining desired overall acoustical characteristics
    • H04R25/505—Customised settings for obtaining desired overall acoustical characteristics using digital signal processing

Definitions

  • the invention concerns a hearing aid of the kind disclosed in the preamble to claim 1, which in reality means almost all types of hearing aids to be found on the market.
  • hearing aids can be configured both as so-called analogue aids and as digital aids, and as aids with a combination of analogue and digital techniques.
  • the present invention can be used in connection with almost any form of hearing aid.
  • BTE and ITE hearing aids usually have a mechanical on/off arrangement, e.g. a pushbutton, so that the user can wait to switch the aid on until it is correctly placed and thus avoid the oscillation.
  • CIC hearing aids are so small that they rarely have a specific on/off arrangement. Such aids are switched on when a battery is inserted in the battery compartment and the battery cover is subsequently closed. When the battery cover is closed, the hearing aid is immediately switched on, i.e. that these types of aids are switched on before they are placed in the ear canal. The user can thus not avoid the howling tone until the aid is in place, which can be very troublesome. The howling tone can be extremely disturbing especially for users of CIC hearing aids, since these are often used by people with a slight or a moderate hearing loss.
  • the "inherent delay period" depends on the electronic design of the hearing aid, and the inherent delay is usually minimised during the design phase. If the hearing aid involved is of the analogue type, a charging of supply and coupling capacitors and possibly other components must take place before the aid is completely functional. If the aid involved is of the digital type, programmes or parts hereof must be read from non-volatile storage areas and transferred to volatile memory areas such as program RAM and/or data RAM.
  • the inherent delay period for a hearing aid is usually at the most around 0.5 seconds and up to approx. 1 second for digital aids, where program instructions and program data etc. must be read. Efforts are also made, however, to make digital hearing aids functional after 0.5 - 1 seconds or less.
  • the "comfort delay period” is an additional time delay period wherein the acoustic signal from the microphone is, partly or wholly, prevented from reaching the sound transducer.
  • a so-called time-controlled hearing aid is disclosed that can be sold with a subscription arrangement as is well-known in the art of contact lenses.
  • the arrangement includes payment of regular subscription fees.
  • the subscription arrangement stops if the user does not pay the subscription fee in that the disclosed hearing aid comprises a counter for the registration of the time the hearing aid is in use, and a non-volatile memory for storage of total utilisation time.
  • a comparison is made between the total utilisation time and limit values.
  • a limit value is reached, a corresponding special function is initiated. For example, a sound signal may be emitted which indicates to the user that the subscription period has expired or will expire in the near future.
  • the user may then extend the subscription. If no extension of the subscription is made, the hearing aid may be deactivated by disconnection of the hearing aid battery.
  • the hearing aid comprises means which generate a special acoustic signal during or at least in part of a comfort delay period it is avoided that a user thinks that the aid is defective, that the battery is empty, or that the aid is incorrectly set if he is informed about the delay function. So instead of begin to adjust the aid during the delay period and perhaps hereby set it incorrectly, the user will wait for the aid to function. In other words the user can ascertain, i.e. hear, that the aid is switched on and that it functions as it should, and in a number of seconds will be completely ready and functional. It is noted, that in a prior art device, such as disclosed in DE 19526175, the device is silent in the delay period, leaving a user in doubt, whether the device is able to function or not.
  • the characteristics of the special acoustic signal are programmable, it is possible to input a preselected acoustic signal, via for example a PC, which is adapted to a certain user demands, e.g. the signal can be formed so the user can ascertain how great a part of the comfort delay period there remains.
  • This special acoustic signal can f. ex. be a series of short tones ("beeps") at periodic intervals.
  • the characteristics of the special acoustic signal are programmable in the dependence of the users audiogram it s possible to adapt the acoustic signal in a way such that the acoustic signal can comprise tones that naturally must be at a frequency and with a sound pressure that can be heard by the user.
  • the electronic circuit comprises amplification means adapted for reducing an amplification of the hearing aid during the comfort delay period, it is possible to avoid the possible, troublesome oscillation in a simple manner, and further by configuring the hearing aid as disclosed in claim 5, a suitable down-regulation of the amplification is achieved, depending on the type of hearing aid involved, the setting of the hearing aid and the user's hearing impairment etc., so that a completely individual setting is achieved for the individual hearing aid user.
  • the delay is greater than 1 second, preferably greater than 3 seconds, or the comfort delay period is 5 - 30 seconds in length preferably 5 - 20 seconds, in order to adapt the hearing aid to various users having different wishes.
  • FIG. 1 An example of such a hearing aid according to the invention is shown schematically in block diagram form in fig. 1.
  • the hearing aid which is designated in general by the reference figure 1, contains one or more sound receivers 2, in the shown example two microphones 2a and a telecoil 2b.
  • the analogue signals for the microphones are coupled to an analogue-digital converter circuit 3, which contains an analogue-digital converter 4 for each of the microphones.
  • the digital signal outputs from the analogue-digital converters 4 are coupled to a common data line 5, which leads the signals to a digital signal processing and adapter circuit 6.
  • This circuit which for example can be in the form of a digital signal processor (DSP), and which is explained in more detail later, is programmed to effect the necessary operations on the digital signals with the view to carrying out the necessary adaptation of the signals, and to adjust the hearing aid for the relevant user.
  • DSP digital signal processor
  • the output signal is then fed to a digital-analogue converter 12, from which analogue output signals are fed to a sound transducer 13, such as a miniature loudspeaker.
  • a digital-analogue converter 12 from which analogue output signals are fed to a sound transducer 13, such as a miniature loudspeaker.
  • the hearing aid contains a storage unit 14, which in the example shown is an EEPROM (electronically erasable programmable read-only memory).
  • the digital signal processing and adapter circuit 6 which in the example shown consists of a digital signal processor (DSP), contains a central processor (CPU) 7 and a number of internal storage units 8-11, these storage units containing data and programmes, which are presently being executed in the DSP circuit 6.
  • the circuit 6 thus contains a programme-ROM (read-only memory) 8, a data-ROM 9, a programme-RAM (random access memory) 10 and a data-RAM 11.
  • the two first-mentioned contain programmes and data which constitute permanent elements in the circuit, while the two last-mentioned contain programmes and data which can be changed or overwritten.
  • the external EEPROM 14 is normally considerably larger, e.g. 4-8 times larger, than the internal RAM, which means that certain data and programmes can be stored in the EEPROM so that, when there is need for it, they can be read into the internal RAMs for execution, in that these special data and programmes can thus later be overwritten again by the normal operational data and working programmes.
  • the external EEPROM can thus contain a series of programmes, which are used only in special cases, such as e.g. start-up programmes.
  • the hearing aid When the hearing aid is switched on, either by means of a regular, built-in switch, e.g. a pushbutton, or in the case of a CIC hearing aid by opening the battery cover, inserting a battery and closing the cover again, the inherent delay period 36 shown uppermost on the right-hand side is started, this period extending from the top and downwards along the symbolic time axis.
  • a regular, built-in switch e.g. a pushbutton
  • a start code from the external EEPROM 14, cf. block 30 in fig. 2 is transferred to the programme-RAM block 10 in fig. 1.
  • This start code gives rise to the transfer, cf. block 31 in fig. 2, of an operating system from EEPROM 14 to the DSP circuit 6 in fig. 1, after which, cf. block 32 in fig. 2, the programme application and its associated data etc. are transferred by the operating system from EEPROM 14 in fig. 1, so that the DSP circuit 6 is now completely operative and has been supplied with the necessary programmes, data etc., to customise the hearing aid for the individual user. Accordingly, the hearing aid is fully operative and, if it is not placed in position in the user's ear canal, it will oscillate due to the coupling between the transducer 13 and the microphones 2.
  • the timer sequence starts and a count is effected from that number of seconds for which the aid's comfort delay period is set and down to 0, which is indicated in fig. 2 by the logical steps 33, 38.
  • the hearing aid is returned to normal, cf. block 39, in that the above-mentioned blocking is cancelled.
  • the timer is also used to control a block 34, see fig. 2, which generates a short acoustic signal ("beep") with a suitable frequency, cf. the logical step 35, in that the aid is programmed with that number of timer steps there must be between each beep.
  • the hearing aid in fig. 1 is programmed to implement the comfort delay period 37 in extension of the hearing aid's start-up period 36, and an acoustic signal 34 which notifies the user that the hearing aid is switched on and that it is operative, but that the comfort delay period has not yet expired.
  • the signal path from the microphone 2 to the transducer 13 is not desired to be blocked completely, but it is desired instead to reduce the hearing aid's amplification by a number of dB, e.g. 40-50 dB, this can also be effected in a programmable manner and independently of the sound level of the special acoustic signals controlled by block 34.
  • the comfort delay period can be controlled by a commonly-known time constant circuit, a digital counter or RC circuits.
  • the hearing aid involved is an analogue aid, in practice use will often be made of a small digital circuit with a timer for controlling and setting the comfort delay period.

Landscapes

  • Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
  • General Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
  • Neurosurgery (AREA)
  • Otolaryngology (AREA)
  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Acoustics & Sound (AREA)
  • Signal Processing (AREA)
  • Telephone Function (AREA)
  • Circuit For Audible Band Transducer (AREA)

Claims (8)

  1. Hörhilfegerät (1) mit mindestens einem Mikrofon (2a), einer elektrischen oder elektronischen Schaltung zum Verarbeiten des von dem Mikrofon kommenden Signals und mindestens einem Schallwandler (13) für die Erzeugung eines akustischen Ausgangssignals und einer Anordnung zum Ein- und Ausschalten des Hörhilfegeräts und ferner mit Verzögerungseinrichtungen, die das von dem Mikrofon kommende Signal vollständig oder teilweise daran hindern, den Schallwandler (13) während der Einschaltperiode zu erreichen, wenn das Hörhilfegerät eingeschaltet wird,
    dadurch gekennzeichnet, dass
    das Hörhilfegerät Einrichtungen aufweist, die ein spezielles akustisches Signal erzeugen, welches ein korrektes Funktionieren des Hörhilfegeräts während oder zumindest über einen Teil einer Komfort-Verzögerungsperiode anzeigt, bei der es sich um eine Zeitverzögerungsperiode handelt, wobei das von dem Mikrofon kommende akustische Signal teilweise oder vollständig daran gehindert ist, den Schallwandler zu erreichen.
  2. Hörhilfegerät nach Anspruch 1, bei dem Charakteristiken des speziellen akustischen Signals programmierbar sind.
  3. Hörhilfegerät nach Anspruch 1 oder 2, bei dem die Charakteristiken des speziellen akustischen Signals in Abhängigkeit von einem Benutzer-Audiogramm programmierbar sind.
  4. Hörhilfegerät nach Anspruch 1-3, bei dem die elektronische Schaltung Verstärkereinrichtungen zum Reduzieren einer Verstärkung des Hörhilfegeräts während der Komfort-Verzögerungsperiode aufweist.
  5. Hörhilfegerät nach Anspruch 4, bei dem der Betrag, um den die Verstärkung reduziert ist, in Abhängigkeit von dem Benutzer-Audiogramm eingestellt ist.
  6. Hörhilfegerät nach Anspruch 1-5, bei dem die Komfort-Verzögerungsperiode länger als 1 Sekunde, vorzugsweise länger als 3 Sekunden, ist.
  7. Hörhilfegerät nach Anspruch 1-6, bei dem die Komfort-Verzögerungsperiode 5-30 Sekunden, vorzugsweise 5-20 Sekunden, lang ist.
  8. Hörbilfegerät nach einem der vorhergehenden Ansprüche, bei dem die Verzögerungseinrichtungen vollständig oder teilweise durch eine Programmsequenz zum Steuern der Länge der Komfort-Verzögerungsperiode und/oder der Charakteristiken des speziellen akustischen Signals implementiert sind.
EP01957779A 2000-08-10 2001-08-10 Hörhilfegerät mit verzögerter aktivierung Expired - Lifetime EP1310138B1 (de)

Applications Claiming Priority (4)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
DK200001197 2000-08-10
DKPA200001197 2000-08-10
PCT/DK2001/000533 WO2002013576A1 (en) 2000-08-10 2001-08-10 Hearing aid with delayed activation
US10/359,915 US7031481B2 (en) 2000-08-10 2003-02-07 Hearing aid with delayed activation

Publications (2)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP1310138A1 EP1310138A1 (de) 2003-05-14
EP1310138B1 true EP1310138B1 (de) 2006-09-27

Family

ID=33132901

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP01957779A Expired - Lifetime EP1310138B1 (de) 2000-08-10 2001-08-10 Hörhilfegerät mit verzögerter aktivierung

Country Status (3)

Country Link
EP (1) EP1310138B1 (de)
AU (1) AU2001279602A1 (de)
WO (1) WO2002013576A1 (de)

Cited By (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
DE102007013394A1 (de) * 2007-03-20 2008-10-02 Siemens Audiologische Technik Gmbh Verfahren zum Betreiben eines Hörgeräts
EP2661103A1 (de) 2012-05-02 2013-11-06 Oticon A/s Verfahren zum Anpassen eines Hörgeräts

Families Citing this family (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
DE602004016695D1 (de) 2004-04-06 2008-10-30 Phonak Ag Hörgerät und Verfahren zum Aktivieren eines Hörgerätes
DE102009014540A1 (de) * 2009-03-24 2010-10-07 Siemens Medical Instruments Pte. Ltd. Verfahren zum Betreiben einer Hörvorrichtung mit verstärkter Rückkopplungskompensation und Hörvorrichtung

Family Cites Families (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4737669A (en) * 1986-07-31 1988-04-12 Rca Corporation Slow-start system for a control circuit
JP2532019B2 (ja) * 1992-10-01 1996-09-11 リオン株式会社 補聴器
DE19526175C1 (de) * 1995-07-18 1996-08-08 Audio Service Gmbh As Hörgerät zum Einsatz in den Gehörgang
DK199900017A (da) * 1999-01-08 2000-07-09 Gn Resound As Tidsstyret høreapparat

Cited By (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
DE102007013394A1 (de) * 2007-03-20 2008-10-02 Siemens Audiologische Technik Gmbh Verfahren zum Betreiben eines Hörgeräts
US8199944B2 (en) 2007-03-20 2012-06-12 Siemens Audiologische Technik Gmbh Method for operating a hearing device
EP2661103A1 (de) 2012-05-02 2013-11-06 Oticon A/s Verfahren zum Anpassen eines Hörgeräts
US9432783B2 (en) 2012-05-02 2016-08-30 Oticon A/S Method of fitting a hearing device

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
AU2001279602A1 (en) 2002-02-18
EP1310138A1 (de) 2003-05-14
WO2002013576A1 (en) 2002-02-14

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