EP2182742B1 - Ajustement asymétrique - Google Patents

Ajustement asymétrique Download PDF

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Publication number
EP2182742B1
EP2182742B1 EP09174982.0A EP09174982A EP2182742B1 EP 2182742 B1 EP2182742 B1 EP 2182742B1 EP 09174982 A EP09174982 A EP 09174982A EP 2182742 B1 EP2182742 B1 EP 2182742B1
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Prior art keywords
hearing aid
user
model
hearing
ear
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German (de)
English (en)
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EP2182742A1 (fr
Inventor
Alexander Ypma
Aalbert De Vries
Joseph Renier Gerardus M Leenen
Job Geurts
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GN Hearing AS
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GN Resound AS
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    • 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
    • H04R25/55—Deaf-aid sets, i.e. electro-acoustic or electro-mechanical hearing aids; Electric tinnitus maskers providing an auditory perception using an external connection, either wireless or wired
    • H04R25/552—Binaural
    • 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
    • H04R25/70—Adaptation of deaf aid to hearing loss, e.g. initial electronic fitting
    • 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 present specification relates to a method of adjusting processing parameters in hearing aids, in particular in a binaural hearing aid system with a first hearing aid and a second hearing aid, each of which comprises a microphone, an A/D converter for provision of a digital input signal in response to sound signals received at the respective microphone in a sound environment, a processor that is adapted to process the digital input signals in accordance with a predetermined signal processing algorithm to generate a processed output signal, and a D/A converter and an output transducer for conversion of the respective processed sound signal to an acoustic output signal.
  • the hearing aids typically comprise a Digital Signal Processor (DSP) for processing of sound received by the hearing aid for compensation of the user's hearing loss.
  • DSP Digital Signal Processor
  • the processing of the DSP is controlled by a signal processing algorithm having various parameters for adjustment of the actual signal processing performed.
  • the gains in each of the frequency channels of a multi-channel hearing aid are examples of such parameters.
  • the flexibility of the DSP may be utilized to provide a plurality of different algorithms and/or a plurality of sets of parameters of a specific algorithm. For example, various algorithms may be provided for noise suppression, i.e. attenuation of undesired signals and amplification of desired signals. Desired signals are usually speech or music, and undesired signals can be background speech, restaurant clatter, music (when speech is the desired signal), traffic noise, etc.
  • the different algorithms or parameter sets provide comfortable and intelligible reproduced sound quality in different sound environments, such as speech, babble speech, restaurant clatter, music, traffic noise, etc.
  • Audio signals obtained from different sound environments may possess very different characteristics, e.g. average and maximum sound pressure levels (SPLs) and/or frequency content.
  • SPLs average and maximum sound pressure levels
  • each type of sound environment may be associated with a particular program wherein a particular setting of algorithm parameters of a signal processing algorithm provides processed sound of optimum signal quality in a specific sound environment.
  • a set of such parameters may typically include parameters related to broadband gain, corner frequencies or slopes of frequency-selective filter algorithms and parameters controlling e.g. knee-points and compression ratios of Automatic Gain Control (AGC) algorithms.
  • AGC Automatic Gain Control
  • the hearing aids may be provided with a number of different programs, each program tailored to a particular sound environment category and/or particular user preferences.
  • Signal processing parameters may initially be determined during a fitting session in a dispenser's office and programmed into the instrument by activating corresponding algorithms and algorithm parameters in a non-volatile memory area of the hearing aid and/or transmitting corresponding algorithms and algorithm parameters to the non-volatile memory area.
  • Left and right hearing aids may communicate with each other, e.g. via a wireless link between the hearing aids.
  • a wireless link between the hearing aids.
  • a model for asymmetric hearing loss and/or preferences may be used for predicting asymmetric parameter changes.
  • user adjustments to one of the hearing aids could be used to infer adjustments to the other instrument in the binaural hearing aid system or even to update the settings of the binaural hearing aid system based on only partial (left- or right instrument) input.
  • a first aspect of the present invention provides a method of adjusting a signal processing parameter for a first and a second hearing aid forming part of a binaural hearing aid system to be worn by a user, the binaural hearing aid system comprising a user specific model representing a desired asymmetry between the first ear and the second ear of the user , the method comprising the steps of:
  • the method may further comprise the step of adapting the model with respect to the desired asymmetry during use of the binaural hearing aid system.
  • the step of adapting the model may be performed subsequent to the step of adjusting a processing parameter for the second hearing aid and in response to a second request for processing a parameter change at the second hearing aid.
  • the user may not be satisfied with a new adjustment of the processing parameter for the second hearing aid and reacts by manually adjusting the second hearing aid by the second request.
  • the manual adjustment is incorporated into the model only if it is performed within a short predefined time interval after the step of adjusting the processing parameter for the second hearing aid, i.e. the second request may be performed within a predefined time interval subsequent to the adjusting the processing parameter for the second hearing aid.
  • the step of adapting the model may include modifying the asymmetry behaviour to the observed sound environment.
  • the step of adapting the model may be based on statistically processed environmental data.
  • a certain setting of processing parameters for the first and second hearing aids may represent a certain compromise that may depend on the type of sound environments in which the user typically spends time as indicated by the statistically processed environmental data.
  • the step of detecting may include recording a signal or request for change of parameter, e.g. via a hardware interrupt or other signalling means.
  • the method according to the present invention synchronizes the other hearing aid with the first hearing aid, but preferably not by simply copying the same adjustment to the other hearing aid.
  • the method according to the present invention ensures that differences in preferences and hearing loss in the two ears are taken into account.
  • the model may be based on measurements by e.g. audiogram or some derivative thereof like PTA.
  • PTA is pure tone average i.e. the average of pure tone hearing thresholds at e.g. 500, 1000, and 2000 Hz.
  • the role of a first and a second hearing aid may be played interchangeably by both the left and right hearing aid in a binaural hearing aid system.
  • the model used in the method according to the first aspect of the present invention may be a frequency dependent model. This may be advantageous as hearing loss may not be uniform in the entire frequency spectrum or over a given frequency interval.
  • hearing loss may be construed to mean hearing loss in the first and/or second ear. In other embodiments the term hearing loss may be construed to mean the difference in the hearing losses between the first and second ear and may possibly also include other type of data that e.g. may reflect any desired asymmetry.
  • a request for change of processing parameter is detected.
  • the request may originate from one of several events or a combination of events, including but not limited to operation of a wheel on one of the hearing aids, a push-button on one of the hearing aids, operation of a remote control controlling or communicating with one or both of the hearing aids, a device or circuit monitoring ambient sound or any combinations hereof.
  • the binaural hearing aid system may be capable of automatically classifying the user's sound environment into one of a number of relevant or typical everyday sound environment categories, such as speech, babble speech, restaurant clatter, music, traffic noise, etc.
  • Obtained classification results may be utilised in the respective hearing aid to automatically select signal processing characteristics of the hearing aid, e.g. to automatically switch to the most suitable algorithm for the environment in question.
  • Such a hearing aid will be able to maintain optimum sound quality and/or speech intelligibility for the individual hearing aid user in various sound environments.
  • an omni-directional and a directional microphone preset program in dependence of, not just the level of background noise, but also on further signal characteristics of this background noise.
  • Omni-directional operation could be selected in the event that the noise being traffic noise to allow the user to clearly hear approaching traffic independent of its direction of arrival. If, on the other hand, the background noise was classified as being babble-noise, the directional listening program could be selected to allow the user to hear a target speech signal with improved signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) during a conversation.
  • SNR signal-to-noise ratio
  • Sound characteristics may differ significantly at the two ears of a user, and it will occur that sound environment determination at the two ears of a user differs, and this may leads to desired different signal processing of sounds for each of the ears of the user.
  • the request is processed and the corresponding parameter, or parameters, is adjusted in the first hearing aid.
  • a corresponding adjustment of the second hearing aid is calculated, predicted or determined on the basis of the request and by using a model or rule representing the hearing loss and/or preferences of the second ear.
  • the processing parameter for the second hearing aid is then adjusted accordingly.
  • the method according to the present invention make use of prior knowledge on the hearing loss in each ear and other audiological or psychophysical prior knowledge and environmental information in doing the synchronized adjustment in an asymmetric manner.
  • the signal processing parameter in the first hearing aid may be adjusted based on the request for processing parameter change and further by using a further specific model representing the hearing loss of the first ear of the wearer.
  • Steering parameters are parameters that govern the computation of hearing aid processing parameters from environmental descriptors like sound features or sound classification outputs. Steering parameters may also be parameters that relate sound environment to hearing aid processing parameters. These may not be fixed to a certain value. The steering parameters may furthermore be modifiable in such a way that the values of the hearing aid parameter(s) in a certain environment reflect the user preference as well as possible
  • both hearing aids are adjusted in a manner that is tailored to the left and right hearing loss.
  • the request for processing parameter change may originate from a wearer initiated operation of an actuator or may be generated in response to changes in signal characteristics.
  • the hearing aid may include circuitry for detecting the ambient sound environment, such as present sound environment conditions, such as noisy conditions e.g. due to wind noise or noise originating from surrounding speech or other ambient noise sources.
  • the processing parameter may be volume level, but other parameters may be used, such as equalizing parameters, sound classification parameters, noise reduction parameters, noise reduction, compression ratio, time constants, parameters of classifier module, beamforming (directional processing) parameters, feedback suppression parameters, dynamic range compression parameters and the like.
  • hyperparameters may be controlled or changed. A hyperparameter is not a hearing aid processing parameter as such. It is a parameter that governs the working of a processing algorithm, and is typically fixed to a certain value.
  • the model may be adapted in response to the request for processing parameter change. If a user or wearer is subjected to a particular environment situation and adjusts the hearing aid accordingly the model or rule may be adjusted or modified in response to that change request. This is contemplated to reduce the number of times a wearer needs to adjust a hearing aid, thereby possibly increasing the wearer satisfaction with the hearing aid.
  • the method according to the present invention provides the possibility that the request for processing parameter change may comprise information regarding one or more processing parameters to be changed and a parameter representing an amount of change.
  • the request may comprise information regarding which parameter or parameters to change as well as the amount of change of that parameter or parameters, e.g. an amount of increase or decrease of volume.
  • the first hearing aid may be a master device and the second hearing aid may be a slave device.
  • the first, master, hearing aid alone and the change will then be transferred or imposed on the second, slave, device.
  • both hearing aids may assume the role of the master device, but not at the same time, in the meaning that both devices may receive change requests and subsequently transfer or apply the change to the other device.
  • the model may comprise two separate steering vectors each associated with a hearing loss in the first and second ear of the user, respectively, which steering vectors are coupled by a probability model representing the combined binaural system.
  • the overall degree of asymmetry may further depend on the difference between microphone recordings in the first and second hearing aid.
  • the model representing the hearing loss of the user may comprise a measured or estimated hearing loss in the first and/or second ear of the user. This may be advantageous when hearing loss is not identical in the two ears.
  • the request for processing parameter change may originate from a user initiated operation of an actuator or is generated in response to changes in signal characteristics.
  • the request may e.g. originate from a volume wheel or other interaction means operated by a user.
  • the method according to the first aspect of the present invention is not performed in a fitting situation.
  • the fitting situation is usually performed by a technician e.g. at a laboratory or clinic.
  • the method according to the present invention is preferably in use while the wearer is in any situation any other person would be, e.g. work, leisure situations such as dinners at restaurants, also larger groups of people gathered.
  • the method is preferably implemented in a hearing aid to be used by a wearer in any noisy situation where hearing impaired persons otherwise would feel discomfort without the hearing aid.
  • the request may be based on a vector of parameters.
  • the models of the first and the second hearing aid may be a shared or common parameter or parameter set or vector.
  • a second aspect of the present invention relates to a hearing aid comprising a signal processor, wherein the hearing aid is adapted for forming part of a binaural hearing aid system during use and for receiving information from another hearing aid that during use also is adapted to form part of the binaural hearing aid system, wherein the signal processor is configured to adjust a signal processing parameter in the hearing aid based on a request for a processing parameter change in the other hearing aid and a user specific model representing a desired asymmetry between the first ear and the second ear of the user.
  • the signal processor may further be configured to adjust the user specific model in response to the request.
  • the hearing aid according to the second aspect may further be configured or adapted to perform any of the steps mentioned in relation to the method according to the first aspect of the present invention.
  • the model may be placed in the first hearing aid or it may be placed in the second hearing aid.
  • the model may however in an alternative embodiment be placed in a third device, such as a remote control, a personal portable device such as a body worn device or a PDA, Personal Data Assistant, a mobile/cellular phone or the like.
  • the model may be shared between the first and the second hearing aid in such a way that some parts of the model are placed in the first hearing aid and some parts are placed in the second hearing aid.
  • those parts of the model that relate to the hearing loss in the ear that is to be compensated with the first hearing aid are placed in the first hearing aid, while those parts of the model that relate to the hearing loss in the ear that is to be compensated by the second hearing aid are placed in the second hearing aid.
  • these parts of the model may be overlapping, and in some embodiments be totally overlapping, i.e. the first and the second hearing aid may both be equipped with the same model in the case of extreme overlap.
  • Fig. 1 illustrates a simplistic block diagram of a binaural hearing aid 2.
  • the binaural hearing aid 2 comprises two separate hearing aids 4 and 6 that are adapted or configured to communicate with each other.
  • Each of the hearing aids 4, 6 are equipped with an input transducer 8, 10, e. g. a microphone and/or a telecoil (not shown), for the provision of an electrical input signal.
  • the hearing aid 4, 6 also comprises an audio signal processor such as a compressor 12, 14, a volume control 16, 18, and an output transducer 20, 22 such as a receiver.
  • the adjustment of a hearing aid processing parameter of the master hearing aid is an adjustment of volume, however, it is to be understood that it may be any other kind of hearing aid processing parameter, and the adjustment of one kind of processing parameter in the master hearing aid 4 is not necessarily followed by an adjustment of the same kind of hearing aid parameter (in this example also a volume adjustment in the slave hearing aid 6) in the slave hearing aid 6.
  • the adjustment of the processing parameter (in this example the volume) in the master hearing aid may be triggered automatically, e.g.
  • the model processing block 24 may be incorporated in either one of the two hearing aids 4 or 6. It is understood that in this embodiment the volume control 18 of the slave hearing aid 6 is optional.
  • Fig. 2 is a schematic illustration of a flow diagram illustrating steps of a first embodiment of the present invention.
  • the method according to the present invention relates to adapting, adjusting or changing signal parameters in a binaural hearing aid system.
  • the binaural hearing aid system comprises two hearing aids, one for the left ear and one for the right ear of a wearer or user.
  • the two hearing aids are referred to as the first and the second hearing aid.
  • the left and the right hearing aid may assume the role of the first and the second hearing aids in different situations.
  • this hearing aid is referred to as the first hearing aid, the other is then synchronized in an asymmetric manner.
  • This other hearing aid is then referred to as the second hearing aid.
  • a request for change of a processing parameter is received 26.
  • the request comprises an indication of which processing parameter to change.
  • the request may comprise indication of several parameters.
  • the request may comprise an indication of an amount of change of the parameter.
  • the request for change of a processing parameter may be generated by one of several devices or units.
  • the hearing aids in a binaural hearing aid system comprise a volume wheel.
  • This volume wheel may generate a request for change of a processing parameter.
  • This request may be accompanied by an indication of the amount that the processing parameter should change.
  • the method further comprises adjusting 28 the signal processing parameter in the first hearing aid.
  • the processing parameter is changed or modified at the first hearing aid directly, i.e. without regards to hearing loss in the first ear.
  • the method also comprises determining 30 a processing parameter change for the second hearing aid based on the request for processing parameter change and a specific model 32 wherein the model represents hearing loss of the second ear of the user and/or preferred asymmetry in first and second ear according to the individual user's preferences.
  • the method according to the present invention provides automatic change or adaptation of a processing parameter for the second ear based on the request for a parameter change for the first ear and a model for the hearing loss for the second ear.
  • the method provides automatic change or adaptation the same processing parameter for the second ear based on the request for the parameter change for the first ear and a model for the hearing loss for the second ear.
  • the model for the second ear is preferably a frequency dependent model.
  • Examples of asymmetrical hearing loss include different loudness perception, i.e. different amount of recruitment or hyperacusis L-R (where L-R denotes left-right) resulting in one or more of different threshold level, different most comfortable level (MCL level), different uncomfortable levels (UCL levels) or during fitting a L-R level mapping could be selected or measured.
  • L-R most comfortable level
  • UCL levels uncomfortable levels
  • the method also comprises the step of changing or adapting one or more signal processing parameter in the second hearing aid.
  • the calculation or determination of the signal processing parameter change for the first and/or second hearing aid may be performed in either hearing aid.
  • both hearing aids comprises signal processing units.
  • the signal processing parameter may be set in one hearing aid and then transmitted to the other hearing aid.
  • a binaural hearing aid system where the two hearing aids are in communication via a wireless connection, such as Bluetooth or another suitable protocol.
  • the two hearing aids may be connected by an electrical conductor.
  • Fig. 3 illustrates an embodiment of a binaural hearing aid system, wherein the system uses asymmetric synchronization of left and right hearing aid parameters.
  • model or transfer function between the two hearing aids of the binaural hearing aid system may provide a non-linear or asymmetric transfer function of changes made at one hearing aid to the other hearing aid.
  • the second hearing aid may be synchronized, in an asymmetric manner, with the first. For the majority of listening situations, this may be perfectly acceptable for the user.
  • volume change for the second hearing aid may be different from the volume change in the first hearing aid leading to the same perceived increase or decrease in loudness for both ears.
  • embodiments of the system described herein allows automatic adjustment of the second hearing aid based on the operation performed on the volume wheel, and a model representing the difference in audibility ranges for the user. Thus, the user does not need to individually adjust each of the two hearing aids.
  • the system may be configured for computing the magnitude of the overall gain change, due to the volume adjustment, in the first ear relative to the audibility range in the first ear and then issuing a gain change in the second ear that has the same magnitude relative to the audibility range in the second ear.
  • This output sound y is input to the left and right ear E, transformed into left and right auditory nerve signals n, which are combined in the brain, where it is observed, integrated, and evaluated. Based on such a binaural integration and evaluation of the processed left and right sound, a user may make a decision d to adjust left and/or right hearing aids.
  • the learning modules L learn and apply a mapping from user corrections r via a prescribed rule.
  • the rule computes the optimal hearing aid processing parameter ⁇ in the adjusted instrument and at the other instrument given a binaural utility model U.
  • a utility model passes information about the left and right hearing loss HL L and HL R of the patient to the model or rule.
  • the utility model may include an auditory profile ⁇ that includes information regarding left and/or right hearing loss and may also include other parameters that reflect aspects of the user's hearing loss, sound appreciation and/or life style.
  • a utility model may also include utility parameters ⁇ .
  • the learning modules may contain parameters ⁇ that govern the mapping from adjustments to parameters.
  • the rule governs the computation of left and right processing parameters in the learning modules, indicated by the arrows from Rule to Learning modules.
  • Choices for the fixed mapping f(.) are represented by some setting of the parameters ⁇ , governed by the rule. In other embodiments the mapping may not be fixed and may be variable.
  • f r k L HL L HL R is some (possibly nonlinear) scaling of the left hearing aid user correction vector that is applied to the right ear, and takes into account the hearing loss in both ears.
  • the hearing aid parameter vectors are typically one-dimensional, but when a suitable user correction vector r k L with more than one dimension can be supplied by the user, a multi-dimensional parameter vector can also be synchronized asymmetrically.
  • time stamp t is defined as the ongoing time, measured e.g. in multiples of the sampling period 1/Fs, where Fs is the sampling frequency of the digital hearing aid processor.
  • consent time k is defined as the time stamp t k at which an explicit consent was given by the user to a certain adjustment.
  • the user operates a control function (a wheel, a push button, a remote control, or some other user control interface) in order to influence the sound processing function of the hearing aid.
  • the time at which the user releases the user control (and leaves it unchanged for a certain amount of time) is called a consent moment.
  • Consent moment k refers to the k-th time that the control is released (and left unchanged).
  • the system is configured to act at consent moments.
  • the left and right hearing aid parameter vectors at consent time k from equation (1) are applied inside the hearing aid system as new processing parameters any time between the current consent moment k and the next consent moment k + 1 , i.e. updated ⁇ k L and ⁇ k R are used as ⁇ t R and ⁇ t R at time stamps between t k and t k + 1 . Similar rules are used for converting updated steering parameters at consent times to arbitrary time stamps during on-line processing of incoming sound.
  • one may choose the nonlinear scaling function as f r k L HL L HL R scaleback scale r k L HL L ; HL R where the scale(.) function scales the adjustment in the left hearing aid according to the left hearing loss, and the scaleback(.) function uses this 'perceptually scaled adjustment' to compute the adjustment according to the right hearing loss.
  • the right hearing aid parameter is thus synchronized with the left, but using a modified left hearing aid correction, allowing for asymmetry between the hearing aids. Further, only one correction issued to the left hearing aid is used to correct both hearing aids, which avoids operating two controls, which is contemplated to be a benefit to the user.
  • the nonlinear scaling again applies the left hearing aid correction such that the perceived change in the left hearing aid is similar to the perceived change in the right hearing aid.
  • the function also takes into account the previous value of the right hearing aid parameter vector.
  • the additional user correction in the right hearing aid r t R will usually be zero, but the user is allowed to perform an additional fine tuning at the right hearing aid, if needed.
  • the additional user correction may be learned by or absorbed in the model representing the hearing loss in an ear thereby improving future adjustments based on the model.
  • the left hearing aid plays the role of the first hearing aid, but the roles may be exchanged.
  • the right hearing aid may play the role of the first hearing aid.
  • Fig. 4 is a schematic illustration of a modified first embodiment of the method according to the present invention.
  • Fig. 4 comprises similar steps as in Fig. 2 , similar steps has been numbered with similar reference numerals.
  • the method illustrated in Fig. 4 includes the box 36. This is to indicate the use of a hearing loss model of the first ear when performing or calculating the adjustment of the processing parameter or processing parameters for the first hearing aid.
  • a second embodiment of the present invention provides synchronizing left and right steering parameters using asymmetric user feedback and asymmetric acoustic features. This second embodiment is illustrated in Fig. 5 .
  • This system of equations expresses that the left and right (scalar) hearing aid processing parameters are changing with the acoustic environment (as represented by left and right sound feature vectors s t L and s t R ) using a shared steering vector ⁇ .
  • One component in each of the sound feature vectors may be set to 1, hereby providing an environment-independent bias.
  • the user is allowed to operate either of the hearing aids, or both of them, which will result in either a left user correction r t L , a right user correction r t R or a combination of left and right user correction.
  • the shared steering vector ⁇ may e.g. be predefined by using prior knowledge about hearing loss, user preferences, etc.
  • an on-line learning method may be designed that incorporates the user corrections and updates the common weighting vector.
  • on-line is construed as meaning during usage of the hearing instrument, as opposed to off-line, i.e. during a fitting session at a dispenser's office or the like.
  • the binaural hearing aid system is synchronized at the level of the steering parameters, but the actual hearing aid parameters that result from this steering may differ between the ears when the features differ and/or when the user corrections differ between the ears.
  • ⁇ t L ⁇ t R s t L s t R ⁇ ⁇ t + ⁇ t L ⁇ t R
  • ⁇ k L and ⁇ k R are zero mean Gaussian noise sources with variance ⁇ k L and ⁇ k R respectively, which represent the noise in the user adjustments at consent time k.
  • the ⁇ k term is a stochastic variable that represents the current steering vector, which is used to estimate/update the shared steering vector ⁇ that is applied in the hearing aid processing.
  • ⁇ k L , ⁇ k R and ⁇ k are time-varying stochastic variables, where we take ⁇ k L , ⁇ k R as scalars and ⁇ k as vector.
  • ⁇ k L , ⁇ k R can be made according to an alternative embodiment of the invention.
  • a binaural moment of explicit consent k now refers to a certain 'synchronization time window' starting at time stamp t k.
  • a user releases the control at either or both of the hearing aids to modify the hearing aid parameter and then leaves the released control value(s) untouched for a certain period of time.
  • the desired hearing aid parameter values are at least partly known, and the acoustic features may always retrieved in both hearing aids of the hearing aid system.
  • an evolution of the parameters i.e. 'the state model', may be modelled as e.g.
  • ⁇ k ⁇ k - 1 + ⁇ k
  • ⁇ k zero-mean Gaussian noise with covariance matrix ⁇ k that represents uncertainty in the evolution of the state (i.e. steering) variables ⁇ k .
  • ⁇ k zero-mean Gaussian noise with covariance matrix ⁇ k that represents uncertainty in the evolution of the state (i.e. steering) variables ⁇ k .
  • N( ⁇ , ⁇ ) we denote a normal distribution with mean ⁇ and covariance matrix ⁇ .
  • the output vector is only partially observed, i.e. the entries corresponding to the desired parameters of the other hearing aid are not observed.
  • the update equations follow the Kalman filter update equations, but when we have partial evidence we may integrate over the hidden part of the output vector, leading to slightly different update equations.
  • FIG. 5 A flow diagram of this further embodiment is presented in Fig. 5 .
  • the possibly noisy adjustment(s) are considered as a joint left-right adjustment to the hearing aid system and will be applied to both hearing aids by taking the noise in left and/or right adjustments into account.
  • the learning and steering modules L learn and apply a mapping from sound feature vectors s to hearing aid parameters ⁇ .
  • a particular kind of sound feature is the identity feature, in which case the parameter learning and steering is effectively training and applying a personalized value for the hearing aid parameter vector.
  • the environmental sound features are extracted by a feature extraction unit FE per hearing aid, based on monaural environmental knowledge.
  • a binaural feature extraction unit FE LR which then leads to 'binaurally optimized' monaural feature vectors ⁇ .
  • relevant acoustic features are: RMS value of input, probability of speech, signal-to-noise ratio, signal-to-noise-ratio weighted by the band-importance function for speech, environmental classifier output, etc.
  • Fig. 5 Incorporating the user adjustment(s) in the hearing aid system is visualized in Fig. 5 as the two arrows containing an adjustment r from the adjustment box AD.
  • An initial asymmetry is put into the system by estimates of the prior inconsistency in left and right user adjustments ⁇ 0 using the binaural utility model U. Since this is prior information rather than an on-going flow of information, the arrows from utility model to Learning modules are dotted. However, these initial estimates influence the mapping of adjustments to processing parameters, via parameter learning and steering modules L, which are sharing a common (synchronized) steering vector ⁇ .
  • the following relates to a simulation of the second embodiment of the present invention, and is illustrated in Figs. 8A , 8B and 8C .
  • a piece of music is digitized, processed by an artificial hearing aid and played to an artificial user.
  • the user will issue corrections to either left, right or both hearing aids if the annoyance threshold for the corresponding ear is exceeded.
  • the annoyance threshold is predefined for each ear, and may be different for each ear.
  • a current amount of annoyance is determined on the basis of the difference between desired and currently realized steering coefficients in either ear.
  • the amount of user inconsistency i.e. the noise added to the ideal correction(s) when they are issued, may be different for each ear, hence simulating asymmetric dexterities.
  • the acoustic feature values may be (very) different in each ear, hence simulating different sound fields in both ears, giving rise to different left and right feature values.
  • FIG. 8A , 8B and 8C schematically illustrate learning common steering coefficients from asymmetric user inputs and asymmetric acoustic features
  • Each sample corresponds to a sample of the music signal that is played to the artificial user.
  • the desired (common) steering parameter ⁇ t which is a scalar.
  • a one-dimensional feature vector for each of the hearing aids is assumed for simplicity.
  • the parameter varies according to the line 54. It is seen that the estimated value ⁇ t (referred to in the caption of the subfigure as theta ) 'tracks' the values of the desired parameter ⁇ t very well, in only a few updates.
  • Each plotted circle 56A-56J denotes one update step, and after each transition of ⁇ t a few updates, shown by a few almost overlapping circles at each transition, suffices to adapt to the new desired value.
  • the first transition in the desired steering parameter ⁇ t is learned from a few user corrections issued in the left hearing aid, around time sample 130, shown as the small peak 62 in row 50, which denotes a set of noisy corrections issued to the left hearing aid.
  • time samples around sample 130 there are no corrections issued to the right hearing aid, which may be seen from the graph of the right user corrections which is flat at zero during these time samples.
  • the transition around time sample 1300 in row 52 on the other hand is tracked from the user corrections issued to the right hearing aid. Recall that the annoyance threshold for the right ear in this section is now low, so corrections to the right hearing aid will be issued more easily than corrections to the left hearing aid. The same is true for the transition around time sample 1800.
  • the transition around time sample 2400 is tracked by user corrections in both hearing aids.
  • the following three transitions are so large that all of them exceed the threshold of both ears, and corrections are issued in both ears as well.
  • the more subtle transitions in the fifth segment are only causing annoyance in the left ear and the tracking is done on the basis of the left user corrections.
  • a common steering parameter vector may be tracked using full or partial evidence from left and right user corrections with different inconsistencies, and using different feature values in both ears.
  • user feedback may be issued asymmetrically in the hearing aids, and the symmetry in the hearing aid parameter steering will depend on the symmetry in the acoustic fields in the ears. Further it depends on the symmetry in the extracted acoustic features. Since the hearing aids share a common steering vector, similar acoustic fields give rise to similar steered hearing aid parameter vectors, and vice versa.
  • the learning procedure may deal with full and/or partial evidence, and since the user inconsistency may be tracked in each of the hearing aids and the step size of the learning rule is inversely proportional to the estimated user inconsistency, feedback from the 'more consistent ear' will give larger contributions to the tracking than the feedback from the 'more noisy ear', which is preferred. Therefore, the above described embodiment is a truly asymmetric mechanism for hearing aid synchronization.
  • the third embodiment is illustrated in Fig. 9 .
  • the synchronization will occur at the level of hyperparameters of the steering parameters, in order to allow for asymmetric steering parameters as well.
  • the left and right steering parameters are coupled via a common probability model, which includes left and right hearing loss, but possibly also a user preference function.
  • the rationale is that the user will perceive the hearing aid parameter settings as more preferable if they are synchronized after taking into account the 'natural asymmetry' in the overall hearing aid system. This will partly depend on the asymmetry in the hearing loss, but may also be subject to considerations like asymmetric fitting of hearing aids for allowing more central (cerebral) processing of left and right hearing aid outputs.
  • this embodiment provides a method using knowledge of prior asymmetric distribution on the steering parameters by using the asymmetry in the hearing loss and heuristics from approaches to asymmetric fitting. Without additional user corrections, this prior distribution will dictate the binaural steering; additional, possibly asymmetric, user corrections are used to update the common probability model over the steering parameters using a Bayesian framework, leading to, on-line updated, posterior means over the steering parameters ⁇ t L and ⁇ t R .
  • ⁇ t L ⁇ t R s t L 0 0 s t R ⁇ ⁇ t L ⁇ t R + ⁇ t L ⁇ t R
  • hearing aid parameters ⁇ t L and ⁇ t R and steering parameters ⁇ t L and ⁇ t R are again stochastic variables.
  • Left and right output noise ⁇ t L and ⁇ t R which model user inconsistency, is again modelled as Gaussian stochastic variables with possibly different mean and covariance matrix.
  • the left and right branches of the model are coupled by imposing a binaural asymmetry model on e.g. the steering parameters.
  • the steering parameters which are again considered to be stochastic variables, on the left and right hearing aids are conditionally dependent on 'prior asymmetry knowledge', represented by a distribution p ⁇ k L ⁇ k R
  • the prior asymmetry knowledge is represented with a 'binaural utility function' U ( ⁇ , ⁇ ) that may incorporate some asymmetric fitting methodology represented by the left and right utility parameters ⁇ and/or by some model of the preferred asymmetry (a user preference model) represented by the 'user asymmetry parameters' ⁇ . Note that left and right hearing loss will be part of the user asymmetry parameters.
  • Bayesian techniques it is e.g. possible to compute most likely or maximum a posteriori steering parameters given such a binaural asymmetry model and 'observations' ⁇ about the user's hearing loss, life style, further auditory profile, etc. Further, Bayesian techniques allow for updating the prior binaural asymmetry model when (possibly asymmetric) user adjustments are applied to the binaural hearing aid system, and modified posterior means of the steering parameters may be used for on-line environmental steering.
  • the left and right steering parameters ⁇ t L and ⁇ t R are not free to move, but restricted in a soft way to be similar to some degree.
  • More 'restrictive' binaural utility models will encourage more synchronized steering parameters, and vice versa.
  • Learning actions take place as a result of adjustments applied to one or both hearing aids. Via an update (learning action) in the utility model as a result of these adjustments and/or via adapting the restriction on left and right steering parameters, this may lead to updated left and right steering parameters and hence parameters in both hearing aids.
  • FIG. 9 A flow diagram of the above described embodiment is presented in Fig. 9 .
  • One difference compared to Fig. 5 is in the solid arrows from utility model to Learning modules. These arrows represent an ongoing flow of information about the current (left and right) utility of the experienced sound y .
  • Another difference is that the solid arrows from the AD unit that represent ongoing flow of user adjustments r are now fed to the binaural utility model rather than to the Learning modules. It may be seen that the Learning modules are now updated on the basis of left and right utilities rather than left and right adjustments.
  • the amount of preferred asymmetry in the binaural utility model may be updated based on the new observation. From the updated utility values u, left and right steering parameters are modified as well.
  • the present invention also includes variations of the third embodiment where the utilities u are combined using some way of restricting the left and right steering parameters, i.e. a binaural parameter model, that is in turn parameterized by a vector ⁇ .
  • a flow diagram of this modified version of the third embodiment is now presented and illustrated in Fig. 10 .
  • a fourth embodiment of our invention describes a master-slave configuration.
  • Fig. 6 shows essentially the same configuration as shown in Fig. 1 .
  • the model 24 is updated due to a change in a signal processing parameter at the second hearing aid after a change in a signal processing parameter at the first hearing aid have caused an automatic update of the signal processing parameter at the second hearing aid.
  • hearing aid 4 is the master
  • hearing aid 6 is the slave.
  • an adjustment of the volume control 16 is followed by an adjustment of the volume of the hearing aid 6 according to the model 24.
  • this active indication of dissent with the adjustment suggested by the model 24 may be used to update the model 24. This is indicated with the dashed arrow 38.
  • the adjustment of volume control 18 is only incorporated into the model 24, if it is performed in a short predefined time interval after the adjustment of the volume control 16, because otherwise it is probably not occasioned by the first adjustment of the volume control 16, but more probably occasioned by a change in the acoustic environment.
  • Fig. 7 schematically illustrates a configuration, wherein either one of the two hearing aids in a binaural hearing aid system may function as a master.
  • the update or modification of the model as illustrated in Figs. 6 and 7 may be influenced by the ambient sound environment.
  • the binaural hearing aid system may detect which type of ambient sound environment the user is in at any given time. If, e.g. noisy conditions are detected, the users desire to change the signal processing parameters could be influenced by the ambient sound environment.
  • the model and/or the signal processing parameters may be changed automatically in response to a change in the ambient sound environment.
  • the model for either ear may be adapted or modified. This is illustrated in Fig. 7 by the dashed arrows 38 and 40.
  • a fifth embodiment relates to switching between different synchronization modes in addition to the embodiments one to four.
  • the embodiments may also comprise a discrete 'synchronization mode' variable, that controls the 'overall amount of asymmetry' in the binaural hearing aid system.
  • a 'high' value of the synchronization mode variable will constrain the steering parameters to be very similar, 'medium' and 'low' values will allow more deviations and finally 'off' will not synchronize the adjustments among the ears.
  • the latter may e.g. be beneficial when picking up the phone (where the binaural hearing aid system should e.g. behave in an asynchronous mode).
  • the value of the synchronization mode variable may be input by the user (e.g. by pressing a push button), but may also be tracked on-line.
  • the above learning mechanisms should then be extended to incorporate a discrete mode switching variable this may for example be obtained by adopting switching Kalman filters for tracking the mode variable and the steering variables simultaneously.
  • the synchronization mode switch is present as an asymmetry mode switch variable S that acts on 'binaurally optimized' monaural feature vectors ⁇ .
  • S asymmetry mode switch
  • the user may influence the mode switch directly (using e.g. a push button or a remote control).
  • the arrow from the Binaural integration unit to the mode switch unit is omitted to enhance the readability of the figure.
  • a value of the switch variable S is set to 'small', which could be implemented by letting the left and right steering parameters only differ by a small amount according to some distance measure.
  • the allowable amount is not made dependent on the binaural utility values ⁇ .
  • a sixth embodiment of the present invention comprises all features of the first to fifth embodiments of the present invention and further comprises asymmetric synchronization of an arbitrary meta-parameter vector.
  • a meta-parameter is any parameter that influences the hearing aid parameters that are used to process the sound. E.g. an 'aggressiveness of learning' parameter will control how the learning of steering parameters is performed in the left and the right hearing aid. This is an example of a meta-parameter which is not part of the former categories. It may be tracked, based on running estimates of how consistent a user is in operating a control wheel. E.g. it could prove beneficial to use knowledge of the tracked aggressiveness in the left aid in tracking the aggressiveness in the right hearing aid.
  • the sixth embodiment encompasses any or all features from the first to the fifth embodiments involving steering parameters.
  • any meta-parameter that determines the function of any hearing aid processing module should be captured. This could be a switch variable that determines the amount of symmetry in the left and right sounds fields that are being used in the left and right hearing aid to adapt the processing.
  • the non-steering situation should be included as well, i.e. a fixed but modifiable, via personalization, meta-parameter that does not change with environment should fall under this embodiment as well.
  • Fig. 13 a plot of a person's hearing loss in the right (R) and left (L) ear respectively, as a function of frequency.
  • the hearing threshold T(R) and T(L) for a given frequency f_0 is shown.
  • the perceived loudness for the right and left ear is shown as a function of input sound pressure level (SPL) in the two plots in Fig. 14 .
  • hearing aid parameters ⁇ t L and ⁇ t R , that may be synchronized using the method for asymmetric synchronization according to the present invention.
  • suitable parameters include: left and right classifier outputs, volumes, noise reduction parameters, beam forming parameters, feedback suppression parameters and the like. Of cause several of these parameters may be synchronized simultaneously.
  • a left and right hearing aid that each includes feedback suppression parameters that determine the feedback suppression to be applied.
  • a switch variable in the case of strong periodicity, such as the presence of a pure tone, that is present in both sound fields, and zero if this is not the case.
  • Two periodicity feature extraction procedures FE L and FE R could be applied to both left and right hearing aids (see figure 2 ), and a combination unit FE LR could output a switch variable to both hearing aids, that is one for binaural periodicity and zero otherwise.
  • Each of the hearing aids could then use this estimate of the amount of binaural periodicity to determine whether a periodic sound inside one of the hearing aid is due to internal feedback or due to an external tonal input.
  • a hearing aid system could be supplied with a method to detect a telephone near a hearing aid. This detection could e.g. be done by modelling and detecting the typical feedback path that is caused by holding a phone near the ear, or by letting the user manually specify the 'phone situation' via some interface to the hearing aid.
  • the phone detection variable for the left hearing aid is 1, which could be viewed as an output of a feature extraction unit FE L
  • the phone detection variable is zero for the right hearing aid
  • the synchronization mode in the hearing aid system could be temporarily switched to a special 'phone-in-one-ear mode'.
  • the hearing aid system would switch to an asymmetric mode, where the setting for the steering parameters ⁇ t L drives a high-amplification, high-feedback reduction and high-directional mode and the ⁇ t R setting is driving a low-amplification, omni-directional mode.
  • the hearing aid system could then go back to the 'default asymmetry' mode.
  • a synchronized system of learning controls where the learning control in each of the ears is synchronized at the level of the steering parameters.
  • a user may want a left hearing aid Learning Volume Control setting, that is determined by personalized steering coefficients ⁇ t L , that is the same as the setting ⁇ t R for the right LVC.
  • ⁇ t L the same as the setting ⁇ t R for the right LVC.
  • This is implemented by the second embodiment when the output vector ⁇ t L ⁇ t R of the hearing aid system contains left and right volumes, respectively.
  • the resulting sound processing may be more reflecting the user's preferred processing.
  • operating one of the volume wheels of the hearing aid system will lead to learning in both steering parameters of the system, hence lead to adjustments of the volume in the (non-operated) hearing aid as well.
  • one of the hearing aids e.g. the left
  • the other, the right in this example is not allowed to switch, but it will stay in omnidirectional mode all the time.
  • This is conceptually equivalent to setting some left directionality switching threshold, a steering parameter ⁇ t L , to some reasonable value and setting the threshold of the other hearing aid ⁇ t R to infinity.
  • the user may then adjust this initial, fully asymmetric, setting of the hearing aid system by manipulating, and thereby personalizing, the left and right steering parameters, that represent thresholds,.
  • a user can customize the asymmetry in the directionality switching behaviour and make it depend on the acoustic environment. Furthermore, the initial choice of 'good ear', getting directional input, i.e. have a low switching threshold, and 'bad ear', getting omnidirectional input, i.e. infinite switching threshold, may be modified by the user, e.g. in the particular situation that a source of interest is coming from only from the side of the bad ear.

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Claims (13)

  1. Une méthode pour régler un paramètre de traitement de signal pour une première et une deuxième prothèse auditive constituant une partie d'un système de prothèse auditive binaural destiné à être porté par un utilisateur, le système de prothèse auditive binaural comprenant un modèle spécifique à l'utilisateur représentant une asymétrie souhaitée entre la première oreille et la deuxième oreille de l'utilisateur, la méthode comprenant les étapes suivantes :
    - détection d'une requête de modification d'un paramètre de traitement sur la première prothèse auditive,
    - réglage du paramètre de traitement de signal dans la première prothèse auditive en réponse à la requête,
    - réglage d'un paramètre de traitement pour la deuxième prothèse auditive en réponse à la requête et sur la base du modèle spécifique à l'utilisateur,
    la méthode comprenant en outre l'étape suivante :
    - adaptation du modèle pour l'asymétrie souhaitée pendant l'utilisation du système de prothèse auditive binaural.
  2. La méthode selon la revendication 1, dans laquelle l'étape d'adaptation du modèle est exécutée à la suite de l'étape de réglage d'un paramètre de traitement pour la deuxième prothèse auditive et en réponse à une deuxième requête de traitement d'une modification de paramètre sur la deuxième prothèse auditive.
  3. La méthode selon la revendication 2, dans laquelle la deuxième requête est exécutée dans un intervalle temporel prédéfini et à la suite du réglage du paramètre de traitement pour la deuxième prothèse auditive.
  4. La méthode selon la revendication 1, dans laquelle l'étape d'adaptation du modèle est basée sur des données environnementales traitées statistiquement.
  5. La méthode selon une quelconque revendication précédente, dans laquelle le modèle représentant l'asymétrie désirée comprend une perte auditive mesurée et/ou estimée dans la première oreille et/ou la deuxième oreille de l'utilisateur.
  6. La méthode selon une quelconque revendication précédente, dans laquelle le modèle est un modèle de perte auditive dépendant de la fréquence.
  7. La méthode selon une quelconque revendication précédente, dans laquelle le paramètre de traitement est le volume sonore, la réduction de bruit, le taux de compression, les constantes de temps, les paramètres d'un module classificateur, ou toute combinaison de ces paramètres.
  8. La méthode selon une quelconque revendication précédente, dans laquelle la requête de modification du paramètre de traitement comprend des informations au sujet d'un paramètre de traitement à modifier ou de plus, et un paramètre et/ou une valeur représentant une quantité de modification ou une nouvelle valeur à donner au paramètre.
  9. La méthode selon une quelconque revendication précédente, dans laquelle la première prothèse auditive est un dispositif maître et la deuxième prothèse auditive est un dispositif esclave.
  10. La méthode selon une quelconque revendication précédente, dans laquelle le modèle comprend deux vecteurs d'orientation, associés chacun à une perte auditive dans la première et la deuxième oreille de l'utilisateur, respectivement, lesdits vecteurs d'orientation étant couplés par un modèle probabiliste représentant le système binaural combiné.
  11. La méthode selon une quelconque revendication précédente, dans laquelle le degré global d'asymétrie dépend en outre de la différence entre des enregistrements par microphone dans la première et la deuxième prothèse auditive.
  12. Une prothèse auditive (2) comprenant un processeur de signal, dans laquelle la prothèse auditive est adaptée pour former une partie d'un système de prothèse auditive binaural pendant l'utilisation ainsi que pour recevoir des informations d'une autre prothèse auditive qui est aussi adapté pour former une partie du système de prothèse auditive binaural pendant l'utilisation, et dans laquelle le processeur de signal est configuré pour régler un paramètre de traitement du signal dans la prothèse auditive en fonction d'une requête de modification d'un paramètre de traitement dans l'autre prothèse auditive, et un modèle spécifique à l'utilisateur représentant (32) une asymétrie souhaitée entre la première oreille et la deuxième oreille de l'utilisateur, et dans laquelle le processeur de signal est en outre configuré pour adapter le modèle pour l'asymétrie souhaitée pendant l'utilisation du système de prothèse auditive binaural.
  13. La prothèse auditive selon la revendication 12, dans laquelle le processeur de signal est configuré pour exécuter une quelconque des étapes méthodologiques définies dans une quelconque des revendications 2-11.
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