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
  • H04R25/30—Monitoring or testing of hearing aids, e.g. functioning, settings, battery power
  • H04R25/305—Self-monitoring or self-testing
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04R—LOUDSPEAKERS, MICROPHONES, GRAMOPHONE PICK-UPS OR LIKE ACOUSTIC ELECTROMECHANICAL TRANSDUCERS; DEAF-AID SETS; PUBLIC ADDRESS SYSTEMS
  • H04R2225/00—Details of deaf aids covered by H04R25/00, not provided for in any of its subgroups
  • H04R2225/33—Aspects relating to adaptation of the battery voltage, e.g. its regulation, increase or decrease
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04R—LOUDSPEAKERS, MICROPHONES, GRAMOPHONE PICK-UPS OR LIKE ACOUSTIC ELECTROMECHANICAL TRANSDUCERS; DEAF-AID SETS; PUBLIC ADDRESS SYSTEMS
  • H04R2225/00—Details of deaf aids covered by H04R25/00, not provided for in any of its subgroups
  • H04R2225/61—Aspects relating to mechanical or electronic switches or control elements, e.g. functioning
• • 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
  • H04R25/60—Mounting or interconnection of hearing aid parts, e.g. inside tips, housings or to ossicles
  • H04R25/603—Mounting or interconnection of hearing aid parts, e.g. inside tips, housings or to ossicles of mechanical or electronic switches or control elements

Definitions

• the present invention relates to a hearing aid that emits a notification sound.
• the above-described technique is very effective if there is one piece of information to be notified to the user, that is, one kind of notification sound.
• recent hearing aids have many functions, and a wide variety of information is notified to the user. For this reason, the hearing aid changes and notifies the rhythm of the sound or sound for each information to be notified. Since the user recognizes the information notified by the hearing aid by recognizing the difference in the rhythm of the sound and sound, each notification sound needs to be clear and distinguishable for the user.
• the table conversion unit converts the gain table used in the hearing aid processing of the hearing aid processing unit for the notification sound signal and outputs the notification sound signal.
• the notification gain determination unit determines a notification gain corresponding to the notification sound signal from the output signal of the table conversion unit.
• the multiplier applies the notification gain output from the notification gain determination unit to the notification sound signal output from the notification sound generation unit. Therefore, the intelligibility of the notification sound can be improved. Therefore, the user can distinguish between a plurality of types of notification sounds of the hearing aid, and can appropriately recognize the notified information.
• the hearing aid processing unit includes a frequency analysis unit, a gain adjustment unit, a frequency synthesis unit, a power calculation unit, and a gain control unit.
• the frequency analysis unit performs frequency analysis of the digital signal input to the hearing aid processing unit and outputs the frequency information signal.
• the gain adjustment unit adjusts the gain of the frequency information signal output from the frequency analysis unit.
• the frequency synthesizing unit synthesizes the frequency information signal whose gain has been adjusted by the gain adjusting unit into a time axis signal.
• the power calculation unit receives the frequency information signal output from the frequency analysis unit, and calculates the power value of the digital signal input to the frequency analysis unit from the frequency information signal.
• the gain control unit receives the power value output from the power calculation unit, determines the gain in the gain adjustment unit based on the power value, and outputs the gain to the gain adjustment unit.
• the user can distinguish between a plurality of types of notification sounds of the hearing aid, and can appropriately recognize the notified information.
• the functional block diagram of the same hearing aid processing part. The figure showing the state of the sound pressure level of the ambient sound which changes on a time axis.
• the figure showing the state of the sound pressure level of the ambient sound and notification sound which change on a time axis.
• FIG. 1 shows a functional block diagram of a hearing aid.
• the hearing aid of this embodiment includes a microphone 1, an AD (Analog to Digital) converter 2, a hearing aid processing unit 3, a DA (Digital to Analog) converter 4, and a receiver 5. I have.
• AD Analog to Digital
• DA Digital to Analog
• the hearing aid of the present embodiment further includes a mixing unit 6 and a control unit 9.
• the mixing unit 6 has one input connected to the output of the hearing aid processing unit 3, and its output connected to the input of the DA converter 4, and is provided between the hearing aid processing unit 3 and the DA converter 4. Yes.
• the other input of the mixing unit 6 is connected to the output signal of the notification sound processing unit 8 that processes the notification sound signal generated by the notification sound generation unit 7.
• the frequency analysis unit 10 converts the output signal of the AD converter 2 input in time series from a time domain signal to a frequency domain signal. And the frequency analysis part 10 divides
• the gain adjustment unit 11 multiplies the frequency information signal output from the frequency analysis unit 10 by the gain output from the gain control unit 14 and outputs the result.
• the frequency synthesizer 12 synthesizes the gain-adjusted frequency information signal output from the gain adjuster 11 from the frequency domain signal into the time domain signal, and outputs the synthesized signal as a signal subjected to hearing aid processing.
• the transform in the frequency analysis unit 10 is performed using Fourier transform, inverse Fourier transform may be employed.
• subband synthesis may be employed.
• the power calculation unit 13 calculates a power value for each frequency band of the frequency information signal output from the frequency analysis unit 10 and outputs the power value to the gain control unit 14.
• the power value is the power of the signal input to the frequency analysis unit 10 and has a correlation with the sound pressure level of the ambient sound collected by the microphone 1. That is, if the sound pressure level is small, the power value is small, and if the sound pressure level is large, the power value is large.
• a plurality of types of tables in which a part of the gain table is changed based on a gain characteristic necessary for the user are prepared. For example, in a noisy environment around the user, the noise is reduced or wind noise during movement is reduced.
• three types of a gain table A that considers only the gain characteristics of the user, a gain table B that is used in a noisy place, and a gain table C that is used during movement are prepared, and a control signal (see FIG. (Not shown).
• gain tables are created in advance by an external device such as a fitting device and stored in a memory (not shown) in the hearing aid.
• the gain control unit 14 takes out a desired gain table from the memory and refers to it in accordance with an external switching instruction.
• the DA converter 4 converts the multi-bit digital signal output from the mixing unit 6 into an analog signal and outputs the analog signal to the receiver 5.
• the receiver 5 is a speaker that converts an analog signal output from the DA converter 4 into an acoustic signal and outputs it to the surroundings.
• the notification sound generation unit 7 generates a notification sound according to an instruction from the control unit 9 and outputs it as a notification sound signal.
• the notification sound signal is composed of a monotone sound for each predetermined notification pattern.
• the notification pattern A has a frequency of 2 kHz, “Beep”
• the notification pattern B has a frequency of 1 kHz, “Beep”
• the notification pattern C has a frequency of 1 kHz, “Beep”.
• As a notification pattern D a sound of 1 kHz “beep” is generated.
• the volume of these notification sound signals is the same 110 dBSPL.
• FIG. 3 shows a functional block diagram of the notification sound processing unit 8.
• the notification sound processing unit 8 includes a table conversion unit 15, an offset memory 16, a notification gain determination unit 17, and a multiplier 18.
• the table conversion unit 15 converts the gain table used in the hearing aid processing of the hearing aid processing unit 3 for the notification sound signal and outputs it.
• the offset memory 16 stores an offset amount for adding a different feature for each notification sound signal.
• the notification gain determination unit 17 determines the notification gain corresponding to the notification sound signal based on the output signal of the table conversion unit 15 and the offset amount output from the offset memory 16.
• the multiplier 18 applies the notification gain output from the notification gain determination unit 17 to the notification sound signal output from the notification sound generation unit 7.
• the table conversion unit 15 receives a gain table (in the present embodiment, gain table A) that takes into account only the gain characteristics of the user from the gain control unit 14 in the hearing aid processing unit 3.
• the table conversion unit 15 extracts a gain corresponding to the band of the notification sound signal generated by the notification sound generation unit 7 from the table conversion unit 15 to generate a notification sound table and outputs the notification sound table to the notification gain determination unit 17.
• a notification sound table in which gains of 1 kHz and 2 kHz are extracted from the gain table A is generated.
• the offset memory 16 stores an offset value corresponding to each notification pattern, and is a value that is multiplied by the volume of the notification sound signal. For example, the offset value of the notification pattern A is 0.8, and the offset values of the notification patterns B, C, and D are 0.5. Then, according to an instruction (not shown) from the control unit 9, an offset value corresponding to the notification sound signal generated by the notification sound generation unit 7 is output to the notification gain determination unit 17.
• the multiplier 18 multiplies the notification sound signal output from the notification sound generation unit 7 by the gain output from the notification gain determination unit 17 and the offset value. In this way, the output from the multiplier 18 is obtained by changing the frequency and volume for each notification sound signal and adjusting the volume according to the gain characteristics of the user.
• the notification gain determination unit 17 performs clipping processing of the selected gain and offset value so that the volume of the notification sound signal output from the multiplier 18 is not too high or too low. This is provided in order to make the user recognize the notification sound reliably and without discomfort, and is particularly important for a hearing aid equipped with a volume.
• the notification gain determination unit 17 adjusts the gain and the offset value so that the volume of the notification sound signal output from the multiplier 18 falls within a predetermined range. For example, when the volume of the input signal to the multiplier 18 is 110 dBSPL, the volume of the output signal to the multiplier 18 is set within the range of 40 dBSPL to 80 dBSPL.
• the determination of the timing for performing the notification and the selection of the notification pattern are performed as follows. Specifically, the notification pattern A is selected when the remaining power of the power source that supplies power to each electrical component of the hearing aid becomes equal to or less than a predetermined value.
• the notification pattern B is selected when the gain table to be used is switched to the gain table A
• the notification pattern C is selected when the gain table B is switched
• the notification pattern D is selected when the gain table C is switched.
• the sound collected by the microphone 1 is subjected to hearing aid processing and output from the receiver 5.
• the sound generated by the notification sound generation unit 7 together with the sound subjected to the hearing process is mixed and output from the receiver 5. .
• a notification sound having a different frequency and volume is provided for each piece of information notified to the user.
• FIG. 4 shows a functional block diagram of the hearing aid.
• the hearing aid of the present embodiment includes a microphone 1, an AD converter 2, a hearing aid processing unit 19, a DA converter 4, and a receiver 5.
• the microphone 1 collects ambient sounds.
• the AD converter 2 converts the analog signal output from the microphone 1 into a digital signal.
• the hearing aid processing unit 19 performs hearing aid processing on the digital signal output from the AD converter 2.
• the DA converter 4 converts the signal subjected to the hearing aid processing into an analog signal.
• the receiver 5 outputs the analog signal output from the DA converter 4 to the surroundings as an acoustic signal.
• the hearing aid according to the present embodiment includes a mixing unit 6 and a control unit 9.
• the mixing unit 6 has one input connected to the output of the AD converter 2, its own output connected to the input of the hearing aid processing unit 19, and is provided between the AD converter 2 and the hearing aid processing unit 19. .
• the notification sound signal generated by the notification sound generation unit 7 is input to the other input of the mixing unit 6.
• the control unit 9 generates a mixing ratio signal for the mixing unit 6 to mix the output signals of the AD converter 2 and the notification sound generation unit 7, and is connected to the mixing ratio signal input terminal of the mixing unit 6.
• the above-described implementation is provided in that the mixing unit 6 that mixes and outputs the output signal of the AD converter 2 and the output signal of the notification sound generation unit 7 is provided before the hearing aid processing unit 19.
• the mixing unit 6 mixes the output signal of the AD converter 2 and the output signal of the notification sound generation unit 7 and supplies the mixed signal to the hearing aid processing unit 19.
• the other components are denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof is omitted.
• the power calculator 13 receives the frequency information signal output from the frequency analyzer 10 and calculates the power value of the digital signal input to the frequency analyzer 10 from the frequency information signal.
• the gain control unit 20 receives the power value output from the power calculation unit 13, determines the gain in the gain adjustment unit 11 based on the power value, and outputs the gain to the gain adjustment unit 11.
• the gain control unit 20 includes a table memory 21, a table selection unit 22, and a gain determination unit 23.
• the table memory 21 includes a gain table for performing hearing aid processing on the ambient sound collected by the microphone 1, a notification sound table for performing hearing aid processing on the notification sound signal generated by the notification sound generation unit 7, and Is stored.
• the table selection unit 22 reads one of a plurality of gain tables and notification sound tables from the table memory 21 according to the mixing state in the mixing unit 6.
• the gain determination unit 23 determines the gain in the gain adjustment unit 11 based on the power value output from the power calculation unit 13 using the gain table or the notification sound table read by the table selection unit 22.
• the notification sound tables A to D corresponding to the notification patterns A to D are generated from the gain table A by using the same algorithm as the operations of the table conversion unit 15, the offset memory 16, and the notification gain determination unit 17.
• the table selection unit 22 selects one of the seven gain tables, the gain tables A to C and the notification sound tables A to D, and extracts the gain table from the table memory 21 to determine the gain. To the unit 23.
• the gain determination unit 23 performs the same operation as the gain control unit 14 in the first embodiment described above.
• the notification sound tables A to D are selected by the table selection unit 22 the same operation as the partial operation of the notification gain determination unit 17 in the first embodiment is performed.
• the sound collected by the microphone 1 is subjected to hearing aid processing and output from the receiver 5.
• the notification sound signal generated by the notification sound generation unit 7 is selected and input to the hearing aid processing unit 19. The same level of processing is performed and output from the receiver 5.
• a notification sound having a different frequency and volume is provided for each piece of information notified to the user.
• the intelligibility of the notification sound can be improved. Therefore, the user can distinguish between multiple types of notification sounds of the hearing aids, and can appropriately recognize the notified information.
• the notification sound table is converted by converting the gain table each time. It may be generated. In that case, it can be realized by providing each block of the notification sound processing unit 8 shown in the first embodiment in the gain control unit 20.
• the notification sound generation unit 7 performs frequency analysis on the digital signal output from the AD converter 2 in the same manner as the frequency analysis unit 10 and the power calculation unit 13 illustrated in FIG. Calculate the value. And the notification sound production
• the sound pressure level of the ambient sound and the volume of the notification pattern are set to the same level.
• the present invention is not limited to this, and the sound pressure level of the ambient sound is determined according to the user's hearing ability and preference.
• the volume of the notification pattern may be changed so as to be proportional to.
• the digital signal output from the AD converter 2 is output to the notification sound generation unit 7, and the notification sound generation unit 7 notifies the sound volume according to the sound pressure level of the ambient sound.
• a sound signal may be generated and the generated notification sound signal may be output to the mixing unit 6. Even in this case, it is possible to prevent the ease of hearing of the notification sound from fluctuating according to the size of the ambient sound.
• the notification sound generation unit 7 performs frequency analysis on the digital signal output from the AD converter 2 in the same manner as the frequency analysis unit 10 and the power calculation unit 13 illustrated in FIG. Calculate the value to create the frequency distribution. Then, from the created frequency distribution, a band that is not generated as a sound or has a low power value as a sound is detected, and notification is made so that the frequency of the notification pattern selected according to the instruction from the control unit 9 falls within that band. Generate a sound signal.
• the notification sound signal of the selected notification pattern is generated as it is.
• the notification pattern frequency is processed so as not to overlap to generate a notification sound signal.
• the frequency of the notification pattern is processed so that the frequency of frequency distribution is the smallest in a predetermined range with the frequency of the selected notification pattern as the center.
• FIG. 7 is an example in which the frequency distribution created by the notification sound generator 7 is represented in a graph.
• digital signals of a predetermined sound pressure level or higher are concentrated around 1 kHz, and a band of 2 kHz or higher is small.
• the frequency of the notification pattern selected first is 1 kHz
• a notification sound signal processed into a band of 2 kHz or higher is generated. Then, the generated notification sound signal is output to the notification sound processing unit 8.
• the notification sound can be easily heard without being buried in the frequency band of the ambient sound.
• the frequencies in the predetermined frequency range are all equal to or higher than the predetermined value, that is, if the sound pressure level in all the bands is large, as in the third embodiment, the ambient sound
• the volume of the notification sound may be adjusted according to the sound pressure level.
• the hearing aid process part 3 calculates with the power calculation part contained in the hearing aid process part 3 instead of the power value of each frequency band in the digital signal output from the AD converter 2 which the notification sound production
• the received power value may be input to the notification sound generation unit 7.
• the digital signal output from the AD converter 2 is output to the notification sound generation unit 7, and the notification sound signal is different from the frequency of the ambient sound by the notification sound generation unit 7.
• the generated notification sound signal may be output to the mixing unit 6. Even in this case, the notification sound can be easily heard without being buried in the frequency band of the ambient sound.
• the notification sound processing unit 8 In monitoring the sound pressure level of the ambient sound, it is desirable to set a time limit so as not to cause a problem such as the generation timing being too late. Then, after the generated notification sound signal is output to the notification sound processing unit 8 and processed, the output signal output from the hearing aid processing unit 3 at the timing when the processed notification sound signal is input in the mixing unit 6. And the notification sound signal are mixed and output to the DA converter 4. In this way, by generating the notification sound at a timing when the sound pressure level of the ambient sound is low, the notification sound can be generated at a timing when the ambient sound becomes quiet, and a notification sound that is easy to hear for the user is generated. be able to.
• the notification sound generation unit 7 checks the notification sound generation timing based on whether or not the surrounding sound is a voice instead of the sound pressure level of the surrounding sound, and generates a notification sound signal at a timing when the sound becomes non-sound. It may be generated.
• the sound can be determined from the extracted feature value by performing cepstrum analysis on the digital signal output from the AD converter 2.
• cepstrum analysis on the digital signal output from the AD converter 2.
• the switching unit 30 and the control unit 31 are different from the above-described first embodiment. That is, the switching unit 30 is provided in place of the mixing unit 6. Since the operation of the control unit 31 is different from that of the control unit 6, the control unit 31 is given another reference numeral. Since other components are the same as those in the first embodiment, description thereof is omitted here.
• the hearing aid of the present invention is A microphone that collects ambient sounds; An AD converter that converts an analog signal output from the microphone into a digital signal; A hearing aid processing unit for performing hearing aid processing on the digital signal output from the AD converter; A DA converter for converting the signal subjected to the hearing aid processing into an analog signal; A receiver that outputs an analog signal output from the DA converter to the surroundings as an acoustic signal; A notification sound generator for generating a notification sound according to a predetermined condition; It has at least three or more input units and one output unit, the output of the hearing aid processing unit is connected to the first input unit, and the output of the notification sound processing unit is connected to the second input unit And its own output unit is a switching unit connected to the DA converter, Determining whether to select and output either the output of the hearing aid processing unit or the notification sound processing unit, and a control unit connected to the third input unit of the switching unit; With The hearing aid processing unit A frequency analysis unit that performs frequency analysis of the digital signal input to the hearing aid processing unit and output
• the hearing aid according to the present invention can improve the clarity of the notification sound regardless of the characteristics of the user, it is also useful for an audio device that notifies the user of information with sound.

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• Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
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• Otolaryngology (AREA)
• Neurosurgery (AREA)
• Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
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• Acoustics & Sound (AREA)
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• Circuit For Audible Band Transducer (AREA)
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• 2009
  • 2009-07-30 JP JP2009177368A patent/JP4440333B1/ja active Active
• 2010
  • 2010-02-05 EP EP10750017A patent/EP2259605B1/de not_active Not-in-force
  • 2010-02-05 AT AT10750017T patent/ATE557550T1/de active
  • 2010-02-05 WO PCT/JP2010/000720 patent/WO2010103724A1/ja active Application Filing
  • 2010-02-05 CN CN2010800007814A patent/CN101904183B/zh not_active Expired - Fee Related

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