JP2012182647A5 - - Google Patents

Description

Hearing aid adjustment device

  The present invention relates to a hearing aid adjustment device for adjusting a hearing aid according to various conditions such as a user's hearing ability.

  Conventionally, a hearing aid adjusting device that adjusts a hearing aid in accordance with the hearing ability of a hearing aid user has been used. Since the adjustment of the hearing aid needs to be performed in consideration of various factors such as the user's hearing ability and listening preference, it is necessary to set a very large number of parameters through trial and error.

  For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a hearing aid adjustment device that can adjust the parameters of the left and right hearing aids simultaneously or independently in order to eliminate the complexity of adjusting the hearing aids for both ears. Has been. Thereby, the gain of each frequency can be adjusted, maintaining the balance of both ears.

  Special Table 2002-534934

  However, the hearing aid adjustment device disclosed in the above publication has a problem that it is not easy to use for a hearing aid adjuster, and adjustment takes time.

  That is, one of the major purposes of hearing aid adjustment is to enable the hearing aid user to distinguish words.

  Here, in order for the hearing aid user to correctly distinguish words, the relative amplification factor between the frequencies and the overall amplification factor are important. For this purpose, it is necessary for an adjuster to manually adjust parameters related to amplification of a large number of frequency bands. However, a complicated operation is required to change the parameters of many frequency bands while maintaining the balance between the frequency bands.

  On the other hand, although the hearing aid adjustment device of Patent Document 1 includes an interface for adjusting the balance between both ears, it can solve the complicated operation related to the frequency band necessary for improving the discrimination of words. Is hard to say.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a hearing aid adjustment device that is easy to use for a hearing aid adjuster and can reduce the time for adjusting the hearing aid.

A hearing aid adjustment device according to a first aspect is a hearing aid adjustment device that adjusts a hearing aid processing parameter in a plurality of frequency bands, and includes an input unit, a display unit, and a display control unit. The input unit inputs and varies the hearing aid processing parameters. The display unit displays hearing aid processing parameters. The display control unit displays the first region and the second region on the display unit. The first area is an input unit for all the hearing aid processing parameters in a plurality of frequency bands, or a batch variation mode in which all the hearing aid processing parameters are changed at once by the input unit, or a hearing aid processing parameter in one frequency band selected from the plurality of frequency bands. It is possible to switch between the independent variation mode and the independent variation mode. In the second region, regardless of the mode of the first region, the hearing aid processing parameters in one frequency band selected from among a plurality of frequency bands are independently changed by the input unit. The display control unit displays the hearing aid processing parameters in the same manner in the first and second regions, and adjusts the hearing aid processing parameters in the first and second regions by different operations in the input unit.

  As a result, on the screen of the display unit, a plurality of frequency bands to be adjusted simultaneously are grouped, and the hearing aid processing parameters are adjusted based on the grouping information, while each frequency band is adjusted regardless of the grouping information. Adjustment of hearing aid processing parameters can be performed independently for each. Therefore, it is possible to adjust the overall ease of hearing for the conversation band and adjust the balance between the frequency bands necessary to adjust the ease of hearing each word, and without performing special operations such as switching. Can be done smoothly. As a result, it is convenient for the hearing aid user, and the hearing aid adjustment time can be shortened.

  According to the hearing aid adjustment device according to the present invention, it is convenient for the hearing aid user, and the hearing aid adjustment time can be shortened.

The figure which shows the structure of the hearing aid adjustment apparatus which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. The control block of the hearing aid adjustment apparatus of FIG. The figure which shows an example of the screen display of the hearing aid adjustment apparatus of FIG. (A), (b) is a figure which shows an example of the display screen of the hearing aid adjustment apparatus of FIG. (A)-(c) is a figure which shows an example of the display screen of the hearing aid adjustment apparatus of FIG.

  An apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 5C.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the hearing aid adjustment device 1 of this embodiment includes an input unit 2 and a display unit 3. The hearing aid adjusting device 1 and the hearing aid 4 are connected to each other via a connection box 5 and wirings 6 and 7. The hearing aid 4 is prepared for each of the left and right ears of the user 8 and is adjusted for each, but FIG. 1 shows only the hearing aid 4 for the right ear for convenience of explanation.

  The adjuster 9 performs operations such as changing parameters via the input unit 2 to set the hearing aid 4.

  FIG. 2 shows a control block of the hearing aid adjustment apparatus 1.

  The adjuster 9 inputs the change information of the hearing aid processing parameter and the grouping information of the frequency band to be adjusted simultaneously through the input unit 2. The input information is stored in the adjustment value memory 13 and the grouping memory 14 via the grouping operation determination unit 25 and the device control unit 12, respectively.

  In addition to the hearing aid processing parameters and grouping information, the information input via the input unit 2 includes a property value indicating which part of the GUI (Graphical User Interface) is operated.

  Here, when an instruction to change the hearing aid processing parameter is input via the input unit 2, whether the content of the change instruction reflects the grouping information stored in the grouping memory 14 in the grouping operation determination unit 25. Whether or not is determined based on the property value. Here, when it is determined that the content of the change instruction reflects the grouping information, the parameter control unit 15 reflects the change content on other frequencies.

  Thereafter, the device control unit 12 displays the changed hearing aid processing parameters and grouping information at an appropriate position of the GUI on the display unit 3 via the display control unit 16. Note that the reflection is performed while maintaining the relative difference between the frequencies.

  On the other hand, when it is determined that the content of the change instruction does not reflect the grouping information, the parameter control unit 15 simply changes only the hearing aid processing parameter at the corresponding frequency.

  When the adjuster 9 inputs an instruction to write a hearing aid processing parameter to the hearing aid 4 through the input unit 2, the hearing aid processing parameter is input from the writing unit 17 through the connection box 5 and the input unit 18 of the hearing aid 4. Are written in the hearing aid processing parameter holding unit 19. Here, the hearing aid processing parameter holding unit 19 performs additional processing such as a hearing aid processing parameter such as a gain or a compression determined according to the hearing ability of the hearing aid user, a howling suppression function, or a wind noise suppression (feedback canceller) function. It stores function setting information.

  The hearing aid 4 processes the sound acquired from the main body microphone 20 in the hearing aid processing unit 21 based on the hearing aid processing parameter stored in the hearing aid processing parameter holding unit 19, and outputs the processed sound from the receiver 22. Providing sound tailored to In addition, the hearing aid 4 notifies the hearing aid adjustment device 1 that the processing for the writing instruction input from the hearing aid adjustment device 1 is completed from the output unit 23 of the hearing aid 4 via the connection box 5 and the reading unit 24. To do.

  The operation will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 3 is an example showing a display screen of the display unit 3 in the hearing aid adjustment apparatus 1 of the present embodiment, and the areas 31, 32, and 33 are displayed on the display unit 3 by the display control unit 16.

  In the region (third region) 31, buttons corresponding to the frequency bands of 250, 500, 1k, 2k, and 4k to be adjusted are displayed. The area 31 is an area for designating and displaying grouping information stored in the grouping memory 14.

  The region (first region) 32 is a region where various parameters of the hearing aid 4 such as gain (Gain), compression ratio (Comp), knee point (TK), automatic gain control (AGCo) are input. Adjustment is performed reflecting the grouping information input at 31.

  Unlike the region 32, the region 33 (second region) is a region where the hearing aid processing parameters are input and displayed without reflecting the grouping information of the region 31. For this reason, the region 33 can be adjusted for the hearing aid 4 in a manner (graph) different from the slider of the region 32.

  Specifically, in the region 33, by moving the mouse pointer over the output line on the graph, the shape of the mouse pointer changes from the shape of an arrow to the shape of a human hand, and an instruction that points to a specific frequency band. The display mode is to work on the adjuster 9 as a child. By working on the adjuster 9 in this way, it is possible to adjust the hearing aid processing parameters for each frequency band without reflecting the grouping naturally. Each line of the graph in the region 33 indicates the output characteristics of 40, 60, and 90 dBSPL from the bottom.

  Hereinafter, the operations in the areas 31, 32, and 33 displayed on the display unit 3 by the display control unit 16 will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 (a), 4 (b), and 5 (a) to 5 (c). Will be described more specifically.

  It is assumed that the coordinator 9 is trying to increase the intelligibility of the words in order to improve the quality of listening to the words for the user 8.

  In this case, first, the adjuster 9 can listen to frequencies of 500, 1k, and 2k which are considered to be important frequency bands for listening to words without being disturbed by sounds of other frequencies. In region 31, grouping for adjusting these frequencies simultaneously is designated. Specifically, the adjuster 9 presses three buttons 500, 1k, and 2k (indicated by reference numeral 34 in FIG. 4A) among the plurality of buttons displayed in the region 31. Here, the grouping information obtained by pressing the three buttons 34 is stored in the grouping memory 14 from the input unit 2 through the device control unit 12 as described above.

  When the grouping is finished, the adjuster 9 increases the gains of 500, 1k, and 2k from the state of FIG. 4A at the same time in order to improve the ease of hearing the words, and the state of FIG. 4B. To make it easier to hear words.

  At this time, since the grouping is performed by the adjuster 9, when the slider of 500, 1k, or 2k, for example, 2 kHz is raised, the gain of 500, 1k, or 2k is adjusted simultaneously.

  Specifically, when the hearing aid processing parameter is input to the input unit 2, the grouping operation determination unit 25 reflects the grouping based on the property value obtained together with the hearing aid processing parameter and indicating the operation of the region 32. It is determined that the hearing aid processing parameter is changed. Then, the device control unit 12 refers to the grouping memory 14, and the parameter control unit 15 changes the hearing aid processing parameters of each grouped frequency while holding the difference information between the frequency bands.

  The device control unit 12 writes the hearing aid processing parameter in the adjustment value memory 13 and displays it on the display unit 3 via the display control unit 16. The display control unit 16 changes not only the value of the slider in the region 32 but also the value of the graph region in the region 33.

  Subsequently, the adjuster 9 adjusts the balance between the frequencies so that the user 8 can easily distinguish the words from the state where the word listening state has been improved so that the words can be easily recognized. .

  For this reason, it is usually necessary to cancel the grouping once and adjust the relative relationship between the frequencies. That is, it is necessary to change the parameter of the frequency to be changed independently after canceling the grouping by pressing the button of the frequency other than the frequency to be changed independently among 500, 1k, and 2k. Here, the adjustment of the hearing aid processing parameters is a very delicate operation. Therefore, in order to finally set the optimal hearing aid processing parameters, it is necessary to repeat the grouping variation and the independent variation many times, so the grouping must be set and canceled many times. It is very complicated and time consuming.

  Therefore, in the hearing aid adjustment apparatus 1 of the present embodiment, the change of the hearing aid processing parameter input in the region 33 different from the region 32 is performed so that each frequency band can be independently adjusted while holding the grouping information. Without reflecting the grouping information, the frequency can be adjusted independently between each frequency.

  In particular, it is necessary to adjust the hearing aid processing parameters in the frequency band of 4k or less including the conversation sound with higher accuracy. Therefore, the hearing aid processing parameters are adjusted while repeating the grouping variation and the independent variation many times.

  According to the hearing aid adjustment apparatus 1 of the present embodiment, it is possible to independently change the hearing aid processing parameters in the region 33 while setting the grouping in the region 32, without setting and canceling the grouping many times. it can. Therefore, the number of operations at the input unit 2 can be reduced as compared with the conventional case, and the adjuster 9 of the hearing aid 4 can eliminate the complexity of the operation and can shorten the adjustment time as compared with the conventional case.

  In the present embodiment, the GUI expression variation is maximized so that the adjuster 9 can easily recognize that the operation in the region 33 does not reflect the grouping, that is, each frequency can be varied independently. To use.

  Specifically, for input of hearing aid processing parameters on the graph, first, the adjustment graph to be adjusted is designated by bringing the mouse pointer over the graph line. At this time, the mouse pointer is usually shaped like an arrow. In the hearing aid adjustment apparatus 1 of the present embodiment, when the mouse pointer moves on the adjustment target, the display control unit 16 changes the display of the mouse pointer from the arrow to the shape of a human hand (FIGS. 5A to 5 ( c) mouse pointers 33a to 33c). Thus, the adjuster 9 can clearly recognize the variable hearing aid processing parameter to be adjusted while looking at the screen.

  Here, as shown in FIGS. 5 (a) to 5 (c), the mouse pointers 33a to 33c are such that the index finger of the right hand is extended, but the middle finger, the ring finger and the little finger are always folded and displayed. It is preferable to provide a blank part on the right side of.

  In particular, aging deafness with a large proportion of hearing aid users usually tends to decrease hearing as the frequency goes higher. That is, since the gain tends to increase as the frequency becomes higher, the graph has a positive slope toward the higher frequency.

  Accordingly, by providing a blank portion on the right side (high frequency side) of the mouse pointers 33a to 33c, the tip portions of the mouse pointers 33a to 33c are unlikely to overlap the graph lines. Therefore, the adjuster 9 of the hearing aid 4 can perform the adjustment while visually recognizing both the graph and the mouse pointers 33a to 33c. The blank portion on the high frequency side of the mouse pointer is utilized as a space for easy adjustment (adjustment facilitating space).

  As described above, after the mouse pointers 33a to 33c are moved over the line (hearing aid processing parameter) to be adjusted, the button of the mouse 2a is then moved to adjust the line (hearing aid processing parameter). Press. At this time, as shown in FIG. 5B, the mouse pointers 33a to 33c are displayed with their hands closed so that the image is obtained by pressing the button of the mouse 2a. Then, by moving the mouse 2a up and down in this state, each hearing aid processing parameter can be adjusted as shown in FIG.

  Further, when the line in the area 33 is grasped by pressing the button of the mouse 2a, the frequency band to be changed by the mouse operation in the area 31 (in the case of FIGS. 5A to 5C, 1 kHz). However, it is preferable that the display method is changed so that the adjuster 9 can easily recognize by blinking or changing color.

  Further, in the area 32 in addition to the area 31, a display method is provided so that the adjuster 9 can easily recognize the frequency band slider to be changed by the mouse operation by blinking or changing color. Is preferably changed.

  That is, it is preferable that the frequency to be changed in the region 33 is displayed in an easy-to-understand manner for the adjuster 9 so as to stand out also in the region 31 and / or the region 32.

  5A to 5C illustrate the case where five frequency bands of 250, 500, 1k, 2k, and 4k can be varied, but more frequency bands can be varied. When displaying, since the display area is limited, the display interval is narrowed. For this reason, if the line of the graph of the region 33 is moved and changed using the mouse 2a, the frequency band not intended by the adjuster 9 may be changed in error.

  On the other hand, as described above, in the region 31 and / or the region 32, the frequency band to be changed is made conspicuous by changing the display method of the frequency band to be changed by the mouse operation. It can be shown clearly. As a result, it is possible to obtain an effect that it is possible to prevent the adjuster 9 from changing the frequency band that is not intended.

  By repeating this operation, the balance between frequencies can be adjusted without releasing the grouping information. Therefore, it is possible to efficiently perform independent adjustment of the hearing aid processing parameters between the frequencies necessary for improving the ease of distinguishing words.

  Specifically, in order to independently adjust the hearing aid processing parameters in each frequency band, when the operation in the region 33 is performed according to the above procedure, the changed hearing aid processing parameters and the region are input from the input unit 2. The property value indicating the operation in 33 is sent to the grouping operation determination unit 25. The grouping operation determination unit 25 determines that the input is from an area 33 that does not require grouping, and only the value of the frequency band specified by the parameter control unit 15 is changed and stored in the adjustment value memory 13. Information on the region 32 and the region 33 is updated via the display control unit 16 and the display unit 3.

  By performing the above operations, it is possible to improve the ease of hearing the words once and further adjust the ease of hearing the words. However, usually, when the state of the ease of hearing of the word changes from this state, the adjustment to the ease of hearing of the entire frequency band of the word becomes necessary again.

  Therefore, in the present embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B, the grouping information is reflected to adjust the overall ease of hearing the words, and the ease of distinguishing is further finely adjusted. As described above, it is possible to provide the user 8 with the maximum ease of hearing by repeatedly performing the operations shown in FIGS.

  In general, in a conventional hearing aid adjustment apparatus that cannot adjust the grouping information at the same time and independently, it is necessary to perform adjustment while repeatedly setting and canceling the grouping information. Such an operation is very complicated, increasing the difficulty of adjusting the hearing aid and extending the working time.

  In the hearing aid adjustment apparatus 1 of the present embodiment, such problems can be solved by repeating the adjustment as shown in FIGS. In particular, in the hearing aid adjustment apparatus 1 that performs adjustment work including human subjective factors such as ease of hearing, the application of the present invention is particularly effective, and the user 8 and the adjuster 9 of the hearing aid 4 are used as an effective interface. Can be provided.

[Other Embodiments]
As mentioned above, although one Embodiment of this invention was described, this invention is not limited to the said embodiment, A various change is possible in the range which does not deviate from the summary of invention.

(A)
In the said embodiment, the example which adjusts one of the hearing aids with which both left and right ears are adjusted was demonstrated as the hearing aid 4 adjusted with the hearing aid adjustment apparatus 1 of this invention. However, the present invention is not limited to this.

  For example, the hearing aid to be adjusted may be not only one of the hearing aids for both ears but also one of the left and right ears.

  Even in this case, the same effect as described above can be obtained by performing batch / independent variation while displaying the hearing aid processing parameters in a plurality of frequency bands.

(B)
In the above-described embodiment, an example has been described in which a slider is displayed in the region 32 as an input unit for performing grouping, and a graph is displayed in the region 33 as an input unit for which grouping is not performed. However, the present invention is not limited to this.

  For example, a slider is displayed in each of the areas 32 and 33, an input in the grouping state corresponding to the area 32 is performed by a slider operation with the left mouse button, and a non-grouping input corresponding to the area 33 is performed by a slider operation by the right mouse button. You may make it carry out.

  Further, the slider operation when the shift key is pressed may be set as non-grouping input, and the slider operation when the shift key is not pressed may be set as grouping input.

  Further, both graphs may be displayed in the areas 32 and 33, and the slider operation may be performed by pressing the left button of the mouse and switching the slider operation by using the right button, and the slider operation may be performed when the shift key is pressed or not. .

  The hearing aid adjustment device of the present invention is easy to use for a hearing aid adjuster and has the effect of shortening the hearing aid adjustment time, so that the hearing aid adjustment device that adjusts various hearing aids regardless of whether for both ears or one ear. Widely applicable.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Hearing aid adjustment apparatus 2 Input part 2a Mouse 3 Display part 4 Hearing aid 5 Connection box 6,7 Wiring 8 User 9 Coordinator 12 Device control part 13 Adjustment value memory 14 Grouping memory 15 Parameter control part 16 Display control part 17 Writing part 18 Input unit 19 Hearing aid processing parameter holding unit 20 Main body microphone 21 Hearing aid processing unit 22 Receiver 23 Output unit 24 Reading unit 25 Grouping operation determination unit 31 Region (third region)
32 areas (first area)
33 region (second region)
33a-33c Mouse pointer 34 button

Claims (9)

A hearing aid adjustment device for adjusting hearing aid processing parameters in a plurality of frequency bands,
An input unit for inputting and changing the hearing aid processing parameters;
A display for displaying the hearing aid processing parameters;
All the hearing aid processing parameters of the plurality of frequency bands are collectively changed by the input unit, or the hearing aid processing parameters in one frequency band selected from the plurality of frequency bands are input by the input unit. Regardless of the first region that can be switched between the independent variation mode that varies independently and the mode of the first region, the hearing aid processing parameters in one frequency band selected from a plurality of frequency bands are independent. And a display control unit that causes the display unit to display a second region that is changed by the input unit,
Have,
The display control unit displays the hearing aid processing parameters in the same manner in the first and second areas,
Adjusting the hearing aid processing parameters in the first and second regions by different operations in the input unit;
Hearing aid adjustment device. The display control unit is configured to change the display of a specific frequency band to be changed to be varied independently in the second region so that it can be distinguished from the display of other frequency bands.
The hearing aid adjustment device according to claim 1 . The display control unit changes the display in the first region corresponding to the specific frequency band to be changed to be changed independently in the second region so that it can be distinguished from the display of other frequency bands.
The hearing aid adjustment device according to claim 2 . The display control unit further causes the display unit to display a third area for performing grouping when collectively changing all the hearing aid processing parameters of the plurality of frequency bands,
The display control unit displays the display in at least one of the first region and the third region corresponding to a specific frequency band to be changed independently in the second region, as a display in another frequency band. Change it so that it can be identified,
The hearing aid adjustment device according to claim 2 or 3 . The display control unit displays the hearing aid processing parameters with a slider in the first region and the second region.
The hearing aid adjustment device according to any one of claims 1 to 4 . The display control unit displays the hearing aid processing parameters in a graph in the first region and the second region;
The hearing aid adjustment device according to any one of claims 1 to 4 . The hearing aid processing parameter fluctuates by moving a pointer displayed on the graph in the second region based on an input from the input unit.
The hearing aid adjustment device according to claim 6 . The pointer has an indicator on the low frequency side of the graph and has a gap on the high frequency side,
The hearing aid adjustment device according to claim 7 . The display control unit changes a display form of the pointer when the pointer moves on an adjustment target in the graph.
The hearing aid adjustment device according to claim 7 or 8 .