JP3616797B2 - Auditory organ function promoting device - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a function promoting device for a hearing organ that promotes the function of the auditory organ and improves the ability to listen to sound.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Conventionally, hearing aids have been developed and sold for people who are hard of hearing to amplify sounds that are difficult to hear by amplifying the sound. Such a hearing aid is a small portable acoustic amplifier mainly composed of a microphone, an audible amplifier, an earphone, and a battery. The output is converted into electricity and sound.
[0003]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in such a hearing aid, since the audio signal of the sound input from the microphone is only electrically amplified by the audible amplifier, the self-defense is prevented against the negative factors that have been confirmed by the present applicant. A hearing-impaired person who has a self-learning function may not always be easy to hear. Here, the self-learning function is considered to be caused by the eardrum and stapes muscles of the middle ear that adjust the sound coming into the ear when the ear is blocked by stress and anxiety.
[0004]
The present invention has been made to solve such a conventional difficulty, and provides a function promoting device for an auditory organ that improves self-sounding ability by synthesizing self-speech with difficult-to-hear sound. Objective.
[0005]
[Means for Solving the Invention]
The function promoting device for a hearing organ according to the present invention that achieves such an object includes a first microphone for inputting self-sound, a second microphone for inputting difficult-to-listen sound, and a first microphone. A recording body for recording the output self-sound signal, and a sound for synthesizing and amplifying the self-sound signal recorded by the recording body with the hard-to-listen sound signal output from the second microphone and outputting it as an audible sound signal It comprises a processing unit and an acoustic transducer that converts an audible audio signal output from the audio processing unit into an audible sound and causes the listener to perceive it.
[0006]
In addition, the function promoting device for a hearing organ according to the present invention includes a microphone for inputting a self-sound or a sound that is difficult to hear, a changeover switch for selecting each sound to be input to the microphone, and a self-speech selected by the changeover switch. If the recording body records the self-sound signal output from the microphone when it is selected, and the recording body records the sound signal that is difficult to hear from the microphone when a sound difficult to hear is selected by the changeover switch. An audio processing unit that synthesizes and amplifies an audio signal and outputs the audio signal as an audible audio signal, and an acoustic converter that converts the audible audio signal output from the audio processing unit into an audible sound and perceives the listener. is there.
[0007]
Further, in the function promoting device for auditory organs of the present invention, the audio processing unit arbitrarily sets the pulse number difference of the audible sound to be perceived by the listener's both ears from the acoustic transducer according to the hearing superiority of the listener. What connected the regulator to set is preferable.
Such a function promoting device for the auditory organ synthesizes and amplifies the self-speech into a difficult-to-listen sound, so that the gene with a self-learning function that self-protects against the negative factors of the listener is self You are guided to remove the learning function. That is, the eardrum and the stapes muscles of the middle ear can be made to react to the voice, so that the audible range is expanded.
[0008]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, an embodiment of a function promoting device for a hearing organ according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
As shown in FIG. 1, the function promoting device for auditory organs according to the present invention inputs a first microphone 2 for inputting self-sound and a sound that is difficult to hear (hereinafter referred to as “inaudible sound”). The second microphone 3, the EEPROM 4 which is a recording body for recording the self-sound signal d 1 output from the first microphone 2, and the inaudible sound signal d 2 output from the second microphone 3 were recorded by the EEPROM 4. A sound processing unit 5 that synthesizes and amplifies the self-speech signal d1 and outputs it as an audible sound signal d3, and an acoustic conversion that converts the audible sound signal d3 output from the sound processing unit 5 into an audible sound so that the listener can perceive it. And vessel 6. As the acoustic transducer 6, an earphone, a headphone, a speaker, or the like is used to make an audible sound perceived by the listener's ear.
[0009]
The sound processing unit 5 includes a self sound A / D conversion circuit 7 that converts the self sound signal d1 output from the first microphone 2 into a digital self sound signal d4, and an inaudible sound output from the second microphone 3. An inaudible audio A / D conversion circuit 8 that converts the signal d2 into a digital inaudible audio signal d5, and the digital self audio signal d4 output from the EEPROM 4 to which the EEPROM 4 is connected are output from the inaudible audio A / D conversion circuit 8. A CPU 9 that generates a digital synthesized audio signal d6 by synthesizing the digital inaudible audio signal d5, and a D / A conversion circuit 10 that converts the digital synthesized audio signal d6 generated by the CPU 9 into an analog synthesized audio signal d7; The audible amplifier 11 amplifies the synthesized audio signal d7 output from the D / A conversion circuit 10 into an audible audio signal d3.
[0010]
When the first microphone 2 is selected by a changeover switch or the like (not shown), the CPU 9 that controls the voice processing unit 5 configured in this way starts from the first microphone 2 with its own voice A / D conversion circuit. When the second microphone 3 is selected, the second microphone 3 is recorded by the built-in mixer (not shown) when the second microphone 3 is selected. To the digital inaudible sound signal d5 of the inaudible sound input through the inaudible sound A / D conversion circuit 8, and the digital self sound signal d4 recorded in the EEPROM 4 is synthesized.
[0011]
The audible amplifier 11 can change the amplification degree according to the listening ability of the listener by a volume switch (not shown).
In such a function promoting device 1 of the auditory organ, for example, when the hearing impaired person inputs his / her own sound to the first microphone 2 selected by the changeover switch or the like, the self-sound signal d1 is digitally converted by the self-sound A / D conversion circuit 7. It is converted into a self audio signal d4 and recorded in the EEPROM 4. After recording the self-sound signal d1 in the EEPROM 4, the second microphone 3 is selected by a changeover switch or the like so that it can be heard.
[0012]
When an inaudible sound is input to the second microphone 3 in this state, the inaudible sound signal d2 output from the second microphone 3 is converted into a digital inaudible sound signal d5 by the inaudible sound A / D conversion circuit 8. The digital inaudible audio signal d5 is mixed with the digital self-audio signal d4 recorded in the EEPROM 4 by the CPU 9 to generate a digital synthesized audio signal d6. The digital self-speech signal d4 is preferably mixed with a predetermined number of input pulses, and the number of input pulses can be adjusted by a controller.
[0013]
The CPU 9 inputs the digital synthesized audio signal d6 to the D / A conversion circuit 10. The synthesized voice signal d7 converted by the D / A conversion circuit 10 is amplified to an audible voice signal d3 by the audible amplifier 11 and output to the acoustic converter 6. Thereby, the acoustic transducer 6 can make a hearing-impaired listener perceive an audible sound. That is, by synthesizing a self-speech signal with an inaudible speech signal, a gene with a self-learning function that self-protects against negative factors of the self is induced to remove the self-learning function. This is because the eardrum and the stapes muscles can respond to the sound and the audible range is expanded.
[0014]
In this embodiment, the number of microphones is two. However, the number of microphones is not limited to one. In this case, as shown in FIG. When the changeover switch 50 selects self-sound, the digital self-speech signal d4 output from one microphone 20 via one A / D conversion circuit 21 is stored in the EEPROM 4. When a sound that is difficult to hear is selected, a digital self-audio signal recorded by the EEPROM 4 into a digital inaudible audio signal d5 output from one microphone 20 via one A / D conversion circuit 21. The CPU 9 is given a function for synthesizing d4. Since the function promoting device 100 differs from the function promoting device 1 shown in FIG. 1 only in the number of microphones and A / D conversion circuits, the same reference numerals are used except for the microphones and A / D conversion circuits.
[0015]
In the present embodiment, a monaural device is used. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and a stereo device may be used. In this case, since audible sound is perceived by both ears, it is possible to cope with the auditory superiority of the listener. That is, mixing is performed by a mixer built in the CPU so that the number of input pulses of the digital self-sound signal is different (FIGS. 3A and 3B). This is because the speech information that enters the right ear is transmitted to the slow reacting left brain, which is language-dominant, and the speech information that enters the left ear is transmitted to the fast responding, non-linguistic-dominated right brain. It is for calling. Specifically, the number of input pulses of the digital self-speech signal is differentiated with respect to the left ear 1 when the right ear is 1.00001 to 10.0. For example, since a musician is good at making intuitive judgments, the right ear may be set to 1.00001 with respect to the left ear 1. Moreover, a general person should just make the right ear 1 with respect to the left ear 1. In the case of a person with a speech disorder or an elderly person with dementia, the reaction is slower than that of a general person, so the right ear must be 10.0 with respect to the left ear 1. Needless to say, these ratios vary among individuals.
[0016]
In order to arbitrarily set the difference in the number of audible sound pulses perceived by the listener's ears from the acoustic transducer according to the listener's auditory superiority, a controller is connected to the CPU of the sound processing unit. May be. For example, as shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B, the CPU is controlled so that one pulse can be inputted to the left ear and two pulses can be inputted to the right ear within a predetermined time A. In addition, the function promoting device for a hearing organ according to the present invention can be used not only as a hearing aid but also for conversation in a foreign language. This is because it becomes easy to listen to foreign languages that are difficult to hear because of the wide audible range.
[0017]
【Example】
Furthermore, clinical trials were conducted under the following conditions.
A clinical trial was conducted for 10 days, in which healthy individuals aged 19 to 25 years old wear the stereo system device 1 for 30 minutes every day and listen to the synthesized speech. In addition, as a hearing test, an air conduction test for listening to sound emitted from the earphone and a bone conduction test for listening to bone conduction sound transmitted from the vibrator through the temporal bone were conducted.
[0018]
As a result, as shown in FIG. 4, in the case of Mr. A (male: 19 years old), in both the air conduction examination and the bone conduction examination, only the sound of around 3,500 Hz could be heard before the self-speech input. (FIG. 4 (a)), it became possible to listen to a sound in the vicinity of 6,000 Hz after the input of the self-speech (FIG. 4 (b)). In addition, as shown in FIG. 5, in the case of Mr. B (female: 20 years old), in both the air conduction examination and the bone conduction examination, only the sound around 3,000 Hz could be heard before the self-speech input. However (FIG. 5 (a)), it became possible to listen to a sound around 5,000 Hz after the input of the self-speech (FIG. 5 (b)). Further, as shown in FIG. 6, in the case of Mr. C (male: 25 years old), in both the air conduction examination and the bone conduction examination, only the sound near 1,400 Hz could be heard before the self-speech input. However (FIG. 6 (a)), it became possible to listen to a sound in the vicinity of 6,000 Hz after the input of the self-speech (FIG. 6 (b)).
[0019]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, the function promoting device for auditory organs according to the present invention can improve the ability to hear sound by synthesizing a self-speech electrical signal with a difficult-to-hear sound signal and stimulating the middle ear. it can.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a function promoting device for a hearing organ according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing another embodiment of the function promoting device for a hearing organ according to the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a graph showing a waveform of a digital synthesized speech signal, where (a) is a signal perceived by the left ear and (b) is a signal perceived by the right ear.
FIG. 4 is a graph showing the relationship between attenuation and frequency as a result of a clinical test using the function promoting device for a hearing organ according to the present invention.
FIG. 5 is a graph showing a relationship between attenuation and frequency as a result of a clinical test using the function promoting device for a hearing organ according to the present invention.
FIG. 6 is a graph showing the relationship between attenuation and frequency as a result of a clinical test using the auditory organ function promoting device of the present invention.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1,100 ... Auditory organ function promoting device 2 ... 1st microphone 3 ... 2nd microphone 4 ... EEPROM (recording body)
5... Audio processor 6... Acoustic transducer 20... Microphone 50... Changeover switch d 1. Audible audio signal

Claims (3)

A first microphone for inputting self-sound, a second microphone for inputting difficult-to-listen sound, a recording body for recording a self-speech signal output from the first microphone, and the second microphone An audio processing unit that synthesizes and amplifies the self-audio signal recorded by the recording body with an audio signal that is difficult to hear from a microphone, and outputs the audio signal as an audible audio signal, and the audible signal output from the audio processing unit A function promoting device for an auditory organ, comprising: an acoustic transducer that converts an audio signal into an audible sound and causes a listener to perceive the sound signal. Microphone for inputting self-sound or difficult-to-listen sound, changeover switch for selecting each sound to be input to the microphone, and output from the microphone when the self-speech is selected by the changeover switch A recording body for recording a self-sound signal, and the self-sound signal recorded by the recording body in a hard-to-listen sound signal output from the microphone when the hard-to-listen sound is selected by the changeover switch. An audio processing unit that synthesizes and amplifies and outputs the audio signal as an audible audio signal, and an acoustic converter that converts the audible audio signal output from the audio processing unit into an audible sound so that a listener can perceive it. A function promoting device for the auditory organ. The sound processing unit is connected to a controller for arbitrarily setting a difference in the number of pulses of the audible sound to be perceived by the listener's ears from the acoustic transducer according to the auditory superiority of the listener. The function promoting device for a hearing organ according to claim 1 or 2.

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