text:
|SIEMENS MEDICAL INSTRUMENTS PTE. LTD. Patent applications
|Patent application number
|Hearing system and transmission method - A hearing system for improving intelligibility during the holding of a telephone conversation, includes a receiving device for receiving a first signal having first acoustic information and converting the first signal into electrical signals having the first acoustic information, a signal processing device for processing the electrical signals having the first acoustic information into electrical signals having second acoustic information, and an output device for outputting a second signal having the second acoustic information. A method for improving intelligibility during the holding of a telephone conversation using a hearing system is also provided.
|Injection Moulded Circuit Carrier Having an Integrated Circuit Board - An electronic unit has a circuit board that is integrated into an injection molded circuit carrier. A hearing aid is provided with such an electronic unit. In order to reduce the complexity and size of an electronic unit with an injection molded circuit carrier and a circuit board, the circuit board is integrated into the injection molded circuit carrier by introducing the circuit board into the plastic mold such that the surface of a first side of the circuit board lies within the plastic mold and the surface of a second side of the circuit board is substantially flush with the surface of the plastic mold. At least one conductive track of the circuit board is electrically conductively connected to at least one conductive track of the injection molded circuit carrier.
|Adaptation of a classification of an audio signal in a hearing aid - A method determines the classification of an audio signal in dependence on a comparison of two difference sums of audio features over time periods of different length. Thus, an adequately exact yet quickly reacting adaptation of the classification in changing hearing situations is ensured. The method is advantageously used in a hearing aid. The audio signal is processed in different ways on the basis of the classification.
|METHOD AND HEARING AID SYSTEM FOR LOGIC-BASED BINAURAL BEAM-FORMING SYSTEM - A method for beam-forming for a hearing aid system is disclosed. The hearing aid system has a left and a right hearing aid device for disposal on a head of a wearer. The hearing aid devices each have microphones for converting the sound into a left and a right input signal and also a signal processing device which receives the two input signals. In the method a number of different linear combinations of the left and the right input signal are provided, are assessed according to a predetermined signal criterion and, in dependence thereof, one of the linear combinations is selected as a beam signal.
|METHOD FOR CONTROLLING AN ADAPTATION INCREMENT AND HEARING APPARATUS - Feedback whistling and external tonal signals are distinguished during feedback suppression. For that purpose an adaptation increment of an adaptive filter of a hearing apparatus for feedback reduction is controlled. A sound signal is picked up by a microphone and a microphone signal is output, from which an earpiece signal for an earpiece is generated. An adaptive filter reduces a feedback signal in the microphone signal. To this end an autocorrelation value of sampled values of the microphone signal, between which a time difference exists, is obtained, and the adaptation increment of the adaptive filter is controlled based on the autocorrelation value. A frequency of an output signal obtained on the basis of the microphone signal is shifted while creating the earpiece signal and the time difference for obtaining the autocorrelation value is controlled as a function of the shifting of the frequency of the microphone signal.
|METHOD OF CONTROLLING AN EFFECT STRENGTH OF A BINAURAL DIRECTIONAL MICROPHONE, AND HEARING AID SYSTEM - A hearing aid system has at least two hearing aid devices to be worn on both sides of a wearer's head. The hearing aid devices have a transducer for picking up an acoustic signal and converting same into a first audio signal in each case. A signal processing unit processes audio signals received from each hearing aid device through a signal connection. The signal processing unit evaluates a signal component from a preferred direction in relation to the head of the wearer in the first audio signals. By way of the first audio signals the signal processing unit generates a first binaural directional microphone signal and adjusts its directional characteristic as a function of the evaluation.
|METHOD FOR ADJUSTING THE USEFUL SIGNAL IN BINAURAL HEARING AID SYSTEMS AND HEARING AID SYSTEM - A method operates a hearing aid system and the hearing aid system has at least two hearing aid devices, between which a signal path is provided, and with at least one signal processing unit, which is provided to process audio signals. In the method the signal processing apparatus filters first audio signals with a filter predetermined for a defined spatial direction, from which a useful signal arrives, so that second audio signals are generated, in which the components of the useful signal in the second audio signals are equalized to a greater degree than in the first audio signals. The second audio signals are then filtered with an adaptive filter, so that third audio signals are generated, in which the components of the useful signal are equalized to an even greater degree than in the second audio signals.
|BINAURAL HEARING AID SYSTEM AND METHOD OF HEARING AID MICROPHONE ADJUSTMENT - A hearing aid system is enabled for binaural microphone adjustment by way of the wearer's own voice. The hearing aid system has a first and a second hearing aid having a first and a second acousto-electric converter. The converters have a signal link with a signal processing unit which determines and compensates for signal deviations caused by the first and second acousto-electric converters on the basis of signals from the wearer's own voice. The wearer's own voice is recognized by a special facility.
|METHOD AND DEVICE FOR REDUCING ACOUSTIC FEEDBACK - Acoustic feedback in an audio device is reduced or eliminated via a feedback compensator. The feedback compensator disposes of at least one adaptive filter whose adaptation is governed by a step-size parameter p. A step-size parameter p of the adaptive filter is set at a high level to eliminate acoustic feedback and the parameter p is decreased when a critical excitation signal is detected. This way to proceed allows for efficient elimination of feedback whistling while required environment signals are retained.
|METHOD FOR AUTOMATICALLY SETTING A PIECE OF EQUIPMENT AND CLASSIFIER - A classification and, in particular, a time stability thereof are intended to be improved. To this end, a method automatically sets a piece of equipment, in which a classifying is performed with an aid of movable clusters and fixed clusters. This allows the classification to be trained, but also allows a certain basic property of the system to be ensured. This is advantageous in particular for hearing aids and transformers in smart grids.
|HEARING INSTRUMENT ADAPTED TO HOLD AN EXCHANGEABLE RECEIVER INTO THE HOUSING AND A METHOD FOR MAKING THE HEARING INSTRUMENT - A hearing instrument includes a housing and an exchangeable receiver. The hearing instrument further includes an opening in the housing for receiving the exchangeable receiver therein, and a coupler for actuating/de-actuating a physical coupling between the housing and the exchangeable receiver and for enabling the housing to hold the receiver.
|BINAURAL HEARING INSTRUMENT AND EARPIECE - A binaural hearing instrument and an earpiece for the binaural hearing instrument are enabled for broadband wireless data transmission to a further binaural hearing instrument. Wireless broadband binaural data transmission with high bandwidth and low resource requirement is afforded, while the devices can be manufactured easily and inexpensively. The hearing instrument has a housing, a signal processor, a receiver and an antenna for binaural data transmission. The housing can be worn at least partly in an auditory canal. A distal section houses the signal processor and the receiver. A proximal section adjacent to the eardrum and separated spatially from the proximal section houses the antenna. The antenna is disposed between the receiver and the sound outlet as far in the auditory canal as possible. The distance between the antennas of the two binaural hearing instruments is reduced compared with conventional positioning and the bit error rate is significantly improved.
|Conformable Dome Ear Canal Tip for a Hearing Instrument - An ear canal tip for a hearing instrument comprises a series of slits in the ear canal tip surface to allow the ear canal tip to conform to the shape of the ear canal when the ear canal tip is inserted into the ear canal.
|VALVE APPARATUS, HEARING DEVICE WITH THE VALVE APPARATUS, AND METHOD - When volume-changeable elements are used in earpiece apparatus, a valve apparatus for expanding and contracting purposes is provided. A valve apparatus is provided with a discharge opening for the outlet of air from the volume-changeable element. The discharge opening can be closed directly by the volume-changeable element itself.
|HEARING INSTRUMENT HOUSING HAVING A PLUG-IN CONNECTION, PLUG AND HEARING INSTRUMENT - A hearing instrument has housing with a plug-in connection. The plug-in connection connects hearing tubes, sound tubes or electrical signal lines. The hearing instrument ensures against an unintentional detachment of the tubes and lines from the housing. The housing has a locking apparatus. The plug-in connection is arranged in the housing. The locking apparatus is embodied to prevent an unintentional detachment of the plug in the plug-in connection. The locking apparatus includes a catch, with a latching plate, and being moveably mounted in the housing. The catch moves at right angles to the plug-in direction of the plug and the latch is pushed into the housing and is protected herein by a blocking facility against unintentionally being pushed out. The blocking facility includes a stop and a blocking element, against which the stop strikes when sliding out. With the moveable catch, an easy-to-operate locking process is achieved.
|HEARING APPARATUS WITH A FACILITY FOR REDUCING A MICROPHONE NOISE AND METHOD FOR REDUCING MICROPHONE NOISE - An input signal is provided with a low microphone noise in a hearing apparatus. The microphone noise in the input signal of the hearing apparatus is reduced, by the input signal being filtered by a Wiener filter, if a noise power determined at the input signal is smaller than a predetermined limit value. The Wiener filter is however deactivated, if the noise power is greater than the limit value or equal to the limit value.
|SYNCHRONOUS ACCESS METHOD, AND COMMUNICATION DEVICE AND SYSTEM IN FREQUENCY HOPPING RADIO COMMUNICATION - A method performs synchronous access between a first communication device and a second communication device. The first communication device adopts N frequency hopping channels and performs frequency hopping in a predetermined frequency hopping sequence and at a predetermined frequency hopping time interval. The first communication device sends a broadcast beacon over the N frequency hopping channels with a cycle of M times the predetermined frequency hopping time interval. The broadcast beacon carries general information including synchronization information. M and N are both natural numbers. The second communication device receives the broadcast beacon over any one frequency hopping channel of the N frequency hopping channels to acquire the synchronization information. The second communication device exchanges information with the first communication device for access. This flexible, simple and easy-to-implement synchronous access solution achieves high-efficiency utilization and good anti-interference of a bandwidth, and allows rapid and reliable synchronization with low power consumption.
|COUPLABLE HEARING APPARATUS FOR A HEARING DEVICE, COUPLING ELEMENT AND HEARING DEVICE - A hearing apparatus includes a sound tube with a tube-side coupling element and an earpiece with an earpiece-side coupling element. The tube-side coupling element and the earpiece-side coupling element can be reversibly coupled. The tube-side coupling element has a tube-side pressure canal and the earpiece-side coupling element has an earpiece-side pressure canal, which form a coupled pressure canal in a coupled state of the coupling elements. The tube-side coupling element or the earpiece-side coupling element is supported by at least one pressure element which improves air-tightness of the coupled pressure canal. A coupling element and a hearing device are also provided.
|HEARING INSTRUMENT AND EARPIECE HAVING RECEIVER - A hearing instrument has an earpiece for inserting in an auditory canal and has an expandable balloon. In the earpiece is arranged a receiver and which earpiece enables additional connections for acoustic signals and compressed air. The earpiece contains a case, a receiver and a balloon. The case has a proximal case segment and a distal case segment. The receiver is arranged between the two case segments. The two case segments mechanically fix the receiver and are connected to one another in a sealed manner. A sound channel and an air supply channel, which are separate from each other, are formed between receiver and case, the wall of each channel being formed both by the receiver and by the case. A sound exit aperture is provided, which is connected to a receiver output aperture of the receiver and to the sound channel. The balloon is connected to the air supply channel.
|METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DETERMINING AN AMPLIFICATION FACTOR OF A HEARING AID DEVICE - An amplification factor for a hearing aid device is generated by way of the following steps: forming a numerator, wherein the numerator includes a total with a first total component which is formed by means of multiplication of a strength of an approximately undisturbed signal with a first weighting and a second total component, which is formed by multiplication of a strength of a disturbed signal with a second weighting; forming a denominator, which includes the numerator as a first summand and a strength of an interference signal as a second summand. The amplification factor is finally determined by forming a quotient from the numerator divided by the denominator. An apparatus is configured to implement and carry out the novel method.
|METHOD FOR ADJUSTING A HEARING DEVICE APPARATUS AND HEARING DEVICE APPARATUS - The aim is to make operation of hearing device apparatuses more convenient. A method is proposed for operating a hearing device apparatus by a user by presenting a first acoustic signal by the hearing device apparatus as originating from a first virtual position and by presenting a second acoustic signal by the hearing device apparatus as originating from a second virtual position. In this connection the first acoustic signal represents a first adjustment option of the hearing device apparatus and the second acoustic signal a second adjustment option. The body part of the user is moved toward the first or second virtual position and a position or movement of the body part of the user is detected. Finally the detected position or movement of the body part is automatically allocated to the first or second virtual position, whereby the adjustment option corresponding to the allocated virtual position is chosen.
|HEARING INSTRUMENT WITH PLUG-IN SOUND TUBE CONNECTION, CORRESPONDING CASE AND SOUND TUBE - A hearing instrument contains a case and a sound tube. The instrument has a case/tube connection that is simple, easy to assemble, and can be established and released in a reversible manner. The hearing instrument has a case in which a receiver is disposed, and a sound tube for conveying output signals. Disposed in the case is a mounting insert having a receiver compartment and a socket. The receiver is inserted in the receiver compartment and the socket has a circumferential recess or ridge. The sound tube has a plug with a ridge or recess corresponding to the circumferential recess or ridge of the socket. The socket and plug can be reversibly interconnected and detached. The mounting insert obviates the need for an additional sound-conducting connecting piece between receiver and sound tube. This reduces the component count and improves a seal-tightness of the connection between receiver and sound tube.
|METHOD FOR OPERATING A HEARING APPARATUS - A method operates a hearing apparatus in which an operating parameter of the hearing apparatus is determined and smoothed by a filter. The smoothing includes, for each input value, to classify the input value in accordance with its association with a plurality of predetermined classes and increase a counter assigned to the respective class which is associated with the input value. The counter with the greatest counter value is determined and the operating parameter value assigned to the counter with the greatest counter value is output as an output variable of the filter.
|METHOD FOR RESTRICTING THE OUTPUT LEVEL IN HEARING APPARATUSES - Psychoacoustic boundary conditions are to be better taken into account in the amplification of input signals of a hearing apparatus. To this end, a channel-specific compression characteristic curve is predetermined in a number of spectrally-separated processing channels of the hearing apparatus, which defines a relationship between an input level and an output level in the respective processing channel of the hearing apparatus. A respective input signal portion is amplified in each processing channel as a function of a channel-specific operating compression characteristic curve. A channel-specific input level threshold is predefined here for each processing channel. Finally, the respective channel-specific operating compression characteristic curve is then defined according to the predetermined channel-specific compression characteristic curve below the channel-specific input level threshold and the respective curve of the channel-specific operating compression characteristic curve is defined with a compression ratio of greater than 8 above the channel-specific input level threshold.
|HEARING INSTRUMENT WITH FLEXIBLE EARPIECE TUBE CONNECTION, EARPIECE, AND HOUSING - A hearing instrument to be worn behind or in the auricle, has an external earpiece, worn in the auditory canal and is connected by an earpiece tube to the hearing instrument housing. The hearing instrument has a flexible adjustability of the earpiece tube connection both in length and in rotational position. The hearing system has a housing, an earpiece, and an earpiece tube connected to the housing and the earpiece, with an earpiece tube connector connecting a housing-side segment of the earpiece tube to an earpiece-side segment of the earpiece tube. The earpiece tube connector forms an electrically conducting connection that is mechanically stable in respect of release and allows variable and reversible longitudinal displacement and rotation of the two segments in relation to one another. The earpiece tube connector, by the housing and earpiece being connected is therefore disposed in-line in the earpiece tube. It establishes both the electrical and the mechanical connection between housing and earpiece.
|HEARING APPARATUS FOR BINAURAL SUPPLY AND METHOD FOR PROVIDING A BINAURAL SUPPLY - A hearing apparatus for a binaural supply contains a first earhook to be worn on one ear, having a plurality of microphones, and a first signal processing device which is configured to generate a local earpiece signal for an earpiece of the first earhook from microphone signals of the microphones by use of multichannel signal processing of each of the microphone signals. A beam forming device and a transmission device are additionally provided in the first earhook. The beam forming device is configured to generate a directional output signal from the microphone signals by signal processing which has fewer channels than that of the first signal processing device, and wherein the transmission device is set up to transmit the directional output signal as an electrical or electromagnetic signal from the first earhook.
|METHOD FOR ADJUSTING A HEARING APPARATUS VIA A FORMAL LANGUAGE - A method adjusts a hearing apparatus and thus provides a simplified hearing aid. In the method, a model is created which describes individual hardware components of the hearing apparatus. In addition a formal language is created on the basis of the model. The formal language is used to develop a program. The program is translated into machine executable code. The code is then transferred to the hearing apparatus, the execution of which causes the hearing apparatus to be adjusted automatically in accordance with the program. As an alternative to the transfer to the hearing system, the code is executed by a hearing aid adjustment program and a target parameter set for the hearing apparatus which the adjustment program then transfers into the hearing apparatus is thus calculated.
|BATTERY HOLDER FOR A HEARING DEVICE - An at least two-piece battery holder is provided for use with a hearing device. The respective individual parts of the battery holder mainly differ here in their material and their material properties. An inner component which is prone to be worn is manufactured from a harder material than a more optically attractive outer component of the battery holder.
|AMPLIFICATION OF A SPEECH SIGNAL IN DEPENDENCE ON THE INPUT LEVEL - Hearing apparatuses, in particular hearing aids, have improved intelligibility. This is accomplished by a method for amplifying a speech signal for a hearing apparatus by detection of an input sound, determining an input level of the input sound and amplification of the input sound. A mean input level of the input sound is determined and it is established whether the input sound has a speech component. If not, the input signal is amplified in dependence on the input level in accordance with a predefined first amplification characteristic. However, if a speech component is found, the input signal is amplified in dependence on the input level in accordance with a predefined second amplification characteristic. The second amplification characteristic is formed in dependence on the mean input level such that amplification is increased with respect to first amplification characteristic in a predefined level interval below the mean input level.
|METHOD OF ADJUSTING A HEARING APPARATUS WITH THE AID OF THE SENSORY MEMORY - Individual adjustment of a hearing apparatus, and in particular a hearing aid, is improved by testing the auditory sensory memory of a user of the hearing apparatus. At least one test result is obtained and the hearing apparatus is adjusted in dependence on the at least one test result. The test person must detect, perceive and be able to reproduce changes in a signal.
|COMMUNICATION SYSTEM COMPRISING A TELEPHONE AND A LISTENING DEVICE, AND TRANSMISSION METHOD - A communications system is configured to reduce the risk of feedback artifacts and contains a telephone device and a listening device. Accordingly, the communication system is thus provided, in which the signal processing in the telephone device is tuned to the listening device and the listening device is configured to process the voice and data signal inversely to the signal processing. Before the acoustic signal is transmitted from the telephone to the listening device, a frequency compression can thus be carried out, and in the listening device an inverse frequency compression can be carried out. This reduces feedback artifacts.
|HEARING APPARATUS HAVING AN ADAPTIVE FILTER AND METHOD FOR FILTERING AN AUDIO SIGNAL - A hearing apparatus that processes an audio signal by adaptive filtering operates efficiently. The hearing apparatus has a first stage transformation unit and at least two second stage transformation units. Each of the second stage transformation units splits the signal of one of the first stage channels through transformation onto sub-channels of the channel. A filter unit in each channel that has a second stage transformation unit filters the signal of the channel depending on weighting factors that are determined in each case for the sub-channels. The filter units are configured to exchange weighting factors among themselves, which means that only some of the weighting factors actually need to be calculated.
|Method for Training Speech Recognition, and Training Device - Speech recognition is improved for wearers of hearing aids and other hearing devices by training the speech recognition. A first speech element is acoustically presented, and the element is identified by the person wearing the hearing device. Subsequently, the acoustic presentation of the presented speech element is automatically changed and the aforementioned steps are repeated (S
|Method for Matching a Hearing Apparatus By Percentile Analysis and Matching Apparatus - High-quality adjustment of a hearing apparatus, and in particular of a hearing aid, is accelerated. In the adjusting method, a percentile analysis is carried out in order to obtain at least one frequency response of the hearing apparatus. Any discrepancy between the frequency response and an intended gain characteristic is determined. The setting of the hearing apparatus is then changed, such that the discrepancy is reduced. In order to check the effect of the setting change, a current frequency response after variation of the setting is determined by providing a constant noise signal or a single sinusoidal sweep at the input of the hearing apparatus and level measurement at the output. This frequency response measurement can be carried out as a second step considerably more quickly than the very precise percentile analysis at the start of the process.
|DEVICE AND METHOD FOR DIRECTION DEPENDENT SPATIAL NOISE REDUCTION - A device and a method reduce direction dependent spatial noise. The device includes a plurality of microphones for measuring an acoustic input signal from an acoustic source. The plurality of microphones form at least one monaural pair and at least one binaural pair. Directional signal processing circuitry is provided for obtaining, from the input signal, at least one monaural directional signal and at least one binaural directional signal. A target signal level estimator estimates a target signal level by combining at least one of the monaural directional signals and at least one of the binaural directional signals, which at least one monaural directional signal and at least one binaural directional signal mutually have a maximum response in a direction of the acoustic source. A noise signal level estimator estimates a noise signal level by combining at least one of the monaural directional signals and at least one of the binaural directional signals, which at least one monaural directional signal and at least one binaural directional signal mutually have a minimum sensitivity in the direction of the acoustic source.
|METHOD OF INSTALLING A SIGNAL PROCESSING COMPONENT IN A HOUSING OF A HEARING APPARATUS AND HEARING APPARATUS - A hearing apparatus and in particular a hearing aid are to be optimized as regards the risk of feedback. The hearing apparatus contains a housing, having a first opening and a second opening, and with a frame, in or on which a signal processing component is attached, and which can be inserted into the first opening of the housing as far as an end position. A ramp is disposed in the housing which interacts with the frame such that the frame is also moved perpendicular to the direction of insertion toward the second opening during insertion into the housing along a direction of insertion only in one section as far as the end position, which is less than 30% of the insertion path from the first opening to the end position.
|METHOD FOR TESTING HEARING AIDS - A method for testing hearing aids, particularly in respect of the effect thereof on speech comprehension, is improved. The method has the following steps: a) a test system is provided, b) an audible voice signal in the form of at least one meaningless syllable is selected and presented c) the meaningless syllable and a number of further meaningless syllables are displayed on a graphical user interface in the test system, d) a heard meaningless syllable is selected from the displayed meaningless syllables by the user, e) the selection made is evaluated, and f) method steps c) to e) are repeated until a termination criterion is encountered. The audible voice signal is selected in each case on the basis of at least one selection made by the person in response to a previously presented voice signal. The method allows particularly fast and informative hearing aid tests.
|HEARING INSTRUMENT AND METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING A HEARING INSTRUMENT - A hearing instrument has a basic frame with a cavity. A microphone is inserted in the cavity such that a back volume is defined. A coating of electrically conducting material is applied to the surface of the cavity to provide an electromagnetic shielding for the microphone. The electromagnetically shielded microphone is thus not disposed in a separate microphone housing, but rather directly integrated into the hearing instrument.
|METHOD AND HEARING APPARATUS FOR ESTIMATING ONE'S OWN VOICE COMPONENT - It is possible to identify a hearing apparatus wearer's own voice for signal processing in a hearing apparatus. In a method for estimating one's own voice component, a first microphone is positioned outside the auditory canal and a second microphone is positioned within the auditory canal. The microphone signals are segmented into a number of regions in a time-frequency plane. A region phase difference and a region level difference are then determined respectively for each of the regions from one of the two t-f signals compared with the other of the two t-f signals. All the number of regions of the time-frequency plane, the region phase difference of which corresponds generally to the estimated phase difference and the region level difference of which corresponds generally to the estimated level difference, are then grouped, the signal components of the group serving as an estimation of the voice component.
|METHOD AND DEVICE FOR FREQUENCY COMPRESSION - Artifacts are reduced during a frequency compression of an audio signal in a hearing device, in particular in a hearing aid. An amplitude information of a source channel is obtained, for example a spectral envelope, from several frequency channels of the audio signal. An amplitude corresponding to the amplitude information is then applied on a signal in a target channel of the several frequency channels, on which the source channel is represented during frequency compression.
|HEARING AID HAVING A BATTERY CHARGER - A hearing aid has a battery charger. The hearing aid contains a battery charger having an opening for accommodating a programming module having first programming contacts. Furthermore, second programming contacts are arranged in the hearing aid. The hearing aid is characterized by a sealant inserted in the opening, wherein the sealant covers the second programming contacts when the battery charger is shut off. Thus, the corrosion susceptibility of the second programming contacts is mostly avoided in an advantageous way.
|MICROPHONE PROTECTIVE DEVICE - In order to protect a microphone from moisture and/or dirt, there is provided a microphone protective device that needs only relatively little space for installation into an electroacoustic device for a relatively large effective surface area. For this purpose, the novel microphone protective device has an at least partially cylindrical-shell-shaped membrane, for preventing dirt and/or moisture from entering a sound inlet opening of the microphone.
|HEARING APPARATUS WITH SPEAKER ACTIVITY DETECTION AND METHOD FOR OPERATING A HEARING APPARATUS - A method and device for reliably detecting one's own voice being the wearer of a hearing apparatus. A hearing apparatus includes at least two independent analysis facilities, of which each is configured to obtain speech activity data on the basis of an audio signal received by the hearing apparatus, which is dependent on the speaker activity of a wearer of the hearing apparatus. A fusion facility is configured to receive the speech activity data from the analysis facilities and on the basis of the speech activity data then to recognize whether or not the wearer is currently speaking.
|METHOD FOR OPERATING A HEARING AID AND CORRESPONDING HEARING AID - A hearing aid and a method for operating a hearing aid to improve the quality of the hearing aid, in particular depending on the situation, include a hearing aid component that can be worn in a human auditory canal and a balloon, the size of which can be changed and which at least partially encloses the hearing aid component. During the operation of the hearing aid, a value specific to the current hearing situation is detected by the hearing aid. The size of the balloon is then set according to the determined value.
|INFLATABLE EAR PIECE WITH PRESSURE RELIEF VALVE - An ear piece is formed for insertion and placement in an external auditory canal, preferably for deep insertion and in close vicinity of a tympanic membrane inwardly bounding the auditory canal. The ear piece has an inflatable balloon which, when it is inflated, expands and braces against the walls of the auditory canal. When it is deflated, it may be withdrawn from the auditory canal. The ear piece has a receiver module with a sound generator and a connection to an exterior device (e.g., a hearing aid, an MP3 player, a cell phone). The receiver module is integrally formed with a pressure relief valve that allows the balloon to be deflated by external activation. A pull cord pulls a valve piston off a valve seat, whereupon the pressure in the balloon is relieved and the ear piece may be pulled out of the auditory canal.
|INFLATABLE EAR MOLD WITH PROTECTED INFLATION AIR INLET - An ear piece is formed for insertion and placement in an external auditory canal. The ear piece has an inflatable which, when it is inflated, expands and braces against the walls of the auditory canal. When it is deflated, it may be withdrawn from the auditory canal. The ear piece may be used in connection with a hearing aid, an MP3 player, a cell phone, or the like. A pump is provided for inflating the balloon and a valve may be controlled for selectively deflating the balloon. The air intake to the pump is disposed so as to be protected against contamination from inside the auditory canal. For that purpose it is formed inside a housing the air inlet of which is as far outside the ear canal as possible. In the case of a behind-the-ear application, the intake opening is formed in the housing that is to be placed behind the user's ear.
|HEARING DEVICE WITH A BATTERY COMPARTMENT - A hearing device has a battery compartment for mounting a battery and is provided in a housing. While the battery compartment is being closed there is a risk that a contact element projecting into the battery compartment causes a short circuit between the poles of the battery. The hearing device has a contacting device for the battery that is easy to manufacture. In the battery compartment, a contact element is provided for electrical contacting of the battery which can be deflected against a spring force when inserting the battery. A contact region of the contact element as a result presses against the battery when the battery is inserted. The contact element has an abutment device formed from an electrically insulating material with a surface disposed obliquely in respect of a direction of insertion of the battery, against which the battery abuts when the contact region is deflected.
|FEEDBACK SUPPRESSION DEVICE AND METHOD FOR PERIODIC ADAPTATION OF A FEEDBACK SUPPRESSION DEVICE - A method is provided for adapting a feedback suppression device of a hearing device to a given situation in order to improve the quality of feedback suppression in hearing devices and in hearing aids in particular. In the method an adaptation procedure of the feedback suppression device is periodically activated and adaptation of the feedback suppression device is performed regularly even if a feedback detector does not detect a feedback situation. A feedback suppression device for a hearing device is also provided.
|METHOD FOR AUTOMATIC ACTIVATION AND DEACTIVATION OF A BINAURAL HEARING SYSTEM AND BINAURAL HEARING SYSTEM - A method of operation saves energy during the operation of a binaural hearing system having a left-hand hearing device and a right-hand hearing device. The method includes providing a left-hand internal input signal in the left-hand hearing device and a right-hand internal input signal in the right-hand hearing device. A sending mode of the left-hand hearing device and/or right-hand hearing device is activated and/or deactivated. The sending mode is therein activated in one of the hearing devices automatically in dependence on the respective internal input signal and the sending mode is deactivated in one of the hearing devices automatically in dependence on the respective internal input signal and of a communication signal received from the respective other hearing device.
|INFLATABLE EAR MOLD CONNECTION SYSTEM - An inflatable ear piece is formed for insertion and placement in an external auditory canal. The ear piece has an inflatable balloon that may be selectively inflated and deflated. When the balloon is inflated, it expands and braces against the walls of the auditory canal. The ear piece has a receiver module with a sound generator and a connection to an exterior device. The sound waves generated in the receiver module are guided to the ear drum via a carrier which also holds the balloon. A pump and valve is provided for inflating, or selectively deflating, the balloon. The pump is connected by way of a micro tube that projects centrally inside the sound channel of the balloon carrier and its tip projects into a radial projection or a bridge across the sound channel. The receiver and balloon modules may be connected in any rotational orientation.
|METHOD FOR DETERMINING A COMPRESSION CHARACTERISTIC, METHOD FOR DETERMINING A KNEE POINT AND METHOD FOR ADJUSTING A HEARING AID - The fitting of a hearing device and in particular of a hearing aid using frequency compression is to be simplified. A method for determining a knee point of a frequency compression characteristic for a hearing device is therefore proposed wherein a maximum audible frequency of a hearing device user is first determined and the knee point is then determined using a predefined rule in dependence on a maximum audible frequency. An end point of a compression characteristic can also be automatically determined.
|HEARING AID DEVICE HAVING A SEALING DEVICE - With a hearing aid device in a frame configuration, acoustic feedback is avoided with an opened battery charger. To this end, a seal surrounds the frame component in an annular manner, the seal sealing a gap between the frame component and the housing thus providing a more user friendly hearing aid.
|AMPLIFICATION SETTING IN A HEARING AID DEVICE - A hearing aid retains speech comprehension even during implementation of a frequency transposition. To this end, fricatives existing in an input signal prior to the frequency transposition are identified in particular with the aid of the energy distribution between the individual frequency bands. Following the frequency transposition, amplifier units are controlled in the transposed frequency bands such that a specific energy distribution existing in the non-transposed frequency bands between at least one first upper frequency band and a first lower frequency band is mapped onto a corresponding energy distribution between a second upper frequency band and a second lower frequency band of the frequency-transposed signal. This results in the fricatives obtained in the original input signal also being correctly identified following a frequency transposition.
|ITE HEARING INSTRUMENT WITH PROGRAMMING CONNECTOR - An in-the-ear hearing instrument has a programming connector arranged in a faceplate and at least one microphone opening arranged in the faceplate. The programming connector is covered by an openable cover, and the at least one microphone opening is at least partially covered by at least one lining. The cover and at least one lining are integrated into a shared cover and lining device which at least partially covers both the programming connector and also the at least one microphone opening in a manner so as to be openable.
|HEARING APPARATUS HAVING A SPECIAL SOUND CHANNEL - A hearing apparatus has a housing, a receiver in the housing, and a sound conductor through which sound from the receiver is conducted out of the housing. In order to render the device as small as possible, the hearing apparatus has a cover piece which is inserted into the housing in such a way that a sound channel is formed. The sound channel is thereby delimited at the sides by the housing and the cover piece. A special sound-conducting tube can therefore be dispensed with.
|MOLDING STRUCTURE FOR A HEARING APPARATUS, HEARING APPARATUS AND METHOD OF PRODUCING THE MOLDING APPARATUS - Hearing apparatuses should be manufactured as simply as possible and with the closest possible fit. Accordingly, a molding structure, is provided, which represents a model for the direct shaping of an otoplastic of a hearing apparatus. The molding structure having a sealing element, which can be positioned in the auditory canal, and a molding mass which is inserted into the auditory canal to a side of the sealing element facing the outlet of the auditory canal. The molding mass and the sealing element here are connected to form the model and the sealing element is part of the hearing apparatus.
|CONNECTOR FOR A HEARING INSTRUMENT AND HEARING INSTRUMENT - A connector for a hearing instrument, in particular a receiver-in-canal behind-the-ear hearing aid, is small and visually inconspicuous. The connector should be as invisible as possible on the hearing instrument as it is worn, and the connector allows a microphone arrangement favorable for directionality and sound pick-up. The connector is disposed on an earpiece tube, which defines a longitudinal direction at the connector. The connector is connected by insertion into a connector receptacle of a hearing instrument transversely to the longitudinal direction. The hearing instrument has a laterally arranged connector receptacle, into which a connector is inserted transversely to the longitudinal direction. Because of the transverse insertion, the connector can be arranged laterally on the housing and because of the lateral placement, the front end face of the housing is smaller and the housing is overall flatter. A microphone can be arranged on the end face instead of the connector so as to improve sound pick-up and directionality.
|BEHIND-THE-EAR HEARING AID HAVING A PLUG-IN CONNECTOR - A behind-the-ear hearing device has a housing with a plug-in connector on a sidewall of the housing for connecting to an earpiece tube or sound tube. The lateral arrangement of the plug-in connector moves the plug-in connector away from the exposed position on the front end face of the housing. This enables the front end face, which is generally visible, to be made smaller. Advantageously, at least two microphones are provided, with one microphone position in the vicinity of the front end face of the housing. The front microphone position is thus moved farther away from a position that may possibly be covered by the pinna, and the rear microphone position can also be moved farther toward the front. The microphone positions are thus approximately horizontal, which promotes the spatial resolution of the detected surrounding sound (directionality) by the signal processing of the hearing aid.
|HEARING INSTRUMENT WITH AN INTEGRAL INJECTION-MOLDING CASING - A hearing instrument has an integral injection-molding casing. The hearing instrument fixes the internal components in an integral casing that is simple in design; requires few components; and is easy to handle. The hearing instrument contains an integral casing and a frame arranged within the casing. The casing has an assembly opening through which the frame is pushed into the casing. The casing has a microphone opening oriented perpendicular to the insertion direction, which microphone opening interacts with a fixation device arranged on the frame in order to fix the frame in the casing. This provides a simple fixation mechanism. The microphone opening can be applied as a bore after the production of the casing, and therefore be produced in an injection-molding method. The fixation device can be embodied as a microphone. The microphone can be inserted into the microphone opening by a spring force.
|REVERBERATION REDUCTION FOR SIGNALS IN A BINAURAL HEARING APPARATUS - A more efficient method reduces reverberation in binaural hearing systems. This has been done by developing a method for obtaining a reduced-reverberation, binaural output signal, for a binaural hearing apparatus. First of all, a left input signal and a right input signal are provided. The two input signals are combined to form a reference signal. The reference signal is used to ascertain spectral weights, or these weights are provided in another way, in order to use them to reduce late reverberation. To this end, the two input signals have the spectral weight applied to them. Furthermore, a coherency for signal components of the weighted input signals is ascertained. Non-coherent signal components of both weighted input signals are then attenuated in order to reduce early reverberation.
|METHOD FOR THE BINAURAL LEFT-RIGHT LOCALIZATION FOR HEARING INSTRUMENTS - A method and system for improving signal-to-noise ratio of output signals of a microphone system having two or more microphones due to acoustic useful signals at sides of the system are used in hearing instruments, especially hearing aids worn on the head. High and low frequency portions (cut-off frequency between 700 Hz and 1.5 kHz, approx. 1 kHz) are processed differently. In low frequency ranges, differential microphone signals directed towards left right are produced to determine lateral useful and noise sound levels using these two directional signals. These levels are used for subjecting every microphone signal to individual Wiener filtering. The natural head shadowing effect is used in high frequency ranges as a pre-filter for noise and useful sound estimation for subsequent Wiener filtering. The methods are used in hearing instruments worn on the head individually for high or low frequencies or in combination and complement each other.
|METHOD FOR THE BINAURAL LEFT-RIGHT LOCALIZATION FOR HEARING INSTRUMENTS - A method and system for improving signal-to-noise ratio of output signals of a microphone system having two or more microphones due to acoustic useful signals occurring at sides of the system, is used in hearing instruments, especially hearing aids worn on the head. High and low frequency portions (cut-off frequency between 700 Hz and 1.5 kHz, approx. 1 kHz) are processed differently. In low frequency ranges, differential microphone signals directed towards left and right are produced to determine lateral useful and noise sound levels using two directional signals. These levels are used for individual Wiener filtering for every microphone signal. The natural head shadowing effect is used in high frequency ranges as a pre-filter for noise and useful sound estimation for subsequent Wiener filtering. The methods are used in hearing instruments worn on the head individually for high or for low frequencies and in combination complement each other.
|HEARING APPARATUS HAVING A SENSOR UNIT AND METHOD OF OPERATING THE HEARING APPARATUS - A hearing apparatus has an input converter for converting an input signal into an electrical signal, an amplifier for amplifying the electrical signal and an output converter for converting the amplified electrical signal into an output signal, and a battery compartment, into which a battery for supplying electrical energy at least to the amplifier can be introduced. The hearing apparatus further has a sensor unit, which is embodied to detect a position of the battery compartment in a contactless fashion and to output signals as a function thereof, by which the hearing apparatus can be switched on or off.
|METHOD FOR OPERATING A HEARING DEVICE HAVING REDUCED COMB FILTER PERCEPTION AND HEARING DEVICE HAVING REDUCED COMB FILTER PERCEPTION - A method of operating a hearing device monitors for a head movement of a hearing device wearer. When a head movement is detected, an acoustic signal acquired by a microphone is output in an amplified and phase-modulated manner with a receiver. Furthermore, a hearing device includes a motion sensor and a signal processing unit that is configured to execute the method.
|HEARING DEVICE WITH REDUCED ACOUSTIC FEEDBACK DUE TO VIBRATION-RELATED SHORTENING OF THE HEARING DEVICE - A hearing device has a housing, in which an earpiece and a battery are disposed. The housing has a first housing part and a second housing part. The housing parts are connected to one another by way of a connection. At least one housing part or an attenuation element provided in the connection between the housing parts is formed of an elastic material.
|AUDITORY CANAL INSERT WITH A FILTER ELEMENT AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURING THE AUDITORY CANAL INSERT - An auditory canal insert is to be produced which can be manufactured simply and cost-effectively and which is less susceptible to dirt, especially cerumen. To this end an auditory canal insert is proposed which has an at least essentially tubular inner section, an outer section lying at least in some area against a user's auditory canal wall when the device is being worn and a filter element, especially a cerumen-protection and/or attenuation element, in which the filter element is initially manufactured as a separate component and subsequently connected by an insert molding process in one piece with the inner section. For the filter element this thus enables a broad spectrum to be covered in respect of its acoustic and mechanical filter characteristics.
|HEARING DEVICE WITH REDUCED ACOUSTIC WIND SENSITIVITY - A hearing device has reduced acoustic wind sensitivity. For that purpose, the hearing device has a surface formed with a shark skin structure.
|HEARING AID DEVICE AND A METHOD OF MANUFACTURING A HEARING AID DEVICE - A hearing aid device and a method of manufacturing the hearing aid device provide a housing and a first conductive layer. The housing has a first non-conductive layer and a second non-conductive layer. The first conductive layer is disposed between the first non-conductive layer and the second non-conductive layer.
|METHOD FOR IMPROVING THE COMPREHENSIBILITY OF SPEECH WITH A HEARING AID, TOGETHER WITH A HEARING AID - The understanding of speech is to be improved in cases of hearing loss in which certain frequency ranges can no longer be perceived. A hearing aid has an input transducer for receiving an input signal and converting it into an electrical input signal, a signal processing unit for processing the electrical input signal and effecting frequency-dependent amplification of it, and generates an electrical output signal, and an output transducer for converting the electrical output signal into an acoustic output signal. The hearing aid further has a sound detector device for recognizing sounds in a voice signal coming into the hearing aid, a lookup table, in which a specific output code is assigned in each instance to certain sounds, and a coding device, by which the sounds contained in the electrical input signal are replaced by associated output code in the electrical output signal.
|METHOD FOR IMPROVING THE COMPREHENSIBILITY OF SPEECH WITH A HEARING AID, TOGETHER WITH A HEARING AID - The understanding of speech is to be improved in cases of hearing loss in which certain frequency ranges can no longer be perceived even at high volume or amplification, as applicable. A frequency transposition is performed on an input signal coming into a hearing aid and specific features of an electrical input signal are detected and a transposed signal is filtered as a function of the specific features detected in the electrical input signal. The hearing aid provides appropriate facilities for detecting specific features of the electrical input signal and filtering facilities for filtering the transposed signal. The objective of this is to detect particular properties of the input signal, in particular signal properties which are characteristic of fricatives, which may possibly be lost as a result of the frequency transposition, and at least partially to restore them in the transposed signal.
|HEARING AID DEVICE WITH A DIRECTIONAL MICROPHONE SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR OPERATING A HEARING AID DEVICE HAVING A DIRECTIONAL MICROPHONE SYSTEM - A hearing aid device has a directional microphone system with a first microphone outputting a first microphone signal and a second microphone outputting a second microphone signal. A delay unit generates a directivity by delaying the second microphone signal or a fourth microphone signal derived therefrom by an internal time delay and associating it with the first microphone signal or a third microphone signal derived therefrom for generating a directional microphone signal. A cross-correlation analysis unit receives the first or the third microphone signal and the second or the fourth microphone signal and determines a value of a cross correlation of the two microphone signals. A control unit adjusting the time delay depending on the value of the cross correlation of the two microphone signals. A classifier determines audio conditions in which the hearing aid device is currently situated, and the time delay is adjusted depending on the audio conditions.
|HEARING AID WITH A REPLACEABLE INSERTION CAP - A hearing aid has a coupling structure, a first hearing aid housing portion and a second hearing aid housing portion including a flexible material so that the second hearing aid housing portion is adaptable to different ear canal size. The second hearing aid housing portion is detachably coupled to the first hearing aid housing portion via the coupling structure.
|HEARING APPARATUS WITH FEEDBACK CANCELER AND METHOD FOR OPERATING THE HEARING APPARATUS - A hearing apparatus has artifact-free, fast feedback cancelation properties. The hearing apparatus has a first microphone coupled by way of a pre-whitening filter to a feedback canceler in a first hearing device. The hearing apparatus is configured to set a frequency response of the pre-whitening filter in dependence on a signal of a second microphone of the hearing apparatus.
|HYDROPHOBIC ABS PLASTICS MATERIAL FOR CASINGS - A hydrophobic ABS plastics material is formed from an acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene copolymer (ABS) plastic feed stock and a silicone additive. The hydrophobic ABS plastics material is used to produce a casing material, and also an electrical device. The hydrophobic ABS plastics material is ideally suited for protecting sensitive electronic components from moisture via a casing.
|CONFIGURATION AND METHOD FOR THE MAINTENANCE OF HEARING DEVICES - A configuration and an associated method dry a hearing device. The configuration includes a heating unit for generating warm air, at least one hearing device, a first humidity sensor of the hearing device for determining first ambient humidity measured values, a signal output unit of the hearing device for outputting the first ambient humidity measured values, a signal recording unit for recording the first ambient humidity measured values, and a control unit for controlling the heating unit in dependence on the first ambient humidity measured values. Accordingly the drying process can be controlled precisely by the heating device in respect of duration and temperature.
|METHOD AND DEVICE FOR ESTIMATING INTERFERENCE NOISE, HEARING DEVICE AND HEARING AID - In order to enable better estimation of dynamic interference noise, a device and a method for estimating interference noise provide a value for the power density of a total signal, containing a wanted signal and the interference noise to be estimated, in a current time window. The value of the total signal is compared with an estimated value, multiplied with an amplification factor, of interference noise from a time window prior to the current time window and the smaller of the two values from the comparison is used as a preliminary estimated value for the interference noise in the current time window. A codebook estimated value for the interference noise in the current time window is also provided. Finally, the larger of the preliminary estimated value and the codebook estimated value is used as the estimated value for the interference noise in the current time window.
|HEARING AID WITH WIRELESS BATTERY CHARGING CAPABILITY - In an embodiment, a hearing aid is provided. The hearing aid may include a set of battery charging terminals configured to be connected to a battery. A receiver oscillator circuit is electrically coupled to the set of battery charging terminals, the receiver oscillator circuit includes a receiver coil. The receiver coil may be tuned to resonate at a resonance frequency in a range of MHz and at the resonance frequency. The receiver coil may be configured to receive magnetic energy in the form of electromagnetic waves of a frequency similar to the resonance frequency of the receiver coil and to convert the magnetic energy of the received electromagnetic waves to an electrical current to charge the battery via the set of battery charging terminals.
|METHOD AND HEARING DEVICE FOR SETTING FEEDBACK SUPPRESSION - A method and an associated hearing device are enabled for setting feedback suppression. The method includes determining feedback events, determining the frequency of the feedback events within a prescribed first period of time, and setting feedback suppression in accordance with the frequency of the feedback events. The hearing device is able to choose automatically between different feedback algorithms in accordance with the specific feedback situation so that an optimal sound and feedback quality can be achieved.
|METHOD FOR THE OPERATION OF A HEARING DEVICE AND HEARING DEVICE WITH A LENGTHENING OF FRICATIVES - A method operates a hearing device and an associated hearing device has at least one microphone for recording an ambient sound and an earpiece emitting an output sound. A fricative of the ambient sound is reproduced in a temporally lengthened form by the hearing device in the output sound. Speech intelligibility for the hearing-impaired can be improved by the lengthening of fricatives.
|HEARING AID - A hearing aid includes a hearing aid housing and a battery chamber housing coupled to the hearing aid housing and configured to receive a battery. A first charging pin is configured to be electrically connected to the battery to be received in the battery chamber housing and the first charging pin is configured to connect the hearing aid housing to the battery. A first protective cover is positioned over the first charging pin in such a way that the first protective cover is in physical contact with the hearing aid housing.
|METHOD AND HEARING AID FOR DETERMINING MOISTURE AND COMPUTER PROGRAM PRODUCT IMPLEMENTING THE METHOD - A method for determining moisture on a covering of a microphone opening of a hearing aid housing without additional components includes determination of an acoustic parameter originating from an earpiece in a microphone signal of a microphone disposed below the covering, comparison of the determined acoustic parameter with a reference parameter characteristic of moisture on the covering, and emission of a moisture signal if the determined acoustic parameter lies within a predefinable tolerance range of the reference parameter. An associated hearing aid and a computer program product for implementing the method, are also provided.
|HEARING AID AND METHOD FOR OPERATING A HEARING AID WITH A HUMIDITY SENSOR - A hearing aid has a hearing aid housing and an associated method for operating the hearing aid. The hearing aid contains a first humidity sensor which determines a first ambient humidity and a modification unit, which modifies an operating state and/or an operating parameter of the hearing aid in dependence on the first ambient humidity detected. The hearing aid takes account of the effect of the humidity of the environment on the hearing aid properties and takes measures to compensate for the humidity.
|HEARING AID DEVICE FOR FREQUENCY COMPRESSION - With a hearing aid device suitable for executing a frequency compression, the aim is for different input signals entering the hearing aid device to be easily distinguishable even after frequency compression. To this end it is proposed that form factors should be determined from source frequency bands in which the signal components of the input signal present therein are not included in the output signal, these being included in the amplification of selected frequency bands, the signal components of which are included in the output signal.
|HEARING AID WITH BATTERY DOOR LOCKING MECHANISM AND METHOD FOR OPERATING THE BATTERY DOOR LOCKING MECHANISM - A hearing aid includes a housing, a battery door configured to receive a battery, and a battery door locking mechanism. The battery door locking mechanism includes a magnetic element configured to magnetically lock or unlock the battery door. In order to open the battery door, an external actuator having a magnetic device is brought close to the hearing aid and the battery door locking mechanism of the hearing aid is actuated magnetically. A method for operating the battery door locking mechanism is also provided.
|METHOD FOR SIGNAL PROCESSING IN A HEARING AID AND HEARING AID - A hearing aid is enabled for dynamic compression in a way to further improve the perception of acoustic signals in the provision of hearing assistance to a hearing-impaired person. Here, an input signal is divided into a plurality of frequency bands. Input-level-controlled dynamic compression is performed in at least one first frequency band and output-level-controlled dynamic compression is performed in at least one second frequency band. This optimizes both loudness perception and speech intelligibility.
|METHOD AND DEVICE FOR FREQUENCY COMPRESSION IN A HEARING AID - A hearing aid device suitable for executing a frequency compression is optimized to achieve a better assignment between channels of a source frequency range and channels of a target frequency range. A frequency range that can be transmitted by the hearing aid device is split into a number of frequency bands, after which a number of adjacent frequency bands are combined into at least one group of frequency bands and then one frequency band is selected from each group of frequency bands. The selected frequency bands are moved respectively into a target frequency band permanently assigned to the respective group. This prevents that a number of frequency bands from the source frequency range are shifted to the same target frequency band.
|METHOD AND DEVICE FOR FREQUENCY COMPRESSION WITH SELECTIVE FREQUENCY SHIFTING - A method and device for frequency compression of audio signals to reduce the occurrence of artifacts. A component of the audio signal having a plurality of frequency channels is shifted from a first frequency channel into a second frequency channel. A dominant instantaneous frequency is determined in the first frequency channel. During shifting or mapping, first the entire first frequency channel, including the dominant instantaneous frequency, is shifted or mapped into the second frequency channel, wherein the dominant instantaneous frequency obtains an intermediate frequency position. A final frequency position for the dominant instantaneous frequency is determined using a predefined compression characteristic in the second frequency channel, starting from the frequency position of the dominant instantaneous frequency in the first frequency channel. Finally, the dominant instantaneous frequency is shifted or mapped from the intermediate frequency position to the final frequency position.
|METHOD AND DEVICE FOR FREQUENCY COMPRESSION WITH HARMONIC CORRECTION - Artifacts occurring during frequency compression, in particular in the case of hearing aids, are avoided or reduced. The method compresses the frequency of an audio signal having a fundamental frequency and at least one harmonic. The audio signal is provided in a plurality of frequency channels. The harmonic of the audio signal is shifted or mapped from a first frequency channel of the plurality of frequency channels into a second frequency channel. In addition a frequency which is likewise harmonic with respect to the fundamental frequency is estimated in the second frequency channel, the harmonic being shifted or mapped onto the estimated frequency. As a result the harmonic pattern is preserved in the compressed signal and the artifacts are reduced.
|METHOD FOR RECONSTRUCTING A SPEECH SIGNAL AND HEARING DEVICE - Speech intelligibility is to be improved in hearing devices and in particular in hearing aids. A method for reconstructing a speech signal is therefore proposed, wherein a predefined amplitude spectrum of a speech component is stored. The amplitude spectrum of an input signal containing the speech signal is acquired. At least one matching portion and one non-matching portion of the predefined amplitude spectrum with respect to the amplitude spectrum of the input signal is detected. Finally the gain of the input signal in the non-matching portion of the amplitude spectrum is varied such that a closer match with the predefined amplitude spectrum is achieved compared to the original gain.
|METHOD FOR ADJUSTING A HEARING DEVICE WITH IN-SITU AUDIOMETRY AND HEARING DEVICE - The adjustment of a hearing device is to be improved and configured in a more user-friendly fashion. To this end, a method is proposed whereby the hearing device is set individually to the user and is inserted at least partially into the auditory canal of the user. Finally an in-situ measurement of the acoustic impedance of the auditory system of the user including at least part of the auditory canal of the user is implemented with a tympanometric method. An automatic correction of the individual setting of the hearing device can take place on the basis of the results of the in-situ measurement.
|REUSABLE EAR FITTING PIECE FOR CREATING AN EAR IMPRESSION - An ear fitting piece for creating an ear impression and a method for creating an ear impression. In order to allow the creation of an ear impression at low cost, the ear fitting piece for creating an ear impression has a liquid, which has a first state in which it can be shaped and a second state in which it is solidified, a soft rubber sleeve, which encloses the liquid, and an activating device, which is designed to cause a change of state from the first state to the second state of the liquid. A further change of state from the second state to the first state of the liquid can be caused by heating.
|CONNECTOR FOR HEARING INSTRUMENT, HEARING INSTRUMENT AND HEARING INSTRUMENT SYSTEM - A connector for a hearing instrument has an electrical or acoustic connection component and a mechanical connection component. The electrical or acoustic connection component is brought into mutual engagement with an electrical or acoustic connection element inside a housing of the hearing instrument. The mechanical connection component is brought into mutual engagement with a mechanical connection element of the hearing instrument. The connector is disposed on a receiver tube or a sound tube. The connector connects the tube to the electrical or acoustic connection element of the hearing instrument and is detachably connected inside the housing to a connector receptacle of the hearing instrument and, in the connected state, is disposed completely inside the housing. The hearing instrument has an opening through which the connector is introduced and inserted into the connector receptacle. A hearing instrument system contains the above described hearing instrument and the above described connector.
|HEARING AID AND/OR TINNITUS THERAPY DEVICE - While prior art hearing aids and/or tinnitus therapy devices only contribute to making an existing tinnitus condition more bearable, the invention provides for a method for operating a hearing aid and/or tinnitus therapy device as well as a hearing aid and/or tinnitus therapy device which contributes to a tinnitus being able to be eliminated over the long-term. An acoustic output signal is generated in which the tinnitus frequency and/or the tinnitus frequency spectrum are suppressed. This makes the neuroplastic reorganization of the central auditory system of a sufferer possible, which reverses the tinnitus-causing maladaptive change in their central auditory system.
|METHOD FOR REDUCING INTERFERENCE AND HEARING DEVICE - A method for operating a hearing device, which is embodied for wireless signal transmission of a data signal at a transmission frequency, provides an audio signal as a pulsed signal, in which a plurality of pulses fall within a predefined time slot. A frequency spectrum of the audio signal has a notch into which the transmission frequency is placed, and the pulses of the audio signal within the predefined time slot are shifted such that the energy of the frequency spectrum drops in the vicinity of the transmission frequency.
|HEARING INSTRUMENT WITH AN INTEGRAL INJECTION-MOLDING CASING - A hearing instrument has an integral injection-molding casing. The hearing instrument fixes the internal components in an integral casing that is simple in design, production, and assembly; requires few components; and is easy to handle. Accordingly the hearing instrument contains an integral casing and a frame arranged within the casing. The casing has an assembly opening through which the frame is pushed into the casing. Additionally, the casing has a fixation opening oriented perpendicular to the insertion direction, which fixation opening interacts with a fixation device arranged on the frame in order to fix the frame in the casing. This provides a simple fixation mechanism. The fixation opening can be applied as a bore after the production of the casing, and so the casing has no undercuts and can therefore be produced in an injection-molding method. The fixation device can be embodied as a bolt. The bolt can be integrally molded onto the frame. The bolt can be inserted into the fixation opening by a spring force. In one embodiment, a microphone to be assembled after the frame has been inserted into the casing serves as a bolt.
|HEARING INSTRUMENT WITH MECHANICAL AND REMOTE-CONTROLLABLE VOLUME ADJUSTMENT - A hearing instrument, e.g. a hearing aid, has a mechanical, manually actuated volume setting element and also remote control volume adjustment. The volume setting element is a control dial with a fixed assignment of the respective rotational position to a respective volume setting. An adjustment by remote control changes the volume setting but not the position of the control dial. This results in the problem that the normally fixed assignment of the respective position of the control dial to the respective volume setting no longer holds true. If there is once again an adjustment by control dial after the volume setting was changed by remote control and the volume prescribed by the control dial is then set, unpleasant jumps in volume may therefore occur. Such jumps in volume are avoided by the following steps: detecting a change in the rotational position of the control dial, establishing a current rotational position of the control dial during the change, comparing the current rotational position to a comparison rotational position, changing the volume setting of the hearing instrument in accordance with the current rotational position only if the current rotational position has, at least momentarily, assumed the comparison rotational position.
|MAGNETOFLUIDIC HEARING AID SYSTEM AND HEARING AID - A magnetofluidic hearing aid system includes a hearing aid having a signal processing device connected to a magnetic transmitter. The system includes such a hearing aid and a magnetofluid suitable for use in the body. The magnetic transmitter transmits a magnetic field producing vibrations in a liquid mixture containing the magnetofluid. The liquid mixture is operatively introduced into a cochlea, and the vibrations are suitable for triggering an auditory perception in the cochlea. Acoustic feedback is precluded as a result of the transmitter producing neither acoustic signals nor mechanical vibrations. A functional impairment caused by physical influences such as soiling, for example, of an acoustic receiver, is also precluded. Problems arising from impaired contact with the body are prevented from the beginning by the non-contact signal transmission. A hearing aid supply is also advantageously enabled regardless of the functional capability of the middle ear apparatus.
|HEARING AID AND IN-THE-EAR-DEVICE - A hearing aid may include a hearing aid housing. The hearing aid housing may include a first housing wall portion and a second housing wall portion. The first housing wall portion has a first flexibility, the second housing wall portion has a second flexibility and the first flexibility is different than the second flexibility.
|HEARING DEVICE AND METHOD FOR OPERATING A HEARING DEVICE WITH TWO-STAGE TRANSFORMATION - A filter bank with a sufficiently high resolution for amplification and noise reduction and with the lowest possible computational complexity is provided for a hearing device and, in particular, for a hearing aid. Two-stage frequency transformation with little latency is therefore proposed for hearing aids. Some of the processing, for example the amplification, is carried out after high stopband attenuation in the first stage. An increased frequency resolution is achieved in a second stage before the back-transformation in the first stage, which is favorable for noise reduction, for example.
|METHOD FOR LOCALIZING AN AUDIO SOURCE, AND MULTICHANNEL HEARING SYSTEM - Sound sources are reliably localized using a multichannel hearing system, in particular a binaural hearing system. The method localizes at least one audio source by detecting a signal in a prescribed class, the signal stemming from the audio source, in an input signal in the multichannel hearing system. The audio source is then localized using the detected signal. First, the nature of the signal is established over a wide band and then the location of the source is determined.
|ELECTRICAL HEARING AID ADAPTER - An electrical hearing aid adapter is provided. The electrical hearing aid adapter may be configured to transfer programming data to a hearing aid having a first end portion formed in such a manner that it corresponds to the shape of a battery compartment receiving chamber being configured to receive a hearing aid battery compartment. The electrical hearing adapter may further include an interface configured to receive programming data and to transfer received programming data to an electrical contact portion arranged on the first end portion. The first electrical contact portion may be arranged such that it electrically contacts to a second electrical contact portion placed in the battery compartment receiving chamber, when the first end portion is inserted into the battery compartment receiving chamber.
|METHOD AND ACOUSTIC SIGNAL PROCESSING SYSTEM FOR INTERFERENCE AND NOISE SUPPRESSION IN BINAURAL MICROPHONE CONFIGURATIONS - A method determines a bias reduced noise and interference estimation in a binaural microphone configuration with a right and a left microphone signal at a time-frame with a target speaker active. The method includes a determination of the auto power spectral density estimate of the common noise formed of noise and interference components of the right and left microphone signals and a modification of the auto power spectral density estimate of the common noise by using an estimate of the magnitude squared coherence of the noise and interference components contained in the right and left microphone signals determined at a time frame without a target speaker active. An acoustic signal processing system and a hearing aid implement the method for determining the bias reduced noise and interference estimation. The noise reduction performance of speech enhancement algorithms is improved by the invention. Further, distortions of the target speech signal and residual noise and interference components are reduced.
|DEEP-EAR-CANAL HEARING DEVICE - A deep-ear-canal hearing device is worn deep in the ear canal of a user. The hearing device is easy to produce and use, has a small overall size, and can be comfortably worn deep within the auditory canal, in particular in the bony part of the auditory canal as well. The hearing device has a housing, a signal-processing apparatus, and a receiver. The signal-processing apparatus is arranged within the housing. The receiver is merely arranged partly within the housing and another part is arranged outside of the housing. The receiver only being arranged partly within the housing, it is thus not completely surrounded by the housing. Hence, the housing can have a smaller configuration. In the region where the receiver is arranged outside of the housing, the double wall in the form of, the receiver wall and, the housing wall can be dispensed with, which helps in reducing the size.
|HEARING DEVICE WITH A PASSIVE UNIT SEATED DEEP IN THE AUDITORY CANAL - Hearing devices and, more particularly hearing aids, can be inserted into the auditory canal in an improved fashion. A hearing device has a first unit, which can be completely inserted within a human auditory canal. The first unit has a first housing into which a sound-recording element, a receiver and, connected therebetween, an amplifier are integrated. The hearing device moreover has a second unit, which is outside of the first housing and can be inserted into the human auditory canal in addition to the first unit. The second unit is galvanically connected to the first unit and configured for wireless energy absorption and for supplying the first unit with current. Hence, the first unit, together with the second unit, does not require a battery as an energy source and can thus have a smaller configuration, and therefore it can optionally be introduced further into the auditory canal.
|HEARING AID WITH EAR-HOOK SAFETY MECHANISM - Children should be prevented from easily being able to remove the ear hook of a hearing aid. It is for this reason that a hearing aid that is to be worn behind an ear has a housing, which houses signal-processing components, and an ear hook, which is detachably attached to the housing. During the attachment process, the ear hook is moved toward the housing in an axial direction. The ear hook and the housing are embodied such that, in order to attach the ear hook to the housing, there is at least one movement of the ear hook in a second direction and a movement of the ear hook in a third direction, which differs from the second direction. Both the second and the third direction differ from the first direction. It follows that a complicated movement pattern is required when the ear hook is disassembled from the housing.
|HEARING AID - A hearing aid contains a hearing aid housing having a receiving portion and a support structure positioned within the hearing aid housing. The support structure contains a substrate having an electronic circuit and a support member coupled to the substrate. The support member is configured to be adhered to the substrate, and the support structure is coupled to the receiving portion.
|HEARING AID WITH AUDIO SHOE - The invention relates to a hearing aid with an audio-shoe interface, an associated audio shoe and a hearing-aid system comprising a hearing aid and an audio shoe. A basic idea of the invention consists of a hearing aid with a housing, in which an undercut and an abutment are provided. The abutment is arranged opposite to the undercut. Undercut and abutment are embodied such that a retaining lug of an audio shoe can be inserted into the undercut by a rotational movement. The abutment is embodied such that a retaining lug inserted into the undercut can only be removed from the undercut again by a rotational movement in the opposite direction. Furthermore, provision is made for a lock that prevents a rotational movement of an inserted audio shoe in the opposite direction. When the electrical contacts between audio shoe and hearing aid are disposed in the undercut, these too are hidden from view and well protected against external influences.
|DUAL SETTING METHOD FOR A HEARING SYSTEM - The perception of musical sound with a music component and a speech component is intended to be improved. To this end, a method is proposed for controlling a binaural hearing system with a left hearing-device for a left ear and a right hearing-device for a right ear, which method contains the below described steps. First of all, the hearing system determines a hearing situation with the music component and the speech component. Thereupon, one of the two hearing devices is switched into a music mode and, at the same time, the other one of the two hearing devices is switched into a speech mode. The hearing-aid wearer himself/herself can then decide which component of the sound he/she would rather listen to.
|BINAURAL METHOD AND BINAURAL CONFIGURATION FOR VOICE CONTROL OF HEARING DEVICES - A binaural configuration and an associated method have/utilize first and second hearing devices for the voice control of the hearing devices by voice commands. The configuration contains a first voice recognition module in the first hearing device and a second voice recognition module in the second hearing device. The second voice recognition module uses information data from the first voice recognition module for recognition of the voice commands. It is here advantageous that the rate of erroneously recognized voice commands ("false alarms") is reduced.
|HEARING AID WITH AMORPHOUS LOUDSPEAKER SHIELDING - It should be possible to produce hearing aids in a simpler and more compact fashion. It is for this reason that a hearing aid is proposed, the loudspeaker device of which is shielded by a shielding device, more particularly a housing (
|METHOD FOR THE TRANSMISSION OF DATA BETWEEN A HEARING DEVICE AND AN EXTERNAL UNIT, AND ASSOCIATED CONFIGURATION - A method and an associated configuration transmit data between a hearing device and an external unit. A first data packet is transmitted to the hearing device by the external unit. The first data packet is received by the hearing device and a second data packet is transmitted from the hearing device to the external unit. A predefinable fixed period of time elapses between the end of the receipt of the first data packet and the start of transmission of the second data packet. The external unit thereby "knows" when the first bit of the second data packet is to arrive. This offers the advantage that the reliability of a data transmission is improved. In the case of a packet-oriented data transmission fewer data packet repetitions are required, as a result of which the transmission speed increases.
|SUBSTRATE ARRANGEMENT - In an embodiment, a substrate arrangement is provided. The substrate arrangement may include a semiconductor substrate including a first contact portion and a second contact portion on a first surface of the semiconductor substrate, wherein the semiconductor substrate is arranged such that the first contact portion and the second contact portion face each other. The substrate arrangement may further include an electrical connector configured to connect the first contact portion and the second contact portion.
|HEARING DEVICE AND METHOD FOR PRODUCING AN OMNIDIRECTIONAL DIRECTIONAL CHARACTERISTIC - A hearing device is provided with a microphone array having a plurality of microphones. The signals from the microphones can then be processed by an appropriate apparatus of the hearing device such that this results in a directivity of the microphone array. The apparatus must also be able to allow an omnidirectional directivity of the microphone array, i.e. a non-directional detection of sound. This is not always ensured in the case where one of the microphones in the microphone array is covered or aligned other than what is intended. An omnidirectional directivity of the microphone array is ensured in a hearing device of the invention. Here, the microphones are, for this purpose, connected to inputs of the apparatus via a coupling device, by way of which each of the microphones can be coupled to a plurality of inputs of the apparatus at the same time.
|HEARING DEVICE AND METHOD FOR SETTING THE HEARING DEVICE FOR FEEDBACK-REDUCED OPERATION - Sound from the receiver of a hearing device may be fed back to its microphones via acoustic feedback paths, which may cause undesirable whistling. It is particularly difficult to predict the creation of feedback in a microphone array with adjustable directional characteristic. This is because the stability of the system then is dependent on a directional parameter by way of which the directional characteristic is fixed. The invention enables feedback-free operation of such a hearing device. A prescribed stability condition is used to establish for which values of the directional parameter feedback-free operation is possible. The directional parameter is then restricted to these values during operation of the hearing device. As an alternative thereto, a value for a strength of a feedback effect is established for a current value of the directional parameter and the directional parameter or a control parameter for the purpose of feedback suppression is then set as a function of the established value.
|HEARING AID HOUSING - In an embodiment, a hearing aid housing is provided. The hearing aid housing may include a first behind-the-ear hearing aid housing portion, a second behind-the-ear hearing aid housing portion, and a moisture protector at least partially arranged between the first behind-the-ear hearing aid housing portion and the second behind-the-ear hearing aid housing portion.
|HEARING-TEST METHOD - The usefulness and sensitivity of a hearing-test method that can be performed over the Internet should be improved. To this end, it is proposed that meaningless syllables, so-called logatomes, are presented to a test person in fluctuating interference noise. Hence, the test can be offered internationally without change and there is no need to calibrate a computer used by the test person.
|HEARING AID - In an embodiment, a hearing aid (
|HEARING DEVICE WITH A CONDUCTING ELEMENT, IN PARTICULAR A SOUND TUBE - In a hearing aid provision can be made for a housing that is worn outside of an auditory canal of a user. Then, sound or electrical signals are conducted into the auditory canal from the housing. To this end, provision can be made for a conducting element such as a sound tube or a cable. The conducting element is then connected to the housing via a coupling element. This connection must be embodied such that the coupling element does not detach from the housing on its own accord. The user must be able to remove the coupling element and the conducting element from the housing in a simple fashion in order e.g. to be able to clean the former two parts. Accordingly, a coupling element and a housing can be interconnected in a detachable fashion, with this connection containing a dovetail joint for the hearing aid.
|HEARING DEVICE WITH FEEDBACK-REDUCTION FILTERS OPERATED IN PARALLEL, AND METHOD - A hearing device has a signal-processing apparatus for processing an input signal into an output signal, and a feedback-canceller apparatus for reducing feedback artifacts on the basis of the input signal and the output signal. The feedback-canceller apparatus has an adaptive, first filter, for establishing a set of filter coefficients for a predefined feedback situation. The feedback-canceller apparatus is configured to store the set of filter coefficients. It has at least one second filter, which can be operated directly parallel to the first filter on the basis of the stored set of filter coefficients. The adaptive, first filter can be continuously adapted to a current feedback situation, and the feedback-canceller apparatus is configured such that in the current feedback situation it automatically selects either the first or the second filter. As a result, it generally only requires a simple switchover, but not a complete adaptation.
|METHOD FOR TRAINING SPEECH PERCEPTION AND TRAINING DEVICE - The speech perception of hearing-aid wearers and wearers of other hearing devices is intended to be improved. To this end, a method for training the speech perception of a person, who is wearing a hearing device, is provided, in which a first speech component is presented acoustically and the latter is identified by the person wearing the hearing device. Subsequently, there is automated modification of the acoustic presentation of the presented speech component and the aforementioned steps are repeated with the modified presentation until, if the identification is incorrect, a prescribed maximum number of repetitions has been reached. Otherwise, if the first speech component is identified correctly or if the number of incorrect identifications of the first speech component is one more than the maximum repetition number, a second speech component is presented acoustically. This allows a plurality of speech components to be trained in respectively a number of steps.
|DEVICE FOR INSERTING A PIN INTO A HEARING AID - A device for inserting a pin into a hearing aid has a gripper embodied in the shape of a cylinder. In an end face the gripper has an aperture by way of which a pin that is to be placed in the hearing aid is picked up. For this purpose the gripper is pressed onto the pin. After the pin has been successfully placed in the hearing aid, pressure is then applied, by squeezing with the hand for example, to the lateral surface of the gripper. This causes a size of the aperture to be changed in the radial direction, as a result of which the pin clasped by the gripper is released. By this means it is advantageously possible to pick up a pin that is to be placed in the hearing aid and install it while making use of only one hand and without recourse to a tool such as a pair of tweezers, for example.
|RECEIVER TUBE WITH STRAIN RELIEF AND HEARING AID - A receiver tube for a hearing aid has an integrated strain relief. A receiver mounted at the end of the receiver tube is normally worn in the auditory canal of a hearing aid wearer. It is pulled out of the auditory canal by pulling at the receiver tube or also separated from the receiver tube for the purpose of cleaning or exchange. Due to the tensile forces, the flexible receiver tube is stretched and elongated. This longitudinal extension may under certain circumstances amount to up to several millimeters and load or even damage the connection of the less extensible conductor to the receiver or to the hearing aid extending through the receiver tube due to tension. The novel receiver tube has a strain relief with a strain aid that is inexpensive to produce and benefitting a small diameter, has a high visual transparency and a high flexibility of the receiver tube. The receiver tube has a flexible sheathing and an electrical conductor extending through the sheathing and longitudinally displaceable therein relative to the sheathing. Without any tensile loading in the longitudinal direction, a longitudinal section of the conductor lying within the sheathing has a greater length than the longitudinal section of the sheathing surrounding it, and this longitudinal section of the conductor is freely movable transversely to the longitudinal direction within the longitudinal section of the sheathing.
|HEARING DEVICE WITH A DETACHABLY COUPLED EARPIECE - In a hearing device or hearing aid, provision can be made for a sound tube or an in-the-ear loudspeaker to be held in an auditory canal of a user by an earpiece. To couple a sound tube to an earpiece, a connection element can be provided on the sound tube, which connection element can be connected to a connection element for the earpiece. This connection must be detachable so that a user can remove the earpiece from the sound tube. Nevertheless, it must be possible to transmit such a large force over the connection that the earpiece can once again be pulled out of the auditory canal. The object is to simplify a detachable connection for coupling an earpiece to a sound tube or an in-the-ear loudspeaker. Accordingly, the connection element for the earpiece is provided as an independent component, which is attached in or on the earpiece.
|METHOD FOR COMPENSATING FOR A FEEDBACK SIGNAL, AND HEARING DEVICE - Feedback in a hearing device and, more particularly, in a hearing aid should be compensated for before it becomes audible. To this end, a method is proposed for compensating for a feedback signal in a hearing device with an input-transducer apparatus, a signal-processing apparatus and an output-transducer apparatus, in which method a feedback signal is compensated for, which feedback signal is fed back to the input-transducer apparatus from the output-transducer apparatus or the signal-processing apparatus. More particularly, a probability of having a plurality of notches, equally spaced apart from one another, in the spectrum of an input signal is established, which input signal originates directly from the input-transducer apparatus or which is a difference signal between the signal directly from the input-transducer apparatus and a compensation signal serving for compensation. The compensation is modified or the signal-processing apparatus is amplified as a function of this established probability.
|HEARING DEVICE WITH FREQUENCY SHIFTING AND ASSOCIATED METHOD - A hearing device has a feedback suppression unit. The hearing device further has a low-pass filter characterized by a first cut-off frequency, which couples out a low-frequency signal component from an output signal of the hearing device, and a high-pass filter characterized by a second cut-off frequency, which couples out a high-frequency signal component from the output signal of the hearing device. A frequency shift unit shifts the frequency of the high-frequency signal component to higher frequencies. A gap exists between the first and the second cut-off frequency. As a result of the different limit frequencies, signal distortions caused by frequency shifts are effectively suppressed. Feedback is suppressed continuously and rapidly at higher frequencies.
|HEARING SYSTEM WITH POSITIONING DEVICE AND CORRESPONDING POSITIONING METHOD - A hearing aid can be inserted deep inside an auditory canal without the risk of injury. The hearing system has a hearing device that can be completely inserted into a human auditory canal, and a positioning device, which is attached to the hearing device in a self-retaining manner. The positioning device can be detached from the hearing device, when the latter is in the state where it is inserted into the auditory canal, and cannot or can only partly be inserted into the auditory canal because it serves as a stop on a section of the concha when the hearing device is being positioned. The positioning device is decoupled from the hearing device after placement and removed from the auditory canal.
|TOOL FOR FITTING AND REMOVING A RECEIVER OF A HEARING AID - A tool is provided with which a receiver of a hearing aid can be easily fitted into an earpiece or an ear mold and removed therefrom. The tool has an elongate main body, a first tool part for removing the receiver from a first earpiece, a second tool part for removing the receiver from a second earpiece, and a third tool part for fitting the receiver into the first or second earpiece. The elongate main body is divided into a first subsidiary body and a second subsidiary body). The two subsidiary bodies can be plugged at least partially one inside the other in the direction of the longitudinal axis of the main body. In addition, two of the three tool parts are arranged on one of the two subsidiary bodies, and the remaining tool part is arranged on the other of the two subsidiary bodies.
|CONDUCTION DEVICE FOR A HEARING APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR PRODUCING A CONDUCTION DEVICE - A hearing apparatus, more particularly a hearing aid, generally requires sound or electrical signals to be conducted from a housing, worn outside of an auditory canal of a user, to an earpiece which has been inserted into the auditory canal. An appropriate conduction device often has a soft tube. The tube must be fixedly connected to the earpiece so that the latter can be pulled out of the auditory canal using the tube. Nevertheless, the connection between the tube and the earpiece is made detachable by an appropriate plug so that the earpiece can be cleaned. The plug is attached as securely as possible to the soft tube. One end of the tube and a region of the plug may be encapsulated by a material by insert molding or the tube and the plug may be welded together. A method for producing a conduction device is also provided.
|HEARING AID FACEPLATE ARRANGEMENT - In an embodiment, a hearing aid faceplate arrangement (
|METHOD AND DEVICE FOR SETTING A HEARING DEVICE BY DETECTING LISTENING EFFORT - A method and device are provided for automatic, recursive adjustment of at least one hearing device worn by a person. The device includes a stimulus generator unit, which emits at least one acoustic stimulus to the hearing device, a signal detection unit with at least one sensor, which detects the neuronal activity of the brain of the person due to the acoustic stimulus, a computation and control unit, which determines a measure of listening effort from the detected neuronal activity and determines changes to hearing device parameters from this. A hearing device control unit changes the hearing device parameters accordingly. The computation and control unit repeatedly prompts the stimulus generator unit to emit a hearing stimulus and the hearing device control unit to change a hearing device parameter, until the measure of listening effort drops below a predefinable first threshold value. This allows hearing devices to be adjusted objectively and automatically in a very robust and reliable manner.
|METHOD AND HEARING DEVICE FOR FEEDBACK RECOGNITION AND SUPPRESSION WITH A DIRECTIONAL MICROPHONE - A method operates a hearing device having at least two omnidirectional microphones emitting microphone signals and a detection unit for defining acoustic feedback. The method includes connecting a first electrical connection of the microphones to one another in order to form a first signal with directional effect, an adjustment of the directional effect of the first signal such that the acoustic feedback in the first signal is maximized, and an analysis of the first signal by the detection unit for defining the acoustic feedback. It is advantageous that the feedback can be detected by a signal with an improved signal-to-noise ratio. Feedbacks are therefore recognized more reliably and more rapidly.
|METHOD FOR FREQUENCY TRANSPOSITION IN A HEARING AID AND HEARING AID - In a hearing aid offering the option of frequency transposition, sounds should still be perceivable as sounds, even after the frequency transposition. To this end, it is proposed first of all to establish sounds present in the input signal and, more particularly, the fundamental frequencies thereof and to carry out the frequency transposition as a function of the established fundamental frequencies. Here, transposed overtones are returned to the frequency grid of the fundamental frequency, and so the sound property is maintained even after the frequency transposition.
|HEARING DEVICE WITH MECHANICAL ADJUSTMENT OF SOUND PROPERTIES - A hearing device that is worn in the ear has a hearing aid and a support device with a runner. The support device remains stationarily inserted in the auditory canal, while the hearing aid is moveably connected to the runner and moveably arranged along the runner. This provides for a hearing device that allows a simple, intuitively understandable modification of the volume and/or sound properties.
|HEARING DEVICE WITH A SPACE-SAVING ARRANGEMENT OF MICROPHONES AND SOUND OPENINGS - A behind-the-ear hearing device has a hearing device housing and a user-operable switch. At least two microphones are disposed below the switch in the hearing device housing, and the housing is formed with first sound openings that are arranged directly below the switch. The switch is preferably a rocker switch. The microphones can be positioned below a switch in a space-saving fashion and the installation space of the hearing device housing can thus be used optimally.
|METHOD, HEARING DEVICE AND CONFIGURATION FOR CALIBRATING AN ACOUSTIC TUNING SYSTEM - A method for setting a device for presenting sound specimens for the individual tuning of a hearing device to be worn on the body of a hearing device wearer. The method includes providing and presenting a noise signal by the device, receiving the presented noise signal by at least one microphone of the hearing device, comparing the received noise signal or a signal derived therefrom with a reference signal stored in the hearing device, and emitting a status signal by the hearing device in dependence on the comparison. In this manner, simple and precise setting of the device for emitting sound specimens for calibration purposes occurs.
|HEARING DEVICE WITH SIMULATION OF A HEARING LOSS AND METHOD FOR SIMULATING A HEARING LOSS - A hearing device has a first earpiece for emitting a first sound signal. The hearing device also includes a device for simulating the hearing loss of a hearing-impaired person. The device changes the first sound signal emitted by the first earpiece in accordance with the hearing loss. An associated method is likewise specified. The hearing device is able to simply and accurately simulate the hearing loss of a hearing-impaired hearing device wearer.
|HEARING DEVICE AND METHOD FOR SUPPRESSING FEEDBACK WITH A DIRECTIONAL MICROPHONE - A hearing device and an associated method use an adaptive directional microphone for suppressing feedback. The hearing device includes an adaptation unit which sets the directional microphone so that a sound signal fed back from an earpiece of the hearing device to the directional microphone is attenuated. Acoustic feedback is advantageously attenuated or suppressed simply in an artifact-free manner.
|METHOD OF PRODUCING A HOUSING SHELL OR EAR MOLD TO BE WORN IN THE EAR - The production of a hearing aid housing shell or ear mold that can be worn in the ear should be simplified and improved. For this, a prefabricated component, such as a frame for holding an electronics module or a receiver adapter, is positioned in a rapid prototyping instrument. There, the component is integrated into the housing shell or ear mold by the subsequent production of the housing shell or ear mold. This avoids connecting the component to the housing shell or ear mold in a further method step after producing the housing shell or ear mold.
|HEARING AID WITH PROTECTION AGAINST UNINTENTIONAL OPERATION - A hearing aid has protection against unintentional operation. The protection against unintentional operation is provided for the purpose of suppressing erroneous, mistaken or unintentional user inputs for changing settings of a hearing aid. The hearing aid contains signal-processing electronics arranged in a housing and an operating element actuated manually, arranged externally on the housing. A locking arrangement is configured to lock the operating element in respect of manual actuation, and an unlocking arrangement is configured to deactivate the locking arrangement. The unlocking arrangement contains at least two sensors actuated manually, which are arranged spatially separate from one another on the housing. The unlocking arrangement deactivates the locking arrangement only during and/or in a limited time period following simultaneous manual actuation of the sensors. The spatially separate arrangement of the sensors can suppress an accidental undesired actuation.
|SELF-ADJUSTMENT OF A HEARING AID AND HEARING AID - The adjustment of the signal processing carried out by a hearing aid to the individual hearing loss of a user is intended to be simplified. For this purpose, a number of predefined adjustment programs, from which the user selects a suitable program by operating an operating element, are provided in the hearing aid. Neither a visit to a hearing aid acoustician nor special adjustment devices is/are required for adjustment.
|METHOD FOR FINE-TUNING A HEARING AID AND HEARING AID - The fine-tuning of the signal processing in a hearing aid or hearing aid system to the individual user should be simplified and improved. For this, the current hearing situation is recognized automatically and the user is automatically presented with a selection of questions from a comprehensive list of questions as a function of the hearing situation. A user input as a reaction of the user to the selected questions leads to the tuning of at least one parameter relating to the signal processing in the hearing aid.
|METHOD FOR ADJUSTING A HEARING AID AND HEARING AID ADJUSTMENT INSTRUMENT - Optimized hearing aid parameter settings are automatically determined from a multiplicity of data obtained by applying different test methods for testing the auditory perception of a person. Data pertaining to the auditory perception (audiological data) of the user are first obtained by different test methods. The data from the individual tests can be incomplete, inconsistent or untypical, or even erroneous. However, the subsequent combination of where possible all available data in a computational unit affords the possibility of automatically obtaining hearing aid parameter settings by way of which a hearing aid operated thereby compensates the present loss of hearing of the relevant user in an optimized fashion.
|CAVITY EXAMINATION DEVICE - A cavity examination device has an optical receiving element, such as a lens or a camera, and enables insertion into the cavity, in which the reception element does not touch the cavity wall. The cavity examination device has an optical receiving element which receives light emitted or reflected by a wall of a cavity and a screen made of a flexible material. The screen has a first opening and a second opening. The cross section of the second opening is larger here than the cross section of the first opening, and the second opening is selected with regard to the shape and dimension such that, predominantly, it resiliently rests against the wall of the cavity. The screen is attached by the first opening to a body of the cavity examination device on a side of the cavity examination device, which is inserted first into the cavity. During insertion of the cavity examination device into the cavity, the screen is folded in the direction of the cavity examination device, and as the cavity examination device is moved out of the cavity, it folds over so that the screen is folded away from the cavity examination device as the cavity examination device is removed from the cavity.
|HEARING AID WITH LED AND METHOD OF OPERATION - A hearing aid has a housing, a signal-processing arrangement housed in the housing, an LED, an actuatable switching element arranged on the housing, and a battery. The LED is connected to a positive pole of the battery with its anode connector and to a first connector of the signal-processing arrangement with its cathode connector. The signal-processing arrangement is formed with a monitoring unit, which switches the first connector if there is a drop below a first threshold voltage such that the cathode connector can be connected to a negative pole of the battery.
|HEARING AID WITH AN IDENTIFIER - A hearing aid includes an identifier for identifying usage of the hearing aid at a correct side on the left ear or the right ear of a wearer. The identifier is constructed as a rotational element having a first feature and a second feature to be respectively set by a rotational movement.
|HEARING DEVICE AND CONTROL METHOD - For particularly good adaptation to a given hearing situation, an in-the-ear hearing device which has a housing with a channel in the housing that is designed as a through-opening for sound and air between the interior of the ear and the environment outside the ear, the channel is provided with a structural element for changing the size of the through-opening at at least one position. The structural element is a valve formed with electroactive material and the size of the through-opening is adjusted by application of a voltage to the valve.
|HEARING AID - In an embodiment, a hearing aid is provided. The hearing aid may include a behind-the-ear component, a sound tube coupled with the behind-the-ear component at its one end, and a loudspeaker coupled with the sound tube at the other end of the sound tube opposite to the behind-the-ear component. The hearing aid may further include a joint connected between the loud-speaker and the sound tube, wherein the joint is moveable or flexible such that a degree of freedom in movement is provided in a direction substantially perpendicular to an insertion direction of the loudspeaker into an ear canal.
|HEARING AID DEVICE AND PROCESSING UNIT AND RECEIVING UNIT FOR THE HEARING AID DEVICE - A hearing aid device includes a processing unit and a receiving unit adapted to be coupled to transmit an electrical signal from the processing unit to the receiving unit. The processing unit has a wireless transmitter and a transmitter seal for covering the wireless transmitter and the receiving unit has a wireless receiver and a receiver seal for covering the wireless receiver. The electrical signal is transmitted from the wireless transmitter to the wireless receiver wirelessly. The electrical signal may be transmitted by induction. The transmitter seal and the receiver seal prevent any environmental influences from acting on the hearing aid device and thus protect the hearing aid device from malfunctioning or becoming short circuited. Magnetic connectors and/or mechanical connectors are provided for a stable contact between the processing unit and the receiving unit.
|HEARING AID WITH AN INTERCHANGEABLE EARPIECE - A hearing aid has an interchangeable earpiece, which, on its own and separately from further components, can be replaced in a simple fashion and without great complexity, and without specialist tools. The hearing aid has a housing of a multi-part design and a receiver and a signal processing device within the housing. The receiver is arranged detachably in a first housing part and the signal processing device is disposed in a further housing part and the two housing parts are detachably interconnected. A detachable locking mechanism connects the housing parts. The receiver is connected to the signal processing device by way of a detachable electrical connector with a receiver-side and a signal-processing-device-side electrical contact. At least one of the electrical contacts is elastic. Due to the fact that the housing parts, the electrical connection and the receiver are detachably assembled, this results in the possibility of, when necessary, interchanging the receiver on its own, separately from further components. It is not necessary to use specific components or even an adhesive. In the process, the elastic electrical contact for electrically connecting the receiver and signal processing device makes it easier to close the electrical connection when assembling the housing parts.
|RECEIVER TUBE, RECEIVER AND HEARING AID INSTRUMENT WITH A RECEIVER TUBE - A receiver tube for connecting a receiver to a hearing aid instrument and a hearing aid instrument with a receiver tube, include a connection which ensures good acoustic stability and low feedback tendencies, can be produced in an uncomplicated manner and has high impact and shock strength. The receiver tube includes a receiver connector constructed as a cup at least partly holding a receiver when connected together. The receiver connector includes a form-locking mechanism for a receiver and a flexible element for locking the receiver. The form-locking connection simplifies installation of the receiver during production or replacement by requiring neither application of a force, as when pretensioning or expanding force-locking connections, nor establishment of an adhesive connection. The locking mechanism can be opened/closed by the flexible element. The cup-shape of the receiver connector contributes to increased rigidity and reliability of the form-locking connection to the receiver and an acoustic shield.
|VOLUME ADJUSTER AND HEARING AID WITH VOLUME ADJUSTER - A manually-actuatable volume adjuster for a hearing aid and a hearing aid with the volume adjuster are user friendly, durable, hardly prone to errors, miniaturizable and energy-saving. The adjuster includes a manually-actuatable pushbutton switch and an infrared sensor for acquiring orientation and/or position of a manual movement carried out for the actuation. The infrared sensor is only activated while the pushbutton switch is actuated and/or during a restricted time period following that actuation. The hearing aid with the adjuster includes standard sensors as an infrared sensor and as a pushbutton switch. The infrared sensor permits construction of the adjuster without moveable mechanical actuating elements and avoids touch surfaces or contact surfaces susceptible to wear-and-tear. The increased energy consumption of an infrared sensor is counteracted by the functional combination with the pushbutton switch. The infrared sensor is only active when the pushbutton switch is actuated and is otherwise in idle mode.
|FILTER BANK CONFIGURATION FOR A HEARING DEVICE - A filter bank configuration for a hearing device has filters in an analysis filter bank and corresponding filters in a synthesis filter bank that are coupled pair-wise to form a channel in each case. In order to compensate for a hearing loss, sub-band signals are amplified in the individual channels with the aid of multipliers. In the process, an audible distortion of an output signal Y of the filter bank configuration as a result of differences between amplification factors of the multipliers of neighboring channels should be prevented. Here, at least one channel changes a phase of a sub-band signal transmitted by the channel such that a difference between a group delay of the filter bank configuration and a prescribable reference value is reduced for at least one predetermined frequency. The filter bank configuration is particularly suited to hearing aids.
|HOUSING WITH A HOUSING SHELL FOR A HEARING AID APPLIANCE, HEARING AID APPLIANCE AND PRODUCTION METHOD - A housing for a hearing aid appliance includes a housing shell which is made, at least in a partial region, from a material which forms a smooth exterior surface in the partial region. Recesses are formed in the material beneath the smooth exterior surface. A material layer located between the recesses and the exterior surface has such a layer thickness that the material layer is at least semitransparent for light, as a result of which the recesses are visible through the material layer when the housing shell is illuminated. A hearing aid appliance having such a housing shell is also provided as well as a method for producing such a housing shell for which a rapid-prototyping process is employed and by which the recesses are produced by not solidifying the starting material there.
|HEARING APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR SUPPRESSING FEEDBACK IN A HEARING APPARATUS - A hearing apparatus and an associated method for suppressing feedback include a microphone emitting a microphone signal and a receiver picking up a receiver signal by subtracting a compensation signal from the microphone signal. The hearing apparatus includes a number of preset static first compensation filters for forming first compensation signals from the receiver signal and a first selection unit, which selects a first compensation signal in such a way that a feedback signal caused by the feedback is minimal in the receiver signal. An advantage thereof is that adaptation artifacts cannot occur.
|SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR THREE DIMENSIONAL RECONSTRUCTION OF AN ANATOMICAL IMPRESSION - A system and method reconstruct an anatomical impression. The system contains a light signal generating device for generating a light signal directed toward a synthetic test body having the anatomical impression. The light signal is directed toward the synthetic test body such that the light signal is attenuated upon passing through the synthetic test body. A sensor captures the attenuated light signal through the synthetic test body and converts the captured attenuated light signal into digitized image information. The system further includes a digital reconstruction device for reconstructing the digitized image information based on measurement of light attenuation to generate a three-dimensional volume of the anatomical impression.
|METHOD FOR DETERMINING A FREQUENCY RESPONSE OF A HEARING APPARATUS AND ASSOCIATED HEARING APPARATUS - A method determines a frequency response of a hearing apparatus in any acoustic environment situation as well as an associated hearing apparatus. Here the frequency response of the hearing apparatus is determined in dependence on at least one preset, user-independent frequency response and at least one user-dependent frequency response. As a result, a frequency response is advantageously prespecified to the user of the hearing apparatus in any acoustic environment situation, said frequency response being individually matched to said wearer.
|HEARING DEVICE WITH A SOUND TRANSDUCER AND METHOD FOR PRODUCING A SOUND TRANSDUCER - In hearing devices, more particularly in hearing aids, it is desirable to be able to design an earpiece for generating sound in the audible range which is as small as possible. Such an earpiece can then be worn comfortably on an ear or in an auditory canal. A sound transducer for the hearing device disclosed here may be formed as a micro-electromechanical system and the transducer enables generation of an acoustic signal with little distortion. Provision is made for a hearing device with a sound transducer, which has a field generation apparatus for generating an electric or magnetic field and an emission apparatus for generating sound. Here, the emission apparatus has a multiplicity of fingers that are penetrated by the field of the field generation apparatus, wherein the shape of the fingers can be changed by means of the field of the field generation apparatus in order to generate the sound.
|METHOD FOR ACCLIMATIZING A PROGRAMMABLE HEARING DEVICE AND ASSOCIATED HEARING DEVICE - A method provides time-dependent automatic acclimatization of at least one parameter of a hearing device, for example the volume, to a predeterminable target. In the method the speed of the automatic acclimatization is influenced by parameter changes made by a wearer of the hearing device himself. Advantageously this makes it possible to address the individual familiarizing phase and requirements of the wearer of the hearing device and finally to set an optimum parameter value.
|BINAURAL HEARING APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR OPERATING A BINAURAL HEARING APPARATUS WITH FREQUENCY DISTORTION - A binaural hearing apparatus has at least one left hearing device and at least one right hearing device. The apparatus further includes a first frequency distortion unit in the left hearing device, which distorts the frequency of an acoustic signal received by the left hearing device or a signal part of the received acoustic signal and a second frequency distortion unit in the right hearing device, which distorts the frequency of the acoustic signal received by the right hearing device or a signal part of the received acoustic signal, with the frequency distortions of the left and right hearing device being different. This is advantageous in that the subjective perception of superimposition artifacts by a hearing device wearer is reduced.
|CONFIGURATION AND METHOD FOR WIRELESS DATA TRANSMISSION BETWEEN HEARING DEVICES - A configuration and an associated method for the wireless transmission of data between hearing devices include an external unit which generates and emits a carrier signal, a first hearing device with a first transponder which modulates and back-scatters the carrier signal and a second hearing device with a second transponder which receives the carrier signal that is scattered backwards and forwards and modulated by the first transponder. The external unit is, for instance, a hearing device remote control. Advantageously, little or no additional energy is needed in the hearing device for the wireless data transmission. The energy for the supply of the first transponder is delivered by the carrier signal of the external unit.
|METHOD FOR OPERATING A HEARING APPARATUS AND HEARING APPARATUS WITH A FREQUENCY SEPARATING FILTER - A method operates a hearing apparatus. The hearing apparatus contains a frequency separating filter characterized by a threshold frequency, which splits an input signal into a low-frequency signal component and a high-frequency signal component. The hearing apparatus further has a first device, which can be used to set the threshold frequency of the frequency separating filter so that artifacts in an output signal of the hearing apparatus are reduced.
|DEVICE FOR ACOUSTICALLY ANALYZING A HEARING DEVICE AND ANALYSIS METHOD - A device for acoustic analysis has a first hearing device with a first sound input and a first sound output and a second hearing device with a second sound input and a second sound output. The first hearing device is in acoustic communication with the second hearing device. The first hearing device can analyze the acoustic communication and output a corresponding result. Consequently, two hearing aids, for example, can test each other, and permit a user to check hearing devices and, in particular, hearing aids in a simple fashion without the hearing aid wearer having to visit an audiologist for the test.
|METHOD AND ACOUSTIC SIGNAL PROCESSING DEVICE FOR ESTIMATING LINEAR PREDICTIVE CODING COEFFICIENTS - A method and an appropriate acoustic signal processing device estimate a set of linear predictive coding coefficients of a microphone signal using minimum mean-square error estimation with a codebook containing several predetermined sets of linear predictive coding coefficients. The method includes determining sums of weighted backward transition probabilities describing the transition probabilities between the predetermined sets of linear predictive coding coefficients. The backward transition probabilities are obtained from signal training data by mapping the signal training data to one set of the codebook and by determining relative frequencies of transitions between two of the sets of the codebook. Modelling the "memory" of the codebook has the advantage that the accuracy of estimating linear predictive coding coefficients is increased considerably also for speech components.
|HEARING DEVICE WITH BATTERY FLAP MODULE - Shells of hearing devices, and in particular for hearing aids, are frequently manufactured using an RSM method and battery flaps are injection-molded. Problems arise frequently due to the varying error tolerances of the two processes when the battery compartment is locked into position on the shell. For this reason a hearing device with a shell, which has a battery opening and a battery flap, which is injection-molded from plastic, is provided for closing the battery opening. The hearing device also has a module which is likewise injection-molded from plastic, on which the battery flap is pivotally supported and which has a detent mechanism via which the battery flap locks into place detachably in a closed position to prevent a pivot movement. Since the injection-molded battery flap locks into position with the injection-molded module, the error tolerances of the shell, often produced by an RSM method, play no part.
|Hearing Aid with a Battery Compartment, and Battery Compartment for a Hearing Aid, each having a Locking Mechanism for the Battery Compartment - A hearing aid has a housing, a battery compartment, and a locking mechanism for the battery compartment. A shaft which is arranged on the housing or the battery compartment, and a slide having a hole which forms a fit with the shaft, such that the slide can be moved on the shaft in order to lock and unlock the battery compartment in the housing. The hole has a circular cross section, and the shaft has a cross section which is not a circle, with rotational symmetry when rotated through 360°/n, where n is an integer greater than 1. A battery compartment for a hearing aid has a locking mechanism such as this. Because a cross section of said shaft is different from the cross section of the hole in the battery compartment, the shaft is connected to the hole in the battery compartment only at a number of points. This ensures that the slide is held adequately on the shaft even in the event of a production tolerance on the one hand, while, on the other hand, the slide can move on the shaft with little resistance. In a preferred embodiment the shaft is trilobular in cross-section.
|Configuration and Method for Detecting Feedback in Hearing Devices - A configuration and associated methods are used for detecting acoustic feedback in a hearing device. One embodiment contains a first feedback detection unit, which determines the probability of feedback, a second feedback detection unit, which determines a weighting factor, and an arithmetic unit, which multiplies the feedback probability by the weighting factor. As an alternative to determining the weighting factor, a threshold value may also be controlled. This offers the advantage of improved acoustic feedback detection by a combination of two different feedback detection methods.
|HEARING AID CONFIGURATION WITH A LANYARD WITH INTEGRATED ANTENNA AND ASSOCIATED METHOD FOR WIRELESS TRANSMISSION OF DATA - A hearing aid configuration and an associated method provide wireless transmission of data between a hearing aid and an external unit. The external unit, for example a programming device, is worn with a lanyard around the neck of a hearing aid user. The configuration additionally contains at least one second antenna disposed in the lanyard and at least one third antenna arranged in the lanyard which is connected by an electric series circuit to the second antenna. The advantage of this is that the lanyard can be made long enough to be comfortable to wear and a sufficiently high receive signal of the wireless data transmission is still guaranteed in the external unit.
|METHOD AND HEARING APPARATUS FOR ADJUSTING A HEARING AID WITH DATA RECORDED IN AN EXTERNAL UNIT - A hearing apparatus for adjusting a hearing aid and an associated method. The apparatus includes at least one hearing aid and at least one external unit which can exchange data with the hearing aid. It further includes a first memory unit in the external unit which stores a point in time and a hearing situation at which at least one predeterminable algorithm for signal processing is activated, an output unit in the external unit which outputs the stored points in time and hearing situations, an input unit in the external unit for entering a measure of evaluation which expresses the satisfaction of a hearing aid wearer with the activated algorithm, and a modification unit in the hearing aid for changing at least one parameter of the algorithm as a function of the measure of evaluation. The hearing aid user is able to evaluate and change the setting of their hearing aid retrospectively for specific hearing situations.
|METHOD FOR LOUDNESS-BASED ADJUSTMENT OF THE AMPLIFICATION OF A HEARING AID AND ASSOCIATED HEARING AID - A method and an associated hearing aid for loudness-based adjustment of the amplification of the hearing aid by presenting test signals of a predefinable level and predefinable frequency. Blind signals are presented before and between the test signals, but the blind signals are not taken into account for the adjustment of the amplification of the hearing aid at the predefinable level and predefinable frequency. A method for binaural loudness-based adjustment of the amplification of a left hearing aid and a right hearing aid is also specified. An advantage of the invention is that it is easier for a hearing aid wearer to rank the presented test signals in his individual loudness value system and to assess them accordingly.
|ELECTRONIC APPARATUS FOR CONNECTION TO A HEARING APPARATUS COMPONENT WITH A TWO-PART SLEEVE - An electronic component and, in particular, an external receiver of a hearing aid, are intended to be capable of being configured to be simpler and more robust. To this end, it is proposed that the electronic apparatus, which has an electronic component and a cable which is connected to the electronic component, is equipped with a first sleeve which is arranged around a part of the electronic component and a part of the cable and mechanically connects the two, and a second sleeve, which surrounds another part of the electronic component. The first sleeve and the second sleeve are coaxially directly connected to one another such that both sleeves together also completely surround the electronic component in the axial direction. The two sleeves can possibly be connected to one another by laser welding.
|METHOD FOR OPERATING A HEARING APPARATUS WITH AMPLIFIED FEEDBACK COMPENSATION AND HEARING APPARATUS - The goal is to make insertion of a hearing apparatus in an ear more comfortable, in particular with respect to feedback whistling. A method for operating a hearing apparatus by amplifying an input sound to form an output sound and compensating by a predefined amount for feedback caused by the output sound is therefore provided. In a predetermined period after switching on the hearing apparatus, the amount of feedback compensation is automatically increased by an offset greater than zero compared with the predefined amount. By way of example, amplified feedback, which is caused by a hand when inserting the hearing apparatus or hearing aid into the ear, can be better compensated thereby. Feedback whistling when inserting a hearing aid for example can thus be avoided.
|APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR MEASURING A DISTANCE TO AN EARDRUM - An apparatus for measuring a distance to an eardrum has an optical sensor and a signal-processing device. The optical sensor acquires an image of the eardrum and the signal-processing device determines an area or separation extending perpendicular to the spacing distance to be measured in the image and determines the spacing distance to the eardrum as a function of the determined area or separation. A corresponding method includes the steps of acquiring an image of the eardrum, determining an area or separation extending perpendicular to the distance to be measured in the image, and determining the distance as a function of the determined area or separation. A projection image may be projected onto or into a vicinity of the eardrum and then the distance can be determined from the separation between the projection image and the eardrum or the image center of the image.
|METHOD FOR ADJUSTING A DIRECTIONAL CHARACTERISTIC AND A HEARING APPARATUS - The aim is to improve the adjustment of the directional characteristic of a hearing apparatus, and in particular of a hearing aid. A method is therefore provided in which a microphone signal having a plurality of frequency bands is derived from an input sound being obtained by a microphone system containing at least two microphones. A characteristic of the microphone signal is then determined, for example the level. The directional characteristic of the microphone system is adjusted in dependence on the determined characteristic of the microphone signal. In order to adjust the directional characteristic, two or more frequency bands are combined in dependence on the determined characteristic of the microphone signal. Alternatively, one of the microphones can also be attenuated, thus deliberately reducing the directionality of the directional microphone.
|METHOD FOR COMPENSATING FOR AN INTERFERENCE SOUND IN A HEARING APPARATUS, HEARING APPARATUS, AND METHOD FOR ADJUSTING A HEARING APPARATUS - A novel system prevents surrounding sound to enter through a hearing apparatus, for instance through a ventilation opening, and reach an eardrum of the wearer in the form of interference sound. Contrary to auditory accessories designed especially to protect against noise, it is not possible for many hearing apparatus to compensate for such an interference sound by means of active noise cancellation. The hearing apparatuses do not have the special components needed. No compensation sound signal can therefore form with a correct phase. In accordance with the invention, a compensation sound is only generated for a relatively narrow spectral band. This spectral band is determined as a function of a hearing ability of the wearer of the hearing apparatus and/or as a function of a spectral distribution of the energy of the interference sound or a sound producing the interference sound. The improvement is particularly suited to compensating for an interference sound in a hearing device.
|METHOD FOR OPERATING A HEARING APPARATUS, COMPUTER PROGRAM PRODUCT FOR IMPLEMENTING THE METHOD AND HEARING APPARATUS WITH FEEDBACK SUPPRESSION - A method for operating a hearing apparatus includes determining feedback events, in which feedback suppression responds and/or in which feedback is detected above a predeterminable feedback threshold value, determining a frequency of the feedback events within a predeterminable duration and emitting a signal if the determined frequency exceeds a predeterminable frequency threshold value. A time instant for changing an earmold which is no longer optimally positioned and is the cause of a frequent feedback can therefore be advantageously predicted in a timely manner. A computer program product for implementing the method and a hearing apparatus with acoustic feedback suppression and/or acoustic feedback identification, are also provided.
|HEARING APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR REDUCING AN INTERFERENCE NOISE FOR A HEARING APPARATUS - A noise reduction is provided for a hearing apparatus, with which both stationary and also non-stationary interference noises can be attenuated in an input signal. An output signal is in this way to convey a quite sound impression. A signal processing is provided, which effects a noise reduction on the basis of two different methods. Provision is made on the one hand for a noise reduction for stationary interference noises and on the other hand for a noise reduction for spatially oriented interference noises. A selection facility selects between the two noise reductions.
|RAPID PROTOTYPING DEVICE AND METHOD WITH INDIRECT LASER EXPOSURE - It is desirable for the production of workpieces, which are sometimes produced by a rapid prototyping method, to be further automatable. To this end a device is provided having a laser for generating a laser beam in order to set a material, and a workpiece support which can be exposed directly to the laser. There is also provided an optical instrument for redirecting and deviating the laser beam so that the workpiece support can also be exposed indirectly to the laser. Material can therefore also be cured more easily in undercuts of workpiece blanks.
|HEARING DEVICE WITH AN ACOUSTICS UNIT AND A SHELL PART - A hearing device with a replaceable shell concept is configured such that the visible parts of a housing can be replaced quickly and easily. Therefore, it should be possible to replace a shell using few manual operations. The novel hearing aid has an acoustics unit that can be inserted into a shell part, wherein the acoustics unit has a projection engaging into a correspondingly shaped region of the shell part when the acoustics unit is in the inserted state. As a result of the engagement of the projection into the region, a movement of the acoustics unit in a direction out of the shell part is automatically blocked. Additionally, the acoustics unit can be fixed in the shell part by a pin.
|APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR REDUCING IMPACT SOUND EFFECTS FOR HEARING APPARATUSES WITH ACTIVE OCCLUSION REDUCTION - The invention specifies a hearing apparatus (
|HEARING DEVICE WITH INDIVIDUALLY ALIGNED ELECTRONIC COMPONENT AND PRODUCTION METHOD - The equipment size of a hearing device is intended to be reduced. Therefore, a hearing device, in particular an ITE hearing aid, is proposed with a shell having a user-specific shape, a faceplate for closing-off the shell and an electronic component which is attached to the faceplate using a support. The support is individually formed taking into account the shape of the shell, and/or a position of the support on the faceplate is individually determined taking into account the shape of the shell. As a result of the individual support, it is possible to cut down on installation space and therefore the shell can be shortened. In particular, the support can be formed integrally with the faceplate in order to simplify the production method.
|APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR BACKGROUND NOISE ESTIMATION WITH A BINAURAL HEARING DEVICE SUPPLY - An apparatus and a method for background noise estimation use a first and a second hearing device for binaural supply of a hearing impaired person. In each case the hearing devices have a first and a second omnidirectional microphone and the two microphones of each hearing device are connected to each other electrically in order to form a first and/or a second monaural directional characteristic. The first and/or second microphone of the first hearing device is connected together wirelessly with the first and/or second microphone of the second hearing device to form a binaural directional characteristic. To estimate the background noise, the level of an output signal from the first and/or the second directional microphone having a monaural directional characteristic is combined with the level of an output signal from the directional microphone having a binaural directional characteristic. Background noise estimation is thereby enhanced in the case of binaural supply.
|HEARING DEVICE WITH SUPPORTING HOOK RECOGNITION - The fitting of hearing aids and other hearing devices is intended to be made more comfortable. For this, provision is made for a hearing device with a housing which contains a signal processing unit and has a sound outlet. A supporting hook for attaching the hearing device to an ear or a head can be fixed on the sound outlet of the housing such that sound emanating from the sound outlet is guided through the supporting hook. A sensor for detecting the type of supporting hook is arranged in or on the housing. The sensor controls the signal processing unit as a function of the detected type of supporting hook. Thus, the user can for example use different types of supporting hooks without having to decide on a type of supporting hook during the first fitting. Moreover, the degree of mass production of the hearing aid can be further increased by the automatic recognition of the type of supporting hook.
|Method for Adapting a Hearing Device Using a Perceptive Model - Adaptation of hearing devices is rendered more convenient and more accurate with a method for adapting a hearing device to a hearing device support. The hearing device is selected on the basis of initial data of several hearing devices with respect to the data relating to hearing loss of the hearing device support. The selected hearing device is preset using a target reinforcement curve and, optionally, a setting of the preset hearing device is finely adjusted. At least one of the mentioned steps of selecting and presetting as well as, optionally, the step of fine adjustment is carried out by means of a single perceptive model which individualizes the hearing loss data projected by the hearing loss of the hearing device support.
|HEARING AID WITH INTERFERENCE COMPENSATION AND METHOD FOR CONFIGURATING THE HEARING AID - For reducing the influence of interference fields on hearing aids, a hearing aid is provided with an electronic component into which a first and a second electromagnetic disturbance component can be injected by providing a predetermined electromagnetic interference field. The electrical component is formed asymmetric and/or a compensation component is arranged on the electrical component such that the first and the second interference components largely compensate for one another. A compensation plate or an element which is provided in any case, such as a microphone, may be used as the compensation component. If the electrical component is a coil, then its core may, for example, be conical or configured such that its winding density varies.
|METHOD FOR DETERMINING THE ACOUSTIC FEEDBACK BEHAVIOR OF A HEARING DEVICE ON THE BASIS OF GEOMETRIC DATA OF AN EAR - A method at least partially determines acoustic feedback of a hearing device worn by a hearing device wearer. The method includes a detection of the geometry of the auditory canal and/or the concha of the ear of the hearing device wearer and a determination of the feedback from the detected geometry. The thus determined feedback can also be used to adjust a hearing device. This is advantageous in that a measurement of the feedback does not have to be implemented.
|METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR IMPROVING THE SIGNAL-TO-NOISE RATIO OF A MEASURING SIGNAL DETECTED BY A HEARING DEVICE - An apparatus and an associated method for improving the signal-to-noise ratio of a measuring signal emitted and detected by a hearing device include a generator unit for generating a measuring signal, a modulation unit for modulating the measuring signal prior to or during emission in such a way that the detected measuring signal is modulated according to the generated measuring signal, and a detection unit for detecting the measuring signal on the basis of the modulation. The result of a measurement, for instance an OLG measurement, is therefore more independent of external disturbances and the signal-to-noise ratio is increased.
|METHOD AND HEARING DEVICE FOR TUNING A HEARING AID FROM RECORDED DATA - A hearing device and an associated method for tuning a hearing aid include at least one hearing aid and at least one external unit. The device includes the following: a memory unit in the hearing aid which stores the times and the listening situations for which at least one predefinable algorithm for signal processing is activated; an output unit in the hearing aid and/or in the external unit which outputs and/or displays the stored times, listening situations and the activated algorithm; an input unit in the hearing aid or in the external unit for inputting an assessment rating which expresses the hearing aid wearer's satisfaction with the algorithm activated, and a change unit in the hearing aid for changing at least one parameter of the algorithm as a function of the assessment rating. Even algorithms of very short duration, such as an MPO, for example, are trainable.
|HEARING DEVICE WITH AUTOMATIC ALGORITHM SWITCHING - A hearing device with a plurality of microphones is intended to be able to be continued to be operated sensibly, even if a microphone fails. Therefore, a hearing device, and in particular a hearing aid, is proposed which provides a decision unit for deciding whether one of the microphones is defective, and a signal processing unit for processing the signals from the microphones using a plurality of processing algorithms. The signal processing unit switches from a first one of the processing algorithms to a second one of the processing algorithms if a decision is made in the decision unit that one of the microphones is defective. In particular, if a microphone fails, automatic switching from directional microphone operation into omnidirectional operation is for example made possible.
|Method for Determining Unbiased Signal Amplitude Estimates After Cepstral Variance Modification - A method for determining unbiased signal amplitude estimates (
|METHOD FOR SIGNAL PROCESSING FOR A HEARING AID AND CORRESPONDING HEARING AID - A method for signal processing for a hearing aid aims to better match signal processing for a hearing aid and in particular a hearing device to a situation and includes processing an input signal in accordance with a first processing algorithm to form a first intermediate signal and processing the input signal in accordance with a second processing algorithm to form a second intermediate signal in parallel with the processing of the input signal in accordance with the first processing algorithm. The input signal is classified by a classifier. Finally, an output signal with a constant mixture ratio is formed both from the first and from the second intermediate signals, taking into account the result of the classification. This allows the advantages of a plurality of algorithms to be used at the same time. A corresponding hearing aid is also provided.
|BATTERY COMPARTMENT WITH LATCHING ELEMENT FOR A BEHIND-THE-EAR HEARING DEVICE AND BEHIND-THE-EAR HEARING DEVICE - A battery compartment for a behind-the-ear hearing device includes a battery compartment body having a battery receiving space for accommodating a battery and at least one latching element for locking to a hearing device housing. The latching element and the battery compartment body are formed of different materials and the latching element is disposed in a holding device in the battery compartment body. A behind-the-ear hearing device with a latching element and the use of polyoxymethylene for manufacturing the latching element, are likewise provided. As a result of the separation of the latching element and the battery compartment body and the use of different materials, a switching and locking function can be optimized and the wearing quality can be improved.
|Hearing Aid - A hearing aid has a hearing aid component, a brain wave signal receiver configured to receive brain wave signals, and a hearing aid controller configured to control the hearing aid component dependent on the detected brain wave signals. Therefore the hearing aid can be controlled by the detected brain wave signals.
|METHOD FOR SELECTING A PREFERRED DIRECTION OF A DIRECTIONAL MICROPHONE AND CORRESPONDING HEARING DEVICE - The preferred direction of a directional microphone of a hearing device and, in particular, a hearing aid should be selected automatically in a quick and reliable fashion. To this end, provision is made for a method for operating a hearing device with such a microphone which can be switched into at least a first and a second directional characteristic. Initially, respectively one signal-to-noise ratio is determined for the first and the second directional characteristic. Subsequently, the directional microphone is switched into that one of the two directional characteristics which leads to the higher signal-to-noise ratio. In particular, the total signal powers of different directional microphone signals can be determined to this end and the interference signal powers can be calculated in parallel thereto in a channel-specific fashion. Corresponding SNR values then result from the differences in the logarithmic power values.
|FILTER BANK SYSTEM HAVING SPECIFIC STOP-BAND ATTENUATION COMPONENTS FOR A HEARING AID - The circuit complexity or the filter order, respectively, of an analysis/synthesis filter bank system especially for hearing aids is to be reduced. For this reason, the stop-band attenuation of at least one of the transfer functions of the analysis filter bank is composed of a separately configurable, frequency-independent analysis pass-band attenuation component and a separately configurable frequency-dependent analysis attenuation component. Furthermore, the stop-band attenuation of at least one of the transfer functions of the synthesis filter bank is composed of a separately configurable, frequency-independent synthesis pass-band attenuation component, a separately configurable, frequency-dependent first synthesis attenuation component and a separately configurable, frequency-dependent second synthesis attenuation component which is also dependent on the manipulation of the sub-band signals. As a result, the stop-band attenuation can be reduced in dependence on frequency and the filter order can be correspondingly reduced.
|METHOD FOR ADJUSTING A HEARING DEVICE AND CORRESPONDING HEARING DEVICE - A method for adjusting a hearing device, in particular a hearing aid, to an individual user, includes firstly recording data relating to at least one setting of the hearing device together with direct or indirect temporal information. Thereupon, a period of time during which the at least one setting was/is active is automatically determined. Finally, at least one parameter of the hearing device is automatically adapted as a function of the determined period of time and the at least one setting. This affords the possibility of adapting, for example, time constants according to individual usage. A corresponding hearing device is also provided.
|HEARING APPARATUS WITH A SPECIAL SITUATION RECOGNITION UNIT AND METHOD FOR OPERATING A HEARING APPARATUS - A hearing apparatus and particularly a hearing aid intended to be able to recognize acoustic situations more reliably includes a microphone device for picking-up a sound signal, a reception device for picking-up an electrical or electromagnetic signal and a classification device for determining an acoustic situation from the signals of the microphone device and the reception device. A signal processing device processes the signals of the microphone device and the reception device as a function of an output signal of the classification device. In particular, the signals of the microphone device and the reception device are made available separately to the classification device for recognizing the situation. Thus, the individual input signals, or the correlation thereof, can be used for recognizing the situation. A method for operating a hearing apparatus is also provided.
|Electrical Circuit, Electrical Small Appliance, in Particular a Hearing Aid, Having the Electrical Circuit, and Use of the Electrical Circuit for Producing the Electrical Small Appliance - An electrical circuit has a printed circuit board which is lengthened at the side in the form of at least one longitudinal contact projection having at least one electrical conductor track and a solder point disposed at the end of the conductor track. Because of its mechanical flexibility, the contact projection allows flexible contact to be made with other electronic components, with little effort. An electrical circuit such as this is particularly highly suitable for electrical small appliances, in particular for a hearing aid.
Patent applications by SIEMENS MEDICAL INSTRUMENTS PTE. LTD.