Method and device for controlling emission energy of cochlear implant sound processor

Abstract

The invention discloses an artificial cochlea sound processor emission energy control method and device. The method comprises the following steps: S1, obtaining multiple groups of first parameters in a simulation environment; s2, based on the scalp thickness of the patient and the corresponding first parameter, the sound processor outputs an emission voltage value and an emission duty ratio value as adjusting instructions to the implant; wherein the specific step of obtaining the multiple groups of first parameters comprises the steps of modifying the sound size and the scalp thickness one by one according to the sound size scale and the scalp thickness scale, executing an adjustment strategy according to an initial adjustment value, and adjusting the scalp thickness when the range of the power supply voltage meets a threshold value. According to the method, the corresponding set of the sound volume, the scalp thickness, the emission voltage value and the emission duty ratio value forms a group of first parameters, the scalp thickness of an individual patient is accurately matched, and the emission power is adjusted based on the first parameters, so that unnecessary energy loss is reduced, and efficient work under different scalp thicknesses and sound environments is ensured.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of cochlear implant control, and in particular to a method and device for controlling the emission energy of a cochlear implant sound processor. Background Art

[0002] In clinical practice, cochlear implants are considered a key means of treating extremely severe hearing loss. They successfully replace the biological process of the human body naturally converting sound vibrations into neural electrical signals. The cochlear implant system currently on the market consists of two core components: one is an external sound processor that is responsible for capturing sound signals in the surrounding environment; the other is a cochlear implant implanted in the patient's body. The external sound processor generates a series of stimulation instructions through a complex signal processing process, including analog-to-digital conversion, algorithm optimization, feature encoding and decoding. These instructions are then safely transmitted to the implant in the body using wireless technology. After receiving the instructions, the implant will parse these instructions to obtain specific stimulation parameters, such as stimulation frequency, current intensity and electrode position, and then directly stimulate the ciliary cells in the cochlea through the electrodes, thereby helping patients restore or improve their auditory perception ability. In addition, the implant in the body can also monitor and collect various parameter information related to the human body or the implant itself according to the specific instructions of the sound processor, such as the impedance value of the cochlea, the voltage difference between the electrodes, and the voltage across the transformer, and then feed these important data back to the external sound processor for further monitoring, adjustment or analysis.

[0003] The current low-power design of cochlear implants is based on a set of static hardware specifications to adapt to the energy and signal transmission requirements in different working modes. However, this design approach leads to unnecessary energy loss. There are at least two major challenges in achieving precise control of energy emission of cochlear implant sound processors: one is how to more flexibly adjust energy output according to actual conditions to reduce unnecessary energy waste; the other is how to ensure the stability and effectiveness of the energy emitted by the sound processor in a variety of usage environments. Summary of the invention

[0004] In view of the above-mentioned prior art, the present invention provides a method and device for controlling the transmission energy of a cochlear implant sound processor, mainly to solve the technical problems existing in the above-mentioned background technology.

[0005] To achieve the above object, the technical solution of the embodiment of the present invention is implemented as follows:

[0006] The first aspect of the present invention discloses a method for controlling the transmission energy of a cochlear implant sound processor, characterized in that the method comprises the following steps:

[0007] S1. Pre-build a simulation environment and obtain multiple sets of first parameters in the simulation environment;

[0008] S2. Based on the patient's scalp thickness and the corresponding first parameter, the sound processor outputs a transmission voltage value and a transmission duty cycle value as adjustment instructions to the implant;

[0009] The specific steps of obtaining multiple sets of first parameters include:

[0010] Divide the sound volume scale, scalp thickness scale, transmission voltage scale, and transmission duty cycle scale, and set the initial values ​​of the sound volume scale and scalp thickness scale;

[0011] According to the sound volume scale and scalp thickness scale, the sound volume and scalp thickness are modified one by one, and the emission voltage is 2.6V and the emission duty cycle is 50% as the initial adjustment value, the adjustment strategy is executed, and the power supply voltage of the implant is collected;

[0012] According to the supply voltage, executing a regulation strategy until the range of the supply voltage meets a threshold;

[0013] Modify the sound volume and scalp thickness, re-set the transmitting voltage to 2.6V and the transmitting duty cycle to 50% as the initial adjustment values, and re-execute the adjustment strategy until the range of the supply voltage meets the threshold;

[0014] When the range of the supply voltage meets the threshold, the corresponding sound volume, scalp thickness, transmission voltage value, and transmission duty cycle value are combined to form a set of first parameters.

[0015] Optionally, the adjustment strategy includes: when the supply voltage range is less than a threshold value, the transmission duty cycle is increased preferentially; when the transmission duty cycle is adjusted to 80% and the supply voltage is lower than 6.0V, the transmission duty cycle is reset to the initial value, the transmission voltage is increased first, and then the transmission duty cycle is increased.

[0016] Optionally, the regulation strategy further includes: when the supply voltage is higher than 6.3V, reducing the emission duty cycle or the emission voltage.

[0017] Optionally, each time the adjustment strategy is executed, at least ten supply voltage values ​​are collected.

[0018] Optionally, the method also includes, when obtaining the first parameter, checking the obtained first parameter to verify whether it is valid data, and the specific steps include: counting the maximum and minimum values ​​of ten power supply voltage values, and calculating the difference between the maximum and minimum values, if the difference is less than the error threshold, then the group of first parameters is valid data.

[0019] Optionally, if the difference is greater than the error threshold, one or more of the scales in the sound volume scale, scalp thickness scale, emission voltage scale, and emission duty cycle are halved and adjusted in order of priority. After the adjustment, the corresponding emission voltage and emission duty cycle are recovered to form a new first parameter.

[0020] Optionally, the error threshold is 0.1V.

[0021] Optionally, the priority order is sound volume scale, scalp thickness scale, emission voltage scale, and emission duty cycle scale.

[0022] The method is applied to a cochlear implant sound processor, which includes an audio acquisition module, a control chip module and an interaction module. The audio acquisition module is configured to acquire external sound data; the control chip module is configured to output a transmission voltage value and a transmission duty cycle value as adjustment instructions to the interaction module based on the external sound data; the interaction module is configured to send the adjustment instructions to the implant and acquire characteristic data from the implant, wherein the characteristic data includes a power supply voltage, a human cochlear impedance value, a voltage value between two electrodes, and a voltage value across a transformer.

[0023] The beneficial effects of the present invention are as follows: The embodiment of the present application introduces an innovative transmission energy control method for a cochlear implant sound processor, which is based on the patient's personalized scalp thickness for precise matching, and reduces the energy loss during the transmission process to a minimum. In addition, the method also has an intelligent sensing function, which can automatically identify the sound intensity of the surrounding environment, and dynamically adjust the power consumption level accordingly, ensuring that the device can maintain efficient operation under various volume conditions. By reducing unnecessary energy consumption, the battery life is effectively improved, providing users with a longer and more worry-free use experience. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0024] Figure 1 This is a flow chart of a method for controlling transmission energy of a cochlear implant sound processor in an embodiment of the present application;

[0025] Figure 2 This is a flowchart of a method for obtaining a first parameter in an embodiment of the present application;

[0026] Figure 3 Schematic diagram of the composition of the cochlear implant sound processor in the embodiment of the present application.

[0027] Description of Figure Numbers:

[0028] 1 audio acquisition module, 2 control chip module, 3 interaction module. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0029] The technical solution of the present invention is further elaborated in detail below in conjunction with the drawings and specific embodiments of the specification. Unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as those commonly understood by technicians in the technical field of the present invention. The terms used in the specification of the present invention herein are only for the purpose of describing specific embodiments and are not intended to limit the present invention. In the following description, the expression "some embodiments" is related to a subset of all possible embodiments, but it should be understood that "some embodiments" can be the same subset or different subsets of all possible embodiments, and can be combined with each other without conflict.

[0030] In the following description, a large number of specific details are provided to provide a more thorough understanding of the present invention. However, it is apparent to those skilled in the art that the present invention can be implemented without one or more of these details. In other examples, in order to avoid confusion with the present invention, some technical features well known in the art are not described.

[0031] It should be understood that the present invention can be implemented in different forms and should not be interpreted as being limited to the embodiments proposed herein. On the contrary, providing these embodiments will make the disclosure thorough and complete, and the scope of the present invention will be fully conveyed to those skilled in the art. And the purpose of the terms used herein is only to describe specific embodiments and is not intended to be a limitation of the present invention. When used herein, the singular forms of "one", "one" and "said / the" are also intended to include plural forms, unless the context clearly indicates another way. It should also be understood that the terms "compose" and / or "include" when used in this specification determine the presence of the features, integers, steps, operations, elements and / or parts, but do not exclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, parts and / or groups. When used herein, the term "and / or" includes any and all combinations of the relevant listed items.

[0032] It should also be noted that when an element is referred to as being "fixed to" another element, it may be directly on the other element or there may be a central element. When an element is considered to be "connected to" another element, it may be directly connected to the other element or there may be a central element at the same time. The terms "vertical", "horizontal", "inside", "outside", "left", "right" and similar expressions used herein are for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to be the only implementation method.

[0033] In order to fully understand the present invention, a detailed structure will be proposed in the following description to illustrate the technical solution proposed by the present invention. The optional embodiments of the present invention are described in detail as follows, but in addition to these detailed descriptions, the present invention may also have other implementations.

[0034] Please refer to the attached Figure 1 to Figure 2 The embodiment of the present invention provides a method for controlling the transmission energy of a cochlear implant sound processor, characterized in that the method comprises the following steps:

[0035] S1. Pre-build a simulation environment and obtain multiple sets of first parameters in the simulation environment;

[0036] S2. Based on the patient's scalp thickness and the corresponding first parameter, the sound processor outputs a transmission voltage value and a transmission duty cycle value as adjustment instructions to the implant;

[0037] The specific steps of obtaining multiple sets of first parameters include:

[0038] S101, dividing the sound volume scale, scalp thickness scale, transmission voltage scale, and transmission duty cycle scale, and setting initial values ​​of the sound volume scale and scalp thickness scale;

[0039] S102, modifying the sound volume and scalp thickness one by one according to the sound volume scale and the scalp thickness scale, and taking the emission voltage as 2.6V and the emission duty cycle as 50% as the initial adjustment value, executing the adjustment strategy, and collecting the power supply voltage of the implant;

[0040] S103, executing a regulation strategy according to the supply voltage until the range of the supply voltage meets a threshold;

[0041] S104, modifying the sound volume and scalp thickness, resetting the transmitting voltage to 2.6V and the transmitting duty cycle to 50% as the initial adjustment values, and re-executing the adjustment strategy until the range of the supply voltage meets the threshold;

[0042] S105. When the range of the power supply voltage meets the threshold, a set of corresponding sound volume scale, scalp thickness scale, transmission voltage value, and transmission duty cycle value is used to form a set of first parameters.

[0043] Specifically, the method for controlling the emission energy of a cochlear implant sound processor described in the present application is to first obtain multiple sets of first parameters in a simulated environment, and then adjust the first parameters when performing actual operations on patients, so that the patients can obtain the best sound experience, wherein the simulated environment refers to an environment in which the simulated sound size scale is 0 and the scalp thickness scale is 2, and in this environment, a speaker device is used to simulate the sound playback;

[0044] Exemplarily, the scalp thickness is divided into 5 scalp thickness scales: 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, which are used to divide and mark the scalp thickness of each patient; the emission voltage scale is divided into 3: 2.6V, 3.0V, 3.3V; the emission duty cycle is divided into 4 scales: 50%, 60%, 70%, 80%.

[0045] The sound volume scale is divided as follows, and each corresponding sound volume scale and corresponding volume are defined, as shown in Table 1 below.

[0046] Table 1

[0047]

[0048] When making adjustments, first start with the emission voltage scale of 2.6V and the emission duty cycle scale of 50%, and send the above instructions to the implant. If the power supply voltage of the implant cannot be collected or is lower than 6.0V, adjust it according to the adjustment strategy. If the power supply voltage of the implant is less than 6.3V, use the current sound volume, scalp thickness, emission voltage, and emission duty cycle as a group of first parameters, and so on. After modifying the sound volume and scalp thickness respectively, obtain the corresponding multiple groups of first parameters. In actual use, based on the patient's scalp thickness and the corresponding first parameters, the sound processor uses the emission voltage value and the emission duty cycle value as adjustment instructions to output to the implant for setting to achieve the best sound output.

[0049] In an optional embodiment, the adjustment strategy includes: when the supply voltage range is less than a threshold value, exemplarily, the threshold value here is 6.0V, the emission duty cycle is increased preferentially; when the emission duty cycle is adjusted to 80% and the supply voltage is lower than 6.0V, the emission duty cycle is reset to the initial value, the emission voltage is increased first, and then the emission duty cycle is increased; when the supply voltage is higher than 6.3V, the emission duty cycle or the emission voltage is decreased.

[0050] Exemplarily, if the implant power supply voltage cannot be collected or is lower than 6.0V, it means that the transmission power needs to be increased, and the transmission duty cycle scale is increased first. If the condition is not met, the transmission voltage scale is increased. In actual design, the power supply voltage is variable. In order to facilitate product engineering design, a 5% effective deviation is set, that is, the upper limit voltage is set to 6.3V. If it is higher than 6.3V, it means that the transmission power needs to be reduced. For example, when the transmission voltage is 2.6V and the transmission duty cycle is 50%, the power supply voltage of the implant does not meet the requirement of 6.0V, then the transmission duty cycle is increased and adjusted, if the transmission duty cycle is adjusted to 80%. If the power supply voltage of the implant does not meet the requirement of 6.0V, the transmission voltage is adjusted to 3V, and the transmission duty cycle is increased and adjusted upward with a transmission duty cycle of 50%.

[0051] Furthermore, each time the adjustment strategy is executed, the power supply voltage value is collected at least ten times. For example, when the transmitting voltage is 2.6V and the transmitting duty cycle is 50%, the power supply voltage value is collected ten times.

[0052] In an optional embodiment, the method further includes, when obtaining the first parameter, checking the obtained first parameter to verify whether it is valid data, and the specific steps include: counting the maximum and minimum values ​​of ten power supply voltage values, and calculating the difference between the maximum and minimum values, if the difference is less than an error threshold, then the group of first parameters is valid data, wherein the error threshold is 0.1V.

[0053] Furthermore, if the difference is greater than the error threshold, one or more of the sound volume scale, scalp thickness scale, emission voltage scale, and emission duty cycle are halved and adjusted in order of priority. After the adjustment, the corresponding emission voltage and emission duty cycle are obtained to form a new first parameter. For example, if the difference is greater than the error threshold, the sound volume scale is first adjusted from the original 0, 20, 40, 60, 80, 100, 120 to 0, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, 100, 110, 120.

[0054] Furthermore, the priority order is sound volume scale, scalp thickness scale, transmission voltage scale, and transmission duty cycle scale.

[0055] In an optional embodiment, the cochlear implant adjuster determines the patient's scalp thickness during the patient adjustment. According to the first parameter, preferably, 5 valid data are selected in combination with the sound volume scale, scalp thickness scale, transmission voltage scale, and transmission duty cycle scale, as shown in Table 2. According to these 5 data, under the specified scalp thickness scale, the transmission power (including the corresponding transmission voltage scale, transmission duty cycle scale), the instruction sequence, and then the implant power supply voltage collected are controlled by the control chip module 2. During the patient adjustment, the cochlear implant adjuster starts the adjustment mode, and the control chip module 2 runs the instructions corresponding to the 5 data in sequence. If the implant power supply voltage is not less than 6.0V, it means that the test is passed. If the implant power supply voltage cannot be collected or is less than 6.0V, it means that the scalp thickness scale corresponding to the valid data in the valid data that passed the previous test is the patient's scalp thickness.

[0056] Table 2

[0057]

[0058] Exemplarily, in the simulated environment, the scalp thickness scale is 4mm, and the collected data are as follows: when the first data is run, the collected implant voltage is 6.4V; when the second data is run, the collected implant voltage is 6.1V; when the third data is run, the collected implant voltage is 5.9V.

[0059] See also Figure 3In a second aspect of an embodiment of the present invention, a cochlear implant sound processor is disclosed, and its sound processor is used to implement the above method. The cochlear implant sound processor includes an audio acquisition module 1, a control chip module 2 and an interaction module 3. The audio acquisition module 1 is configured to obtain external sound data; the control chip module 2 is configured to output the emission voltage value and the emission duty cycle value as adjustment instructions to the interaction module 3 based on the external sound data; the interaction module 3 is configured to send the adjustment instructions and energy to the implant, and obtain characteristic data from the implant, and the characteristic data includes the power supply voltage, the impedance value of the human cochlea, the voltage value between the two electrodes, and the voltage value at both ends of the transformer. The interaction module 3 mainly drives the implant electrode to discharge, and the implant electrode stimulates the ciliary cells in the human cochlea to enable the patient to hear.

[0060] Exemplarily, the interaction module 3 receives the instruction sequence and energy from the control chip module 2. The instruction sequence of the control chip module 2 includes the sound characteristic values ​​such as the stimulation frequency, stimulation current, and stimulation electrode. It can also read the human cochlear impedance value, the voltage value between the two electrodes, and the voltage value at both ends of the transformer through the implant and return them to the control chip module 2. The energy control of the control chip module 2 includes the emission voltage and emission duty cycle provided to the interaction module 3, which are used to adjust the energy that needs to be output to the implant.

[0061] The control chip module 2 selects valid data consistent with the patient's scalp thickness according to the first parameter, and controls the data and energy interaction module 3 to control the instruction sequence and energy according to the sound volume collected by the audio collection module 1.

[0062] The sound volume collected by the audio acquisition module 1 uses a weighted overlap and add (WOLA) filter group to decompose the 4ms audio signal frame into spectrum sub-bands, and then calculate the energy of each frequency band corresponding to the audio signal frame to obtain an energy spectrum, and take the average value of the energy spectrum as the energy characteristic value of the frame, which is consistent with the sound volume scale division and corresponding range in the first parameter. The control chip module 2 controls the transmission power according to the first parameter based on the characteristic value.

[0063] The above are only specific embodiments of the present invention, but the protection scope of the present invention is not limited thereto. Any person skilled in the art can easily think of changes or substitutions within the technical scope disclosed by the present invention, which should be included in the protection scope of the present invention. The protection scope of the present invention should be based on the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A method for controlling the transmission energy of a cochlear implant sound processor, characterized in that: The method comprises the following steps: S1. Pre-build a simulation environment and obtain multiple sets of first parameters in the simulation environment; S2. Based on the patient's scalp thickness and the corresponding first parameter, the sound processor outputs a transmission voltage value and a transmission duty cycle value as adjustment instructions to the implant; The specific steps of obtaining multiple sets of first parameters include: Divide the sound volume scale, scalp thickness scale, transmission voltage scale, and transmission duty cycle scale, and set the initial values ​​of the sound volume scale and scalp thickness scale; According to the sound volume scale and scalp thickness scale, the sound volume and scalp thickness are modified one by one, and the emission voltage is 2.6V and the emission duty cycle is 50% as the initial adjustment value, the adjustment strategy is executed, and the power supply voltage of the implant is collected; According to the supply voltage, executing a regulation strategy until the range of the supply voltage meets a threshold; Modify the sound volume and scalp thickness, re-set the transmitting voltage to 2.6V and the transmitting duty cycle to 50% as the initial adjustment values, and re-execute the adjustment strategy until the range of the supply voltage meets the threshold; When the range of the supply voltage meets the threshold, the corresponding sound volume, scalp thickness, transmission voltage value, and transmission duty cycle value are combined to form a set of first parameters.

2. A method for controlling transmission energy of a cochlear implant sound processor according to claim 1, characterized in that: The adjustment strategy includes: when the range of the power supply voltage is less than the threshold, when the range of the power supply voltage is less than the threshold, the transmission duty cycle is increased first; when the transmission duty cycle is adjusted to 80% and the power supply voltage is lower than 6.0V, the transmission duty cycle is reset to the initial value, the transmission voltage is increased first, and then the transmission duty cycle is increased.

3. A method for controlling transmission energy of a cochlear implant sound processor according to claim 2, characterized in that: The regulation strategy also includes: when the supply voltage is higher than 6.3V, reducing the emission duty cycle or the emission voltage.

4. A method for controlling transmission energy of a cochlear implant sound processor according to claim 3, characterized in that: Each time the regulation strategy is executed, at least ten supply voltage values ​​are collected.

5. A method for controlling transmission energy of a cochlear implant sound processor according to claim 4, characterized in that: The method also includes, when obtaining the first parameter, checking the obtained first parameter to verify whether it is valid data, and the specific steps include: counting the maximum and minimum values ​​of ten power supply voltage values, and calculating the difference between the maximum and minimum values. If the difference is less than an error threshold, the group of first parameters is valid data.

6. A method for controlling transmission energy of a cochlear implant sound processor according to claim 5, characterized in that: If the difference is greater than the error threshold, one or more of the sound volume scale, scalp thickness scale, transmit voltage scale, and transmit duty cycle scale are halved and adjusted in order of priority. After the adjustment, the corresponding transmit voltage and transmit duty cycle are recovered to form a new first parameter.

7. A method for controlling transmission energy of a cochlear implant sound processor according to claim 6, characterized in that: The error threshold is 0.1V.

8. The method for controlling the transmission energy of a cochlear implant sound processor according to claim 6, characterized in that: The priority order is sound volume, scalp thickness, transmission voltage, and transmission duty cycle.

9. A method and device for controlling transmission energy of a cochlear implant sound processor according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that: The method is applied to a cochlear implant sound processor, which includes an audio acquisition module, a control chip module and an interaction module. The audio acquisition module is configured to acquire external sound data; the control chip module is configured to output a transmission voltage value and a transmission duty cycle value as adjustment instructions to the interaction module based on the external sound data; The interaction module is configured to send adjustment instructions to the implant and obtain characteristic data from the implant, wherein the characteristic data includes power supply voltage, human cochlear impedance value, voltage value between two electrodes, and voltage value across the transformer.

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