Method and system for reducing noise pollution caused by medical instruments

Abstract

Method for reducing noise exposure caused by medical instruments (2), wherein at least one microphone (1) acquires sound signal data of a sound signal (12), wherein the sound signal data is transmitted to a computing device (4), wherein the computing device (4) generates anti-noise signal data (5) using an artificial intelligence-based method, wherein a bone conduction receiver (6) generates an anti-noise signal (13) based on the anti-noise signal data (5), and wherein the anti-noise signal (13) interacts with the sound signal (12) in such a way as to reduce noise exposure, characterized in that at least one electrocardiography sensor (8) acquires electrocardiography data and / or that at least one body temperature sensor (9) acquires body temperature data and / or that electrodermal data is acquired via an electrodermal sensor (10).and that the electrocardiography data and / or the body temperature data and / or the electrodermal data are transmitted to the computing unit (4) and that, based on the electrocardiography data and / or the electrodermal data and / or the body temperature data, stress management data is generated by the computing unit (4) using the artificial intelligence-based algorithm, and that, based on the stress management data, a display of a virtual reality headset (19) is controlled and / or a sound emission of the bone conduction receiver (6) is controlled.

Description

[0001] The invention relates to a method for reducing noise pollution caused by medical instruments.

[0002] Furthermore, the invention relates to a system for reducing noise pollution caused by medical instruments.

[0003] The disclosure presented here relates generally to the reduction of noise pollution caused by medical instruments. This could include, for example, drilling noise generated by the turbine of a dental hand instrument.

[0004] Such noise levels cause anxiety and discomfort in many patients. For example, it is estimated that in the USA, 50% of the population does not visit the dentist regularly due to these fears, and that 15% of urgently needed dental treatments are missed because of anxiety. In Germany, 60% of the population report feeling uncomfortable during a dental visit, with 8% of the German population avoiding dental visits altogether due to fear.

[0005] The anxiety-inducing factors are, in 33% of cases, the sensation of the drill's vibration and, in 31% of cases, the drilling noise itself.

[0006] Another problem caused by the noise pollution generated by medical instruments is the risk of hearing damage to the user and any assistants due to prolonged exposure to the sound source.

[0007] Various approaches are known from practice to alleviate patients' anxiety about medical or dental treatments. For example, nitrous oxide offers an easy-to-administer form of sedation. However, this is problematic because patients often refuse to take sedatives, and a recovery period is also required after administration.

[0008] It is also known to treat patients under hypnosis. However, this does not work for every patient and is also very time-consuming and can only be performed by a few people who have the appropriate training.

[0009] It is also known to use conventional in-ear headphones with filter-based active noise cancellation (ANC) to reduce noise pollution. However, this has the disadvantage that a significant portion of the ambient noise is dampened for the wearer of the in-ear headphones, so that, for example, conversations are severely limited.

[0010] Devices or methods for reducing the noise pollution of medical devices are known from JP 2006 325 895 A, JP2006 181 257 A, DE 10 2018 117 629 A1, US 6466 673 B1, DE 10 2019 206 141 A1, US2021 / 0 161 498 A1, CN1 14 446 275 A, US2019 / 0 012 446 A1 and DE 10 2007 054 051 A1.

[0011] The present invention therefore aims to design and further develop a method such that a reliable reduction of noise pollution caused by medical instruments is achieved using simple means. Furthermore, a system for reducing noise pollution caused by medical instruments is to be presented.

[0012] According to the invention, the foregoing problem with respect to the method is solved by the features of claim 1. According to this claim, a method for reducing noise pollution caused by medical instruments is characterized in that at least one microphone captures sound signal data of a sound signal, the sound signal data is transmitted to a computing device, the computing device generates anti-noise signal data using an artificial intelligence-based method, a bone conduction receiver generates an anti-noise signal based on the anti-noise signal data, and the anti-noise signal interacts with the sound signal in such a way as to reduce noise pollution.that electrocardiography data is acquired from at least one electrocardiography sensor and / or that body temperature data is acquired from at least one body temperature sensor and / or that electrodermal data is acquired via an electrodermal sensor, and that the electrocardiography data and / or the body temperature data and / or the electrodermal data are transmitted to the computing unit, and that, based on the electrocardiography data and / or the electrodermal data and / or the body temperature data, the computing unit generates stress management data using the artificial intelligence-based algorithm, and that, based on the stress management data, a display on virtual reality glasses is controlled and / or a sound emission from the bone conduction receiver is controlled.

[0013] In accordance with the invention, it has first been recognized that the underlying problem can be solved in a surprisingly simple manner by generating an anti-noise signal using a bone conduction receiver. This anti-noise signal is then transmitted to the user via bone conduction. The anti-noise signal interacts with the sound signal in the sense of active noise cancellation, such that the noise level is at least reduced by means of destructive interference. A significant advantage of using a bone conduction receiver is that it is extremely effective at generating an anti-noise signal, while the wearer can still perceive ambient sounds, such as a conversation, since these are only minimally affected by the anti-noise signal and the ear canal is not blocked.In a further aspect of the invention, it has been recognized that the generation of the anti-noise signal data is made possible in a particularly simple and precise manner when an artificial intelligence-based method is used. This allows for the targeted suppression of unwanted noises, for which the artificial intelligence method can be pre-trained. Through appropriately generated anti-noise signal data and the generation of the anti-noise signal via a bone conduction receiver, the noise exposure caused by a medical instrument is significantly reduced for the user. A further advantage of using the artificial intelligence-based method is that the generation of the anti-noise signal is dynamic and not static, based on a filter. Advantageously, the generation of the anti-noise signal by the bone conduction receiver creates a spherical quiet zone with a diameter of approximately 1 to 4 cm.In the quiet zone, which lies in the area of ​​the inner ear of the wearer of the bone conduction hearing aid, the noise exposure is minimized or completely eliminated by the anti-noise signal.

[0014] Within the context of this disclosure, the term "medical instrument" is to be understood in the broadest sense; it may, for example, be a vacuum pump, a turbine, a micromotor, a 3-way syringe, an ultrasonic scaler, a saliva ejector, or any other instrument or device acting as a sound source.

[0015] Within the context of this disclosure, the term “noise exposure” is to be understood as the sound signal generated by the medical instrument and perceived by a person, for example a patient, a doctor or support staff.

[0016] According to an advantageous embodiment, at least one vibration sensor could be arranged for acquiring vibration data. The vibration data can be transmitted to the computing unit analogously to the sound signal data and can be used by the computing unit, in addition to the sound signal data, to determine the anti-sound signal data. This has the advantage that, based on the additional data, an improved determination of the anti-sound signal data is possible using the artificial intelligence-based method. Advantageously, the vibration sensor can be arranged on or in the bone conduction receiver, in particular in or on the transducer capsule of the bone conduction receiver.

[0017] Advantageously, the artificial intelligence method can be based on a recurrent neural network (RNN), particularly using long short-term memory technology. These are models that can recognize and understand sequential data, such as audio data, text data, or the position of an object over time. Recurrent neural networks have the advantage of being particularly effective for generating anti-noise signal data because they recognize patterns over time. Thus, dynamic anti-noise generation based on artificial intelligence is achieved.

[0018] A further advantage is that the sound signal can lie in a frequency range of 1.5 kHz to 25 kHz, particularly from 2 kHz to 20 kHz. Since the frequencies of sound pollution caused by medical instruments lie in this range, this noise is effectively reduced, whereas other ambient noises that lie outside or below these frequency ranges can still be perceived by the wearer of the bone conduction hearing aids.

[0019] According to an advantageous embodiment, the computing facility could be configured as a distributed computing unit. In other words, the computing unit could be a cloud. This has the advantage that the computationally intensive generation of the anti-noise signal data can be carried out decentrally and in real time. It is also conceivable and advantageous that the sound signal data and the anti-noise signal data are exchanged with the computing facility via a local computing unit, such as a mobile device or a personal computer. For this purpose, the local computing unit could have a corresponding, preferably mobile, application (app), and the computing facility could have an application programming interface (API) to manage the communication between the artificial intelligence-based method and the application.Furthermore, a library of audio files could be stored on the local processing unit, which can be played back by the bone conduction hearing aid when needed. For example, the recorded sound signal data can be transmitted wirelessly (via Bluetooth or another standard) or via cable to a mobile phone or tablet serving as the processing unit. This processing unit, in turn, is connected to the central processing unit, particularly a cloud service, for example via the internet, and can transmit the sound signal data to the central processing unit. The central processing unit then transmits the anti-sound signal data generated using artificial intelligence to the processing unit. The central processing unit uses this anti-sound signal data to control the bone conduction hearing aid, thus generating the anti-sound signal.

[0020] Furthermore, it is conceivable that the computing device is configured as a local computer, for example, a mobile device (cell phone, tablet computer, laptop computer, etc.) or a desktop computer. This has the advantage that only a data connection between the local computer and the microphone or bone conduction receiver is required. Thus, the user is not necessarily dependent on a connection to an external network, such as the internet. The generation of the anti-sound signal data using the artificial intelligence method then takes place on the local computer.

[0021] In a further manner according to the invention, electrocardiography data is acquired by at least one electrocardiography sensor and / or body temperature data is acquired by at least one body temperature sensor and / or electrodermal data is acquired via an electrodermal sensor. The acquisition of the electrocardiography data, the body temperature data, and the electrodermal data each makes it possible to obtain further values ​​of the user of the method, which allow conclusions to be drawn about the user's stress level. The electrodermal data describes the electrical skin resistance, i.e., the so-called skin conductance. Increased emotional stress typically leads to increased perspiration, which affects skin conductance.Furthermore, the electrocardiography data and / or body temperature data and / or electrodermal data are transmitted to the computer unit. Based on this data, the computer unit uses an artificial intelligence-based algorithm to generate stress management data. This stress management data is used to initiate specific measures aimed at reducing the user's perceived stress. The stress management data controls a display on virtual reality glasses. In this case, the virtual reality glasses would be worn by the user, for example, a patient, and would depict a calming environment. Alternatively or additionally, the stress management data controls the sound emission from the bone conduction hearing aid; for example, relaxing sounds or music are played.

[0022] With regard to the device, the problem is solved by the features of claim 7. This specifies a system comprising a modular system for reducing noise exposure caused by medical instruments and a bone conduction receiver, wherein the modular system is configured to carry out a method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the modular system has at least one interface for establishing a data connection with a computing device and / or for establishing a data connection with a computing unit, and wherein the modular system has at least one electrocardiography sensor for acquiring electrocardiography data and / or at least one body temperature sensor for acquiring body temperature data and / or at least one electrodermal sensor for acquiring electrodermal data.

[0023] It has been recognized that a commercially available bone conduction receiver can be expanded by the modular system according to the invention into a system that is ideally suited to reducing noise exposure caused by medical instruments and can also generally serve to manage stress for the user, particularly a patient. It is conceivable that at least one connecting element is provided to establish a physical connection between the modular system and a bone conduction receiver.

[0024] It should be noted that the method according to the invention described above includes features that have a device-specific embodiment. These features and the associated advantages may expressly be part of the claimed module system.

[0025] A virtual reality headset can be advantageously integrated. This allows the user to be shown calming visual content to reduce stress. Alternatively or additionally, a microphone can be integrated to capture an audio signal. This design is particularly beneficial if the bone conduction hearing aid being used does not have a microphone or does not have a microphone of sufficient quality.

[0026] There are now various ways to advantageously elaborate and further develop the teaching of the present invention. For this purpose, reference should be made, on the one hand, to the claims subordinate to claims 1 and 7, and on the other hand, to the following explanation of preferred embodiments of the invention with reference to the drawings. In conjunction with the explanation of the preferred embodiments of the invention with reference to the drawings, generally preferred embodiments and further developments of the teaching are also explained.

[0027] The drawing shows Fig. 1 in a schematic representation an embodiment of a method according to the invention, Fig. 2 in a schematic representation an embodiment of a method according to the invention, wherein a device according to the invention is also shown. Fig. 3 an embodiment of a system according to the invention, Fig. 4 that in Fig. 3. The system shown additionally features virtual reality glasses, and Fig. 5. A schematic representation of the structure of a human ear.

[0028] In the figures, identical elements are labelled with the same reference symbols. Furthermore, not all elements in every figure are labelled with a reference symbol, in order to improve clarity.

[0029] Fig. Figure 1 shows a schematic representation of the process according to the invention. A microphone 1 captures the sound signal data 2 of a sound signal generated by a medical instrument 2. The medical instrument 2 could, for example, be a dentist's handheld device. The sound signal data 2 is transmitted to a processing unit 3, for example, via a wireless interface such as Bluetooth. In this embodiment, the processing unit 3 is a local computer, such as a mobile phone or a tablet computer. The processing unit 3 transmits the sound signal data 2 to a computing device 4, for example, via the internet to a distributed computing unit, such as a cloud.

[0030] In the cloud, an artificial intelligence-based process is used to generate anti-sound signal data 5 from the sound signal data 2, which is then transmitted to the processing unit 3. The processing unit 3 transmits the anti-sound signal data 5 to a bone conduction receiver 6 or uses the anti-sound signal data 5 to control the bone conduction receiver 6, so that it generates an anti-sound signal that counteracts the sound signal of the medical instrument 2. It is essential that the anti-sound signal is structure-borne sound. Furthermore, in Fig. 1. It can be seen that a vibration sensor 21 is arranged on or in the bone conduction receiver 6. This sensor detects vibrations generated by the instrument 2, for example, a drill, as vibration data. The vibration data is also transmitted to the processing unit 4 and taken into account when determining the anti-sound signal data 5. It should be noted that the vibration sensor 21 is not mandatory, but is advantageous. The anti-sound signal data 5 can also be generated solely based on the sound signal data.

[0031] Fig. Figure 2 shows a schematic representation of an embodiment of a method according to the invention, in which a device according to the invention is also shown. The method according to Fig. 2 essentially corresponds to the one in Fig. The procedure described in point 1. In this case, Fig. Figure 1 additionally shows that the bone conduction receiver 6 is worn on the user's head.

[0032] Furthermore, a modular system according to the invention is shown, comprising an interface 7 for establishing a data connection with the processing unit 4, an electrocardiography sensor 8, a body temperature sensor 9, and an electrodermal sensor 10. The electrocardiography data, body temperature data, and electrodermal data acquired by these sensors 8, 9, and 10 are transmitted to the processing unit 4 via the interface 7. The processing unit 4, in turn, transmits this data to the computing device 4, which generates stress management data using artificial intelligence. The stress management data can, for example, be used to play a relaxing audio signal from the bone conduction hearing aid 6.

[0033] The generation of the anti-sound signal is analogous to that described above. Fig. The procedure described in section 1 is noted. It should be noted that even a local computer, such as a mobile phone or a tablet computer, can be comprehensively equipped with artificial intelligence as a computing device.

[0034] It is also conceivable that stress indices could be calculated based on electrocardiography data, body temperature data and electrodermal data and displayed on the local computer, so that the patient's stress level could be represented.

[0035] Furthermore, in Fig. Figure 2 shows the ambient noise 11, the sound signal 12 of the medical instrument 2, and the anti-sound signal 13. The sound signal 12 is transmitted both through the air and via structure-borne sound when the instrument 1 is in contact with the teeth, for example. Since the ambient noise 11 is typically in a frequency range below 1.5 kHz, and the sound signal 12 and the anti-sound signal 13 are in a frequency range of approximately 2 kHz to 20 kHz, the ambient noise 11 remains audible to the patient, whereas the noise exposure from the sound signal 12 is at least reduced or completely eliminated.

[0036] Fig. Figure 3 shows an embodiment of a system according to the invention. This system features the element described in Fig. Figure 2 describes a modular system and a bone conduction receiver 6. A microphone 1 can be arranged on the modular system and / or on the bone conduction receiver 6. Furthermore, a connecting element (not shown) could be arranged on the modular system to create a physical connection between the modular system and the bone conduction receiver 6.

[0037] Fig. 4 shows this in Fig. The system shown in Figure 3 additionally features virtual reality glasses 19. These can be used to display visual, stress-reducing signals to the wearer, such as landscape images, instructions for hypnosis, etc. It can be seen that the glasses 19 have a cover 20 to protect them from contamination. The cover 20 is advantageously sterilizable and / or autoclavable and can be made, for example, of a plastic, in particular polyurethane. As shown, a wired connection to the local computer serving as the computing unit 3 or computing device 4 can be used, or a wireless interface, such as Bluetooth, can be employed.

[0038] Fig.Figure 5 shows a schematic representation of the structure of a human ear with the external auditory canal 14, Eustachian tube 15, semicircular canals 16, and cochlea 17. A spherical quiet zone 18, with a diameter of approximately 1 cm to 4 cm, is also shown. In the quiet zone 18, the sound signal 12 is reduced or canceled out by the anti-sound signal 13 generated by the bone conduction receiver 6, so that the user experiences only minimal noise exposure.

[0039] Regarding further advantageous embodiments of the teaching according to the invention, reference is made to the general part of the description and to the attached claims in order to avoid repetition.

[0040] Finally, it should be expressly pointed out that the exemplary embodiments of the teaching described above serve only to discuss the claimed teaching, but do not limit it to these exemplary embodiments. Reference symbol list 1 microphone 2 Instrument 3 Computing Unit 4 Computer equipment 5 Anti-noise signal data 6 bone conduction headphones 7 Interface 8 Electrocardiography sensor 9 Body temperature sensor 10 Electrodermal sensor 11 Ambient noises 12 Sound signal 13 Anti-noise signal 14 Ear canal 15 Eustachian tube 16 arched galleries 17 Cochlea 18 Rest area 19 Virtual Reality Glasses 20 essays 21 Vibration sensor

Claims

[1] Method for reducing noise exposure caused by medical instruments (2), wherein at least one microphone (1) captures sound signal data of a sound signal (12), the sound signal data is transmitted to a computing device (4), the computing device (4) generates anti-noise signal data (5) using an artificial intelligence-based method, a bone conduction receiver (6) generates an anti-noise signal (13) based on the anti-noise signal data (5), and the anti-noise signal (13) interacts with the sound signal (12) in such a way as to reduce noise exposure. characterized by, that electrocardiography data is recorded by at least one electrocardiography sensor (8) and / or that body temperature data is recorded by at least one body temperature sensor (9) and / or that electrodermal data is recorded via an electrodermal sensor (10), and that the electrocardiography data and / or the body temperature data and / or the electrodermal data are transmitted to the computing unit (4) and that, based on the electrocardiography data and / or the electrodermal data and / or the body temperature data, stress management data is generated by the computing unit (4) using the artificial intelligence-based algorithm, and that, based on the stress management data, a display of a virtual reality headset (19) is controlled and / or a sound emission of the bone conduction receiver (6) is controlled. [2] Method according to claim 1, characterized bythat the artificial intelligence method is based on a recurrent neural network (RNN), in particular using a long short-term memory technology. [3] Method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized by , that the sound signal (12) lies in a frequency range of 1.5 kHz to 25 kHz, in particular 2 kHz to 20 kHz. [4] Method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized by , that the computing device (4) is configured as a distributed computing unit (3). [5] Method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized by , that the sound signal data and the anti-sound signal data (5) are exchanged with the computing device (4) via a local computing unit (3), for example a mobile handheld device or a personal computer. [6] Method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized by , that the computing device (4) is configured as a local computer, for example as a mobile terminal or as a personal computer. [7] System comprising a modular system for reducing noise exposure caused by medical instruments (2) and a bone conduction receiver, wherein the modular system is configured to carry out a method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the modular system has at least one interface (7) for establishing a data connection with a computing device (4) and / or for establishing a data connection with a computing unit (3), and wherein the modular system has at least one electrocardiography sensor (8) for recording electrocardiography data and / or at least one body temperature sensor (9) for recording body temperature data and / or at least one electrodermal sensor (10) for recording electrodermal data. [8] System according to claim 7, characterized by , that the modular system includes a virtual reality headset (19) and / or a microphone (1).

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