Binaural Hearing Device Impulse Detection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Users of hearing protection devices and hearing aids experience discomfort in impulse environments due to short-duration, high-energy sounds, which existing technologies fail to effectively detect and mitigate.
Innovation Solution
A binaural hearing device system with a binaural impulse environment detector and method of binaural signal processing that converts sound into audio signals, detects impulses, processes them, and adjusts output to alleviate discomfort by attenuating impulses without affecting the user's sense of direction.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If hearing protection devices and hearing aids amplify sounds in impulse environments, then speech intelligibility is improved, but user comfort deteriorates due to high-energy short-duration sounds
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the audio signal into multiple frequency bands using filter banks, allowing independent processing of different frequency ranges. This enables selective attenuation of impulse sounds in specific frequency bands while preserving speech frequencies, thereby maintaining speech intelligibility while reducing discomfort from impulse sounds.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent dynamically changes signal processing parameters based on detected impulse characteristics. When impulses are detected, the system adjusts attenuation levels, time constants, and frequency band configurations to reduce the impact of high-energy sounds while preserving normal speech processing parameters for ongoing communication.
2Device complexity
If monaural impulse detection is used, then device complexity is reduced, but spatial awareness deteriorates due to lack of binaural coordination
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges impulse detection from both ears into a coordinated binaural system. The binaural impulse environment detector combines information from left and right microphones to determine the presence and characteristics of impulse sounds, enabling spatially-aware processing that preserves directional information while providing comprehensive impulse protection.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses feedback from binaural impulse detection to dynamically adjust signal processing parameters in both hearing devices. The detected impulse characteristics from either ear provide feedback that triggers coordinated attenuation responses, maintaining spatial awareness while protecting against impulse sounds from any direction.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If aggressive impulse attenuation is applied, then user comfort is improved, but speech intelligibility deteriorates due to over-attenuation of valid sounds
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamic signal processing that adapts attenuation levels based on real-time impulse detection. The system applies strong attenuation only when and where impulses are detected, while maintaining normal gain and processing parameters for continuous speech signals. This dynamic approach prevents over-attenuation of valid speech sounds while effectively reducing impulse sound discomfort.
Solution Approach 2:
The system applies partial attenuation selectively to frequency bands and time periods where impulses are detected, rather than uniform aggressive attenuation across all frequencies and times. This partial action approach targets only the harmful impulse components while preserving the majority of speech information, avoiding the speech intelligibility degradation that would result from excessive broad-spectrum attenuation.
Data Source
AI summary
A hearing device and a method is provided that alleviate discomfort caused by sound impulses, such as a door slam, clinking of silverware, jangling of keys, etc., by converting sound into an audio signal, subjecting the audio signal to a frequency transformation, detecting presence of an impulse in the audio signal based on the frequency transformed audio signal, and processing the audio signal into a processed audio signal in response to detected presence of the impulse in the audio signal, converting the processed signal into an output sound signal, and emitting the output sound signal towards an eardrum of a human. The processing may involve reducing the gain of the output sound signal if an impulse is detected.