Hearing Aid First-Time User Adaptation via Dynamic Noise Reduction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Newly fitted hearing devices often prove too powerful for first-time users, particularly in higher frequencies, leading to unsettling audibility of softer sounds, and existing fitting systems fail to optimize speech intelligibility by not adequately addressing the rest of the hearing aid feature set during the initial adaptation period.
Innovation Solution
Implementing special first-time user settings for algorithms such as directionality and noise reduction, which are gradually adapted over time to prescribed settings, allowing for more aggressive noise reduction and directional focus, thereby reducing the impact of surrounding sounds and enhancing target signal clarity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If gain is reduced for first-time users, then listening comfort is improved, but speech intelligibility deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The hearing aid system segments the adaptation process into distinct phases: initial phase with reduced gain and enhanced noise reduction/directionality, and subsequent phase with gradual gain increase. This segmentation allows different processing algorithms to be optimized for different stages of user adaptation, resolving the contradiction between comfort and intelligibility at different times.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary action by applying aggressive noise reduction and directional processing before the user's auditory system is fully adapted to amplified sounds. This preliminary optimization of the acoustic environment makes the subsequent introduction of higher gain more tolerable, preventing overwhelming the user while preserving speech intelligibility from the outset.
2Measurement precision
If aggressive noise reduction and directionality are applied, then target signal clarity is improved, but ambient sound suppression may reduce overall audibility
Solution Approach 1:
The noise reduction and directional processing parameters are made dynamic, adapting automatically to the user's adaptation stage and environmental conditions. In the initial phase, more aggressive settings enhance target signal clarity, while later phases gradually reduce processing intensity to maintain overall audibility as the user adapts, resolving the contradiction through time-varying optimization.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes key parameters including noise reduction threshold, directional beamwidth, and processing gain according to the user's adaptation progress. By dynamically adjusting these parameters, the system maintains optimal target signal clarity while preventing excessive suppression of ambient sounds that would harm overall audibility.
3Loss of information
If prescribed settings are applied from the beginning, then speech intelligibility is optimized, but user comfort and acceptance deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements periodic action through scheduled adjustments of processing parameters over time. Instead of applying prescribed settings continuously from the start, the system periodically increases gain and adjusts processing intensity according to a predetermined adaptation schedule, allowing users to gradually accept the full functionality while maintaining optimal speech intelligibility throughout the process.
Data Source
AI summary
The application relates to a method of fitting a hearing device to a user, the method comprising a) Defining a user as a first time user; b) Selecting a processing algorithm to have special first time user settings; c) Defining prescribed settings for the user; d) Defining special first time user settings for said processing algorithm; e) Defining a scheme for adapting said special first time user settings to said prescribed settings over time. The application further relates to a method of a fitting system and to a hearing device. The object of the present application is to provide an alternative fitting scheme for a first time user of a hearing device. The method further provides that the processing algorithm to have special first time user settings is selected from the group comprising noise reduction algorithms, directionality algorithms, binaural compression algorithms, and a combination thereof. The method provides an alternative way of customizing a first time user of a hearing device to the usage of the hearing device. The invention may e.g. be used in hearing devices that need to be customized to a particular user's wishes.