Mobile Hearing Aid Control for Adaptive Gain and Acoustic Shock Prevention
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Solution Overview
Problem
Users of digital hearing aids face difficulties in adjusting fitting information according to changing environments, leading to inconvenience and potential acoustic shock due to inadequate noise management, as they struggle to accurately identify the hearing aid's operation state, especially in situations where environmental noise levels change significantly.
Innovation Solution
A mobile communication terminal equipped with a radio unit, environment measurer, and hearing aid controller that analyzes environmental signals to provide control commands and information for the hearing aid, allowing for real-time adjustments in amplification gains and emergency operations to manage noise levels effectively.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If the hearing aid operates with fixed fitting information, then the device complexity is reduced, but the adaptability to changing environments deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The mobile communication terminal serves as an intermediary device that measures environmental signals, determines appropriate fitting information, and transmits control commands to the hearing aid. This externalizes the environmental adaptation functionality from the hearing aid itself, allowing the hearing aid to maintain simple fixed fitting information while achieving environmental adaptability through the mobile terminal's intervention.
2Measurement precision
If the hearing aid provides detailed operation state information, then the measurement precision of operation state is improved, but the loss of information to the user increases
Solution Approach 1:
The mobile communication terminal acts as an information intermediary that receives detailed operation state data from the hearing aid, processes this information, and presents it in a user-friendly format through its display interface. This resolves the contradiction by maintaining high measurement precision internally while managing information loss through effective communication and presentation at the user interface level.
3Ease of operation
If the hearing aid automatically adjusts fitting information, then the ease of operation is improved, but the reliability of fitting information accuracy deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The mobile communication terminal serves as a reliable intermediary that uses its environment measurer to objectively measure environmental signals and determine appropriate fitting information based on pre-established environmental profiles. This externalizes the decision-making process from the hearing aid to a more capable device, improving ease of operation while maintaining or enhancing reliability through the mobile terminal's superior environmental assessment and processing capabilities.
Data Source
AI summary
A mobile communication terminal interacts with a digital hearing aid and a wireless hearing aid uses the mobile communication terminal. When a user having the mobile communication terminal interworking with the digital hearing aid operates the hearing aid, an amplification function suitable for auditory characteristics of the user is performed. That is, when auditory information of the user is sent to the terminal, the terminal adjusts an amplification gain to prevent the acoustic shock by measuring an environmental signal. The terminal computes an environment profile by analyzing the measured environmental signal and auditory information of the user sent from the hearing aid and automatically adjusts a non-linear amplification level according to a user environment by sending the environment profile to the hearing aid.