Listening Device Frequency Transposition for Hearing Aid BEE
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Solution Overview
Problem
Hearing-impaired individuals face challenges in spatial hearing and speech intelligibility due to difficulties in detecting high frequencies, which are crucial for sound localization and separating multiple sound sources, especially in complex environments like cocktail parties.
Innovation Solution
The method involves adaptive frequency transposition in listening devices, using Ear, Head, and Torso Geometry, along with knowledge of the user's hearing loss, to dynamically separate and enhance sound signals by transposing donor frequency bands to target bands, improving the Better Ear Effect (BEE) and speech intelligibility.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If frequency transposition is applied to transpose high frequencies to low frequencies, then speech intelligibility is improved, but spatial hearing ability deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the frequency spectrum into multiple bands and applies different processing strategies to different bands. High-frequency bands are transposed to improve speech intelligibility, while low-frequency bands are preserved to maintain spatial hearing ability. This segmentation allows simultaneous optimization of both speech intelligibility and spatial hearing.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies frequency transposition selectively to specific frequency bands rather than uniformly across the entire spectrum. By identifying which frequency bands contain speech information and which contain spatial cues, the system applies transposition only where needed for speech intelligibility while preserving spatial information in other bands.
2Device complexity
If static frequency transposition is used, then processing is simple, but adaptability to different listening situations deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamic frequency transposition where the transposition parameters are continuously adjusted based on the current acoustic environment and user hearing characteristics. The system monitors the listening situation and adapts the transposition strength and frequency mapping in real-time, transitioning from static to dynamic processing to optimize performance across different scenarios.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent incorporates feedback mechanisms where the system monitors speech intelligibility and spatial hearing performance and adjusts the frequency transposition parameters accordingly. This closed-loop feedback allows the system to learn from the user's hearing profile and listening context, continuously optimizing the balance between speech intelligibility and spatial hearing.
Data Source
AI summary
A method of processes audio signals picked up from a sound field by a microphone system of a listening device adapted for being worn at a particular one of the left or right ear of a user, the sound field comprising sound signals from one or more sound sources, the sound signals impinging on the user from one or more directions relative to the user. Information about a user's Ear, Head, and Torso Geometry and the user's hearing ability in combination with knowledge of the spectral profile and location of current sound sources provide the means for deciding upon which frequency bands that, at a given time, contribute most to the BEE seen by the listener or the Hearing Instrument. For a given sound source, a number of donor frequency bands is determined at a given time, where an SNR-measure for the selected signal is above a predefined threshold.