Time-Varying Noise Envelope for Hearing Aid Audibility
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current hearing aid devices and personal sound amplification products fail to adequately improve audibility, speech intelligibility, and word recognition for individuals with moderate, severe, and profound hearing loss, particularly due to permanent nerve damage and issues with noise reduction and amplification, leading to complaints about muddled speech, sharp sounds, and high-frequency squealing, as well as the lack of noise dosage measurement.
Innovation Solution
The system adds audible noise with a time-varying volume envelope that is proportional to the user's restricted sound perception, using a filtered volume determiner, noise generator, modulator, and mixer to enhance audibility and speech clarity, while also providing noise exposure warnings and customizable frequency ranges based on individual audiometric thresholds.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If amplification is increased to improve audibility for frequencies with severe hearing loss, then speech intelligibility improves, but sharp or painful sounds occur and additional hearing loss may be caused
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies parameter changes by dynamically adjusting the amplification level based on the detected sound characteristics. When sharp transients or high-energy sounds are detected, the system reduces amplification gain to prevent painful sounds and potential hearing damage. This allows the system to maintain high audibility for speech frequencies while preventing harmful amplification of transient sounds.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements dynamic control by continuously monitoring the input signal and adjusting amplification in real-time. The patent uses envelope detection and transient detection circuits that respond to changing sound conditions, enabling the amplification level to adapt dynamically rather than remaining fixed. This resolves the contradiction by allowing high amplification when needed for speech intelligibility while automatically reducing it when sharp sounds are detected.
2Reliability
If noise reduction algorithms are applied to improve speech clarity, then audibility improves, but difficulty exists in separating extraneous noise from important speech information
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by targeting noise reduction specifically in frequency regions where the user has hearing loss, rather than applying uniform noise reduction across all frequencies. The system uses audiometric threshold information to identify problematic frequency regions and applies noise reduction algorithms selectively to those regions, preserving speech information while reducing extraneous noise in less critical frequency bands.
Solution Approach 2:
The system segments the audio spectrum into multiple frequency bands and applies different processing strategies to each band. By dividing the frequency spectrum and applying noise reduction selectively to specific bands where the user has hearing impairments, the system simplifies the noise separation task while maintaining speech clarity in critical frequency regions.
3Reliability
If frequency-shifting techniques are used to overcome dead bands, then audibility at damaged frequencies improves, but the implementation becomes complex and consumes many digital signal processor instruction cycles
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies parameter changes by adjusting the amplification gain for specific frequency bands corresponding to the user's dead bands, rather than implementing complex frequency-shifting operations. The system uses simple gain adjustment in the frequency domain to compensate for hearing losses at problematic frequencies, achieving the same audibility improvement with much lower computational complexity.
4Reliability
If high frequency amplification is applied to improve speech intelligibility, then word recognition improves, but high frequency squealing and feedback occur
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies feedback by using a feedback detection circuit that monitors for oscillations and squealing conditions. When high-frequency feedback is detected, the system automatically reduces amplification gain in the affected frequency range to eliminate the squealing while maintaining adequate speech intelligibility. This closed-loop control resolves the contradiction by dynamically adjusting amplification based on actual feedback conditions.
Data Source
AI summary
A method and apparatus for adding audible noise with time varying volume to audio devices are disclosed which makes the time varying volume envelope of the added audible noise proportional to the time varying volume envelope of sound for frequencies where an individual has a restricted range of perception. The method and apparatus are used to improve the audibility, speech intelligibility, and word recognition characteristics in audio devices.