Hearing Aid Self-Voice Recognition Threshold

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing hearing aid technologies struggle to reliably distinguish between the wearer's own voice and other noises, leading to suboptimal operation and increased error rates in self-voice recognition.

Innovation Solution

A method for operating a hearing aid that sets a user-dependent threshold value for self-voice recognition, using a calibration procedure to generate individual feature values, and adjusts the threshold based on the user's environment and noise level, enabling accurate differentiation between the wearer's voice and other sounds.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Device complexity

If a fixed threshold value is used for self-voice recognition, then the device complexity is reduced, but the reliability of voice detection deteriorates due to increased error rates

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvethreshold setting complexityVSAvoidself-voice recognition reliability
Core Design Contradiction:
Device complexityVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies preliminary action by performing a calibration procedure before normal operation, where the hearing aid records the user's voice characteristics and determines an individualized threshold value. This pre-established threshold is then used during actual self-voice recognition, eliminating the need for complex real-time adjustments while maintaining high reliability through user-specific optimization.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

2Ease of operation

If a fixed threshold value is used for self-voice recognition, then the ease of operation is improved, but the measurement precision of voice detection deteriorates

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvethreshold adjustment easeVSAvoidvoice detection precision
Core Design Contradiction:
Ease of operationVSMeasurement precision

Solution Approach 1:

The patent implements self-service by enabling the hearing aid to automatically perform calibration and determine the optimal threshold value for each individual user without requiring manual adjustment. The device independently records voice samples, analyzes characteristics, and sets the threshold, thereby maintaining ease of operation while achieving high detection precision through personalized calibration.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #25Self-service

3Reliability

If individual calibration is performed for each user, then the reliability of self-voice recognition is improved, but the loss of time during setup increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveself-voice recognition reliabilityVSAvoidcalibration time
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies partial action by performing calibration with a limited set of voice samples rather than requiring extensive recording sessions. The system determines the individual threshold using a sufficient but not excessive number of recordings, thereby achieving reliable self-voice recognition while minimizing the time investment required during the calibration phase.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #16Partial or excessive action

Data Source

PatentEP3598778B1Hearing device and method for operating a hearing device for detecting the own voice on the basis of an individual threshold value
Publication Date: 2025.07.02 SIVANTOS PTE LTD
  • EP3598778B1 patent drawingFigure 1~2
  • EP3598778B1 patent drawingFigure 3

AI summary

The invention relates to a method for operating a hearing aid (2), wherein a sound is recorded by means of a microphone (4), the sound is analyzed with regard to its correspondence with the hearing aid wearer's own voice, and a feature value (M) is generated which indicates how closely the sound corresponds to the hearing aid wearer's own voice, wherein the wearer's own voice is a sound type (G1), wherein the feature value (M) is compared with a threshold value (S), wherein the sound is recognized as the wearer's own voice depending on whether the feature value (M) is above or below the threshold value (S), and wherein the hearing aid (2) is switched between several operating modes depending on whether the sound has been recognized as the wearer's own voice. The method is characterized in that the threshold value (S) is set according to the user.This results in improved voice recognition (10) which distinguishes the hearing aid wearer's own voice particularly reliably from another type of noise (G2). The invention further relates to a hearing aid (2) with corresponding voice recognition (10).