Automated Hearing Device Parameter Transfer
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Solution Overview
Problem
Hearing device users often resist new devices due to unfamiliar sound characteristics, leading to a lack of improvement in hearing assistance, as manual adjustments are time-consuming and complex, especially when transitioning from one device to another of the same manufacturer.
Innovation Solution
An automated method to adjust a new hearing device by analyzing a previous device's settings, using either direct readout or simulation, to replicate the sound characteristics of the old device, allowing for gradual adaptation and optimizing the new device's settings without manual intervention.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If manual adjustment methods are used to match the acoustics of old and new hearing devices, then the sound characteristics can be preserved, but the process is extremely time-consuming and requires sufficient expertise
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces manual mechanical adjustment processes with an automated computer-based system that uses algorithms to calculate optimal setting parameters, eliminating the need for time-consuming manual tuning by acousticians while maintaining sound characteristic matching accuracy
Solution Approach 2:
The system reads out setting parameters from the old hearing device and uses these as a basis to calculate new settings for the new device, effectively copying and adapting the proven sound characteristics from the old device to the new device through automated parameter transfer and optimization
2Ease of operation
If direct transfer of setting parameters from old device to new device is performed, then the adjustment process is simplified, but the absolute amplification characteristic curves differ and sound quality is compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The system takes the setting parameters from the old device as a starting point and automatically calculates optimized setting parameters for the new device by applying algorithms that account for differences in device characteristics, thereby transforming the parameters to achieve accurate amplification characteristic curves while maintaining operational simplicity
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an automated calculation system as an intermediary between the old device's parameters and the new device's settings, which processes and optimizes the parameter transfer to ensure both simplicity and accuracy in the adjustment process
3Adaptability or versatility
If multiple acclimation stages are used to help users adapt to new auditory systems, then user acceptance improves, but the process requires multiple sessions at the acoustician
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary automated optimization of setting parameters before user acclimation begins, calculating the optimal settings in advance based on the old device's parameters and the new device's characteristics, thereby eliminating the need for multiple acoustician sessions during the acclimation process
Data Source
AI summary
If a hearing device user has become accustomed to the tone of a hearing device, it is difficult for him to change over to a new hearing device, since this normally possesses a different tone. Therefore, given a treatment with a second or subsequent device, the settings of the old hearing device can be acquired with a computer-controlled event and be considered in a first adjustment given the adaptation of the new hearing device. The new setting then results from the audiometric measurements, the data of the previous device, and if necessary further data. The tone of the new device is thus approximated to the old device.