Hearing Probe Tube Digital Interface High-Frequency Accuracy
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current hearing testing probes face limitations in accuracy at high frequencies due to recessed probe tips, contamination issues, and restricted acoustic and microphone channel areas, leading to calibration errors and increased noise floors, while also being cumbersome and expensive to replace, and are limited to single-ear testing with analog signal transmission.
Innovation Solution
A hearing testing probe with a user-replaceable coupling member and digital interface, featuring a probe tube made from thermoplastic elastomer with reduced wall thickness, allowing for increased acoustic channel area and improved frequency response, and a symmetrical design for easy orientation, along with a digital interface for flexible and interference-resistant signal transmission.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If a recessed probe tip design is used, then contamination is reduced, but measurement precision deteriorates at high frequencies
Solution Approach 1:
The probe is divided into modular components: a reusable probe body and a replaceable probe tube. The probe tube can be detached and replaced when contaminated, eliminating the need for a recessed tip design while maintaining measurement precision. This segmentation allows the contaminable portion to be easily replaced without affecting the measurement accuracy of the probe body.
Solution Approach 2:
The probe tube is designed with specific dimensional parameters (length, diameter, wall thickness) that can be optimized for high-frequency measurements. By changing these parameters, the probe achieves both contamination resistance and high-frequency measurement precision simultaneously.
2Area of moving object
If probe tube wall thickness is reduced, then acoustic channel area increases, but manufacturing precision becomes more difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The probe tube is manufactured from thermoplastic elastomer, a flexible material that can be extruded with consistent thin walls. This material choice enables production of tubes with wall thicknesses of 0.005 inches or less while maintaining structural integrity and acoustic performance, achieving both large acoustic channel area and manufacturing feasibility.
Solution Approach 2:
The probe tube is designed as a disposable or frequently replaceable component with simple geometry. This allows use of cost-effective extrusion manufacturing processes that can produce thin-walled tubes with consistent dimensions, avoiding the need for expensive precision machining that would be required for reusable thin-walled components.
3Device complexity
If analog signal transmission is used, then device complexity is reduced, but reliability deteriorates due to interference
Solution Approach 1:
The system replaces analog electrical signal transmission with digital signal transmission. This substitution eliminates susceptibility to electromagnetic interference and signal degradation that plagues analog systems, significantly improving reliability. The digital interface uses standard communication protocols that provide error detection and correction capabilities.
Solution Approach 2:
A digital interface circuit board acts as an intermediary between the probe tube sensors and the hearing test instrument. This intermediary converts analog sensor outputs to digital signals and handles communication protocols, isolating the sensitive measurement portion from interference-prone transmission paths while maintaining system reliability.
4Ease of operation
If probe tubes are made replaceable, then ease of operation improves, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The probe is segmented into a permanent probe body and a replaceable probe tube. The probe tube features a simple bayonet or screw-mate connection that allows quick replacement without tools. This segmentation isolates the complex electronics in the reusable body while making the disposable tube simple to attach and detach, improving ease of operation with minimal added complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The probe tube design incorporates universal features such as standardized connections and multiple acoustic lumens that serve different functions (stimulus delivery, response collection, pressure equalization). This multi-functionality is achieved through a single replaceable component design, simplifying the overall system while enabling easy replacement and versatility.
Data Source
AI summary
Certain embodiments provide a hearing testing probe apparatus. The hearing testing probe apparatus includes a probe tube detachably coupled at a first end to a probe body and extending through a center hole in an eartip to align proximate a face of the eartip at a second end. The probe tube includes a plurality of stimulus lumens for receiving and carrying stimulus from the first end of the probe tube for output at the second end of the probe tube. The probe tube includes one or more microphone lumens for receiving and carrying one or more measured responses from the second end of the probe tube to one or more microphones at the first end of the probe tube.