Hearing Prosthesis Beamforming Adaptation to Microphone Placement
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Solution Overview
Problem
Hearing prostheses with beamforming microphone arrays often provide inadequate performance when the microphone array is not positioned at the ideal or nominal location on the recipient's head, leading to suboptimal sound amplification and attenuation.
Innovation Solution
Measure spatial characteristics of the beamforming microphone array during fitting, determine specific beamformer coefficients based on these measurements, and configure the prosthesis with tailored coefficients corresponding to the actual location, rather than using a standard 'one size fits all' approach.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If a standard beamforming microphone array configuration is used, then the device complexity is reduced and ease of manufacture is improved, but the performance deteriorates when the microphone array is not positioned at the ideal location
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the parameters of the beamforming coefficients based on the actual measured location of the microphone array. By measuring the spatial characteristics and calculating location-specific beamforming coefficients, the system adapts to variations in microphone array placement while maintaining optimal sound processing performance
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs self-adjustment by measuring its own spatial characteristics and automatically calculating the appropriate beamforming coefficients based on its actual location. This self-service approach eliminates the need for manual configuration or ideal placement requirements
2Reliability
If the microphone array is positioned at the ideal location, then the sound processing performance is optimized, but the surgical flexibility is reduced and implant placement becomes more difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces dynamic adaptation by measuring the actual microphone array location and adjusting the beamforming coefficients accordingly. This dynamic approach allows the system to maintain optimal performance regardless of the static placement variations that occur during surgery
Solution Approach 2:
The system incorporates feedback by measuring the spatial characteristics of the microphone array and using this information to determine the appropriate beamforming coefficients. This feedback loop ensures that performance is optimized based on the actual configuration rather than assumed ideal conditions
3Reliability
If location-specific beamforming coefficients are calculated, then the sound processing performance is improved for individual placements, but the device complexity and configuration time increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces complex mechanical positioning requirements with a computational solution. Instead of requiring precise physical placement, the system uses spatial measurements and computational algorithms to achieve optimal performance, substituting mechanical precision with computational adaptation
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed embodiments include systems and methods of configuring, e.g., a hearing prosthesis comprising a beamforming microphone array having two or more microphones. Some embodiments include (i) storing a plurality of sets of beamformer coefficients in memory, where each set of beamformer coefficients corresponds to one of a plurality of zones on a recipient's head, and (ii) configuring the hearing prosthesis with a set of beamformer coefficients that corresponds to the zone on the recipient's head where the beamforming microphone array is located. Other embodiments include determining a set of beamformer coefficients based on magnitude and phase differences between microphones of the beamforming array, where the magnitude and phase differences are determined from a plurality of head related transfer function measurements for the microphones.