Hearing Prosthesis Frequency Shifting for Audibility
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Hearing prostheses, particularly vibration-based devices, face limitations in delivering high-frequency sound signals due to attenuation through the skin and bone, leading to reduced audibility and feedback issues, and existing solutions do not effectively address these challenges.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of frequency shifting techniques in hearing prostheses, including level-dependent, voice-dependent, and mode-dependent frequency shifting, to compensate for these limitations by altering the frequency content of sound signals, thereby improving audibility and reducing feedback.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of energy
If vibration-based hearing devices transmit high-frequency sound signals through skin and bone, then sound transmission is achieved, but attenuation occurs leading to reduced audibility
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies frequency shifting to transform high-frequency sound signals into lower frequency signals before transmission through the vibration mechanism. This parameter change in frequency compensates for the attenuation characteristics of skin and bone transmission, which preferentially attenuate high frequencies. The frequency-shifted signals are then transmitted via vibration and perceived as sound by the recipient, effectively resolving the audibility issue.
2Reliability
If high-frequency sound signals are transmitted through vibration mechanisms, then sound perception is enabled, but feedback issues arise
Solution Approach 1:
By shifting the frequency of transmitted sound signals to lower frequencies, the patent avoids the feedback loop problems that occur at high frequencies in vibration-based hearing devices. The frequency transformation changes the acoustic characteristics of the transmitted signal, preventing the generation of harmful feedback while maintaining sound perception capability.
3Reliability
If frequency shifting is applied to all sound signals, then high-frequency perception is improved, but natural hearing response is compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements level-dependent frequency shifting where the degree of frequency shifting varies dynamically based on the intensity level of the input sound signal. For softer sounds, frequency shifting is applied to improve high-frequency perception. For louder sounds, frequency shifting is reduced or eliminated to maintain natural hearing response. This dynamic adjustment resolves the contradiction between improving high-frequency perception and preserving natural sound quality.
Data Source
AI summary
A method includes programming a sound processor to apply frequency shifting on a stimulation signal to generate a frequency shifted stimulation signal. The frequency shifting depends on one or more of a decibel level of a received sound signal, a hearing loss level associated with generating the stimulation signal, attenuation of an output based on the frequency shifted stimulation signal, or operating a hearing prosthesis in a single sided mode or a bilateral mode. The method includes receiving a sound signal, generating the stimulation signal from the sound signal, applying the frequency shifting to the stimulation signal to generate the frequency shifted stimulation signal, and generating, by an actuator of the hearing prosthesis, the output based on the frequency shifted stimulation signal, wherein the output is configured to be perceived as sound.