Hearing Prosthesis Head Movement Correlation for Outcome Tracking
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional hearing prostheses, such as cochlear implants, often fail to detect hearing outcome problems outside clinical settings, leading to delayed identification and addressing of issues like improper fitting or decline in hearing and cognitive abilities, due to the need for regular clinical visits which can be costly and inconvenient.
Innovation Solution
A hearing prosthesis system equipped with microphones, processors, inertial measurement units, and a hearing outcome tracking module that detects sound signal directions and correlates them with head movements to identify potential hearing outcome problems, enabling immediate corrective actions without user intervention.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional hearing prostheses require regular clinical visits for monitoring, then hearing outcomes can be assessed, but the process becomes costly and inconvenient for users
Solution Approach 1:
The hearing prosthesis system performs self-monitoring of hearing outcomes by automatically capturing sound signals, determining arrival directions, measuring head movements with inertial sensors, and correlating this data without requiring user intervention or clinical visits. The system serves itself by generating and analyzing outcome data autonomously.
Solution Approach 2:
The system continuously monitors hearing outcomes and provides feedback by correlating sound signal directions with actual head movement responses. This feedback loop enables automatic detection of hearing outcome problems and triggers appropriate actions without external clinical intervention.
2Reliability
If clinical visits are required for identifying hearing outcome problems, then issues can be detected, but the identification is delayed and requires user initiative
Solution Approach 1:
The system continuously and preliminarily monitors hearing outcomes in real-time during normal use, maintaining a ready state for immediate problem detection. This eliminates waiting periods and ensures issues are identified at the moment they occur rather than during scheduled clinical visits.
Solution Approach 2:
The hearing outcome monitoring operates continuously during device use rather than intermittently during clinical visits. The system maintains uninterrupted surveillance of sound localization and head movement correlations, ensuring no detection gaps occur between appointments.
3Measurement precision
If hearing outcome monitoring is performed manually during clinical visits, then professional assessment is possible, but the process becomes costly and requires user effort
Solution Approach 1:
The system replaces manual clinical assessment procedures with automated electronic measurements. Inertial measurement units and sound signal processing automatically perform measurements that would otherwise require manual clinical intervention, eliminating the need for complex manual assessment protocols.
Solution Approach 2:
The hearing prosthesis system performs multiple functions including sound detection, direction determination, head movement tracking, and outcome correlation within a single integrated device. This multi-functionality consolidates what would otherwise require separate clinical tools and procedures into one universal system.
Data Source
AI summary
Presented herein are techniques for detecting sensory outcome issues through an analysis of data representing the direction of incidence/arrival of a sensory input and inertial data representing movement of the recipient's head following detection of the sensory input. By correlating recipient head movement (including lack of movement) with the arrival direction of the sensory input, a sensory prosthesis system can determine whether or not the recipient acted as expected and, if not, whether a sensory outcome problem is present.