Hybrid Hearing Aid Fitting GUI for Simultaneous Electric Acoustic Channel Adjustment
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Solution Overview
Problem
The current fitting and adjustment of hybrid auditory prostheses, which provide both electrical and acoustic stimulation, are time-consuming and require trained personnel, and are challenging for young children who cannot communicate their perceptions effectively.
Innovation Solution
A method that uses behavioral or objective responses to acoustic stimuli to set input-output functions for each acoustic channel and adjust gains, allowing for a graphical user interface to view and adjust both acoustic and electric channel settings simultaneously, enabling more efficient fitting of hybrid systems.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If conventional fitting protocols with separate psychophysical tests are used for acoustic and electric stimulation, then accurate setting of stimulation parameters can be achieved, but the fitting process becomes time-consuming and requires extensive trained personnel
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the fitting of acoustic and electric stimulation channels into a single integrated process. The clinician adjusts both channels simultaneously using a unified interface, allowing the acoustic channel to be fitted while the electric channel is already set, eliminating the need for separate sequential fitting protocols and reducing overall fitting time.
Solution Approach 2:
The system enables the clinician to perform both acoustic and electric fitting adjustments independently within the same session. The acoustic channel can be adjusted without requiring separate electric fitting steps, allowing the system to serve itself by integrating multiple fitting functions into one workflow.
2Manufacturing precision
If separate fitting protocols are used for acoustic and electric stimulation, then each channel can be optimized independently, but the complexity of the fitting process increases
Solution Approach 1:
The fitting interface is segmented into distinct acoustic and electric channel controls, allowing each channel to be optimized independently while being presented within a unified fitting framework. This segmentation maintains the benefits of independent optimization while reducing overall process complexity through integration.
Solution Approach 2:
The fitting system is designed as a universal interface that handles both acoustic and electric stimulation fitting within the same workflow. This multi-functional approach eliminates the need for separate fitting procedures and reduces the complexity burden on the clinician.
3Measurement precision
If traditional psychophysical tests are used to determine stimulation settings, then accurate perception data can be collected, but the process becomes challenging for young children who cannot communicate their perceptions
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces traditional subjective psychophysical tests with objective measurement methods. The system uses automated detection of acoustic and electric stimulation responses, replacing the need for children to verbally communicate their perceptions with objective physiological or behavioral response measurement, making the process feasible for young children.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach simplifies the fitting process, reduces the need for lengthy psychophysical tests, and allows for more accurate adjustment of stimulation settings, improving the effectiveness of hybrid auditory prostheses and enabling better fitting of young children by using behavioral or evoked electrical responses.
Implementation Method 1
It is disclosed in US Patent Application No. 2006/0287690 by Bouchataoui to use the acoustically evoked neural response, measured by the electrode components of the electrical stimulation system, to determine settings for acoustic signal processing.
Data Source
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AI summary
A method of visualizing and controlling stimulation parameters for a hybrid hearing prosthesis having both electric and acoustic channels for delivery of electric and acoustic stimulation, respectively, the method comprising displaying, at a display screen of a computing device, a graphical user interface (GUI) that includes a set of electric channel indicators indicative of threshold and comfort levels within each electric channel; and displaying, within the GUI at the display screen, a set of acoustic channel indicators indicative of threshold and comfort levels within each acoustic channel, wherein the set of electric channel indicators and the set of acoustic channel indicators are scaled and displayed so as to be visible simultaneously on the display screen within the GUI with visually comparable ranges, and wherein the GUI allows for the electric channel indicators and the acoustic channel indicators to be individually adjusted; detecting adjustment of at least one of the electric channel indicators or the acoustic channel indicators; and in response to the detected adjustment in of at least one of the electric channel indicators or the acoustic channel indicators, initiating an adjustment in a setting of the hybrid hearing prosthesis.