Modified Audiogram Generation for Hearing Aid Fitting Accuracy
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional hearing device fitting procedures using frequency lowering schemes are inadequate as they result in incorrect gain application across frequency ranges, leading to sounds being too loud or too soft for users due to audibility mismatches caused by varying hearing thresholds.
Innovation Solution
A modified audiogram is generated by applying a frequency lowering scheme to a set of reference hearing thresholds and determining correction amounts to adjust user hearing thresholds, allowing for accurate target gain calculation and optimal frequency lowering settings, enabling a valid fitting prescription using models like NAL-NL2 or DSL-V2.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a frequency lowering scheme is applied to map high frequencies to lower frequencies, then the user can perceive sounds at high frequency ranges that would otherwise be inaudible, but the audibility of sound changes at lower frequencies causing incorrect gain application
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies frequency lowering to the audiogram itself before conducting the hearing test and generating the fitting prescription. This preliminary transformation of the audiogram allows the fitting model to correctly calculate gain values that account for the frequency mapping, ensuring accurate gain application while enabling perception of high frequency sounds through the frequency lowering scheme
2Ease of operation
If conventional fitting procedures are used with a frequency lowering scheme, then the hearing device can provide amplification, but the fitting is inadequate due to audibility mismatches between input and output frequency ranges
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transforms the audiogram parameters by applying the frequency lowering mapping to the frequency axis before generating the fitting prescription. This parameter transformation ensures that the fitting model receives corrected hearing threshold data that reflects the actual frequency mapping, enabling accurate gain calculation and precise fitting while maintaining ease of device operation
Data Source
AI summary
An exemplary system includes a processor communicatively coupled to a memory and configured to execute instructions to generate a modified audiogram for a user of a hearing device. The modified audiogram may be based on a frequency lowering scheme that maps at least some audio frequencies included in a first set of audio frequencies to relatively lower audio frequencies to form a second set of audio frequencies. The modified audiogram may indicate a set of modified hearing thresholds of the user at the first set of audio frequencies. The generating of the modified audiogram may include applying an inverse of the frequency lowering scheme to the set of modified hearing thresholds at the second set of audio frequencies to obtain the set of modified hearing thresholds of the modified audiogram at the first set of audio frequencies.