Objective Acoustic Prescription Fitting for Hearing Prostheses

Resolve Bottlenecks,
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions

Solution Overview

Problem

Existing electro-acoustic hearing prostheses lack personalized and effective fitting methods that accurately determine acoustic prescriptions, leading to suboptimal performance and limited benefits for recipients with partial sensorineural hearing loss.

Innovation Solution

Utilizing acoustically-evoked inner ear responses, such as auditory nerve neurophonic and cochlear microphonic, to generate personalized gain functions for electro-acoustic hearing prostheses, optimizing the conversion of sound signals into acoustic stimulation signals.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Measurement precision

If traditional fitting methods are used for electro-acoustic hearing prostheses, then the device can be implemented, but the acoustic prescription accuracy is insufficient and personalized adaptation is limited

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveacoustic prescription accuracyVSAvoidpersonalized adaptation capability

Core Design Contradiction:

Measurement precisionVSAdaptability or versatility

Solution Approach 1:

The patent employs objective inner ear response measurements as feedback to iteratively optimize acoustic prescription parameters. The system measures actual inner ear responses to acoustic stimulation and uses this feedback to adjust and personalize the acoustic prescription, thereby improving both measurement precision and personalized adaptation capability simultaneously

Inventive Principle:

Principle #23Feedback

Solution Approach 2:

The system performs self-calibration by automatically determining acoustic prescriptions based on objective measurements of the recipient's own inner ear responses. This eliminates the need for subjective patient feedback and enables automated personalized fitting, resolving the contradiction between implementation simplicity and prescription accuracy

Inventive Principle:

Principle #25Self-service

2Ease of manufacture

If generic acoustic prescriptions are used, then the fitting process is simplified, but the performance and benefit to recipients with partial sensorineural hearing loss is suboptimal

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvefitting process simplicityVSAvoidperformance effectiveness

Core Design Contradiction:

Ease of manufactureVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The patent performs preliminary objective measurements of inner ear responses before finalizing the acoustic prescription. This preliminary characterization of the recipient's auditory system enables subsequent optimization of performance effectiveness while maintaining fitting simplicity through automated processing

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The system dynamically adjusts acoustic prescription parameters based on measured inner ear response characteristics. By changing parameters such as gain functions and frequency weighting based on objective measurements, the system achieves both simplified automated fitting and optimized performance effectiveness

Inventive Principle:

Principle #35Parameter changes

Data Source

PatentUS12432509B2Objective determination of acoustic prescriptions

Publication Date: 2025.09.30 COCHLEAR LIMITED

AI summary

Presented herein are techniques that make use of objective measurements obtained in response to acoustic stimulation signals. More specifically, at least one measure of outer hair cell function and at least one measure of auditory nerve function are obtained from a tonotopic region of an inner ear of a recipient of a hearing prosthesis. The at least one measure of auditory nerve function and the least one measure of outer hair cell function are then analyzed relative to one another.