Virtual Audiometer Using Feedback Calibration
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current audiometric testing methods require expensive equipment and specialist intervention, limiting accessibility and affordability for hearing tests, which are essential for early detection and prevention of hearing deterioration.
Innovation Solution
A system and method for remote audiology testing using standard devices like laptops, tablets, or smartphones, which include a processor and audio unit, enabling clinical hearing tests without expert intervention, using a sound level meter for calibration and generating audiograms that can be transmitted to a remote server for analysis and integration into audio output adjustments.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If specialized medical devices and expert intervention are used for audiometric testing, then measurement precision and reliability are improved, but device complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a virtual audiometer that replicates the functionality of specialized medical audiometers using standard computing devices. The system copies the essential measurement capabilities through software-based tone generation and calibration procedures, eliminating the need for expensive proprietary hardware while maintaining clinical-grade measurement precision through standardized protocols and algorithms.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention replaces mechanical and electronic specialized medical devices with a software-based system running on standard computers, tablets, or smartphones. The audiometer functionality is implemented through computer-generated tones and digital signal processing, substituting complex medical equipment with programmable software that achieves equivalent measurement capabilities through algorithmic control and calibration.
2Measurement precision
If specialized medical devices and expert intervention are used for audiometric testing, then measurement precision is improved, but ease of operation and accessibility worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The virtual audiometer enables individuals to perform their own hearing tests without requiring specialized medical professionals or complex equipment setup. The system provides automated calibration, tone presentation, and result generation that users can execute independently using standard devices, making hearing surveillance accessible to anyone with a computer or smartphone while maintaining clinical accuracy through standardized protocols.
3Ease of operation
If standard devices are used for remote audiology testing, then ease of operation and accessibility are improved, but measurement precision may worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary calibration procedures using the device's own speaker and microphone before conducting the actual hearing test. This self-calibration establishes the specific acoustic characteristics of each device-speaker-microphone combination, creating device-specific correction factors that compensate for hardware variations. This preliminary characterization ensures that subsequent measurements maintain clinical-grade precision despite using diverse standard devices.
Solution Approach 2:
The virtual audiometer implements feedback-based calibration where the system plays test tones through the device speaker, captures the output with the device microphone, and uses the recorded feedback to calculate proportionality constants and calibration factors. This closed-loop feedback process characterizes each device's acoustic response and applies corrective transformations to ensure measurement accuracy across different hardware configurations.
4Reliability
If periodic hearing tests are conducted using traditional methods, then hearing deterioration detection is improved, but loss of time and resource expenditure increase
Solution Approach 1:
The virtual audiometer enables individuals to conduct hearing surveillance independently at convenient times without scheduling appointments or traveling to clinics. Users can perform tests periodically using their own devices, eliminating the time loss associated with traditional clinic visits while maintaining reliable detection of hearing deterioration through consistent standardized protocols and automated analysis.
Data Source
AI summary
A system for providing audio output. The system includes a device, e.g. a mobile phone connectable to one or more earphones. The device includes a computing platform having a processor; an audio unit configured to generate one or more output signals of arbitrary amplitude to the earphone(s); and at least one microphone configured to record the ambient power level during signal output. The user indicates his/her hearing of the output signals whereby a proportionality constant is recorded for each frequency of the output signals. The processor is configured to: analyze the proportionality constant for each frequency of one or more feedback signals from the earphone(s) to yield calibration data; adjust the amplitude or frequency based on the calibration data; generate one or more audiograms resulting from a hearing test; and adjust the device power level according to the received one or more audiograms.