Visual Speech Mapping for Hearing Aid Fitting
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current hearing aid fitting methods using threshold testing with discrete tones fail to adequately adjust frequency response for complex real-world sounds, limiting the effectiveness of sound amplification and processing for individual hearing loss, particularly in non-uniform frequency ranges.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of visual speech mapping using 'speech-to-text' technology to display spoken words before and after processing, with visual indications of amplification, noise reduction, and frequency translation, allowing patients to provide feedback for adjusting hearing aid parameters.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If threshold testing with discrete tones is used for hearing aid fitting, then the fitting process is simple and quick, but the frequency response adjustment is insufficient for complex real-world sounds
Solution Approach 1:
The system displays visual feedback showing the patient's speech waveform and spectrogram in real-time during the fitting process, allowing the patient to see how the hearing aid processes different frequencies and sounds. This enables the patient to provide direct feedback on sound quality, which the clinician can use to adjust frequency response parameters more accurately than traditional threshold testing alone.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention adds a visual dimension to the traditional auditory-only fitting process. By displaying waveforms and spectrograms that show frequency content and amplitude over time, the system provides a two-dimensional visual representation (time and frequency) that complements the one-dimensional auditory perception, enabling more comprehensive assessment of frequency response adjustment.
2Device complexity
If traditional threshold testing is used, then fewer testing frequencies are required, but the compensation for non-uniform hearing loss across frequency ranges is inadequate
Solution Approach 1:
The visual display system serves multiple functions simultaneously: it shows the input speech waveform, the processed output waveform, the frequency spectrum distribution, and temporal characteristics of sounds. This multi-functional display provides comprehensive information about frequency response across the entire audible spectrum, not just at discrete test frequencies, thereby improving the reliability of hearing loss compensation while maintaining procedural simplicity.
3Ease of operation
If discrete frequency testing is performed, then the fitting process is straightforward, but the adjustment of frequency-specific amplification for complex waveforms is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The visual display acts as an intermediary between the hearing aid's internal signal processing and the patient's subjective perception. By translating the processed speech into visual waveforms and spectrograms, the system provides an objective representation of frequency-specific amplification effects, allowing for more precise measurement and adjustment of amplification parameters across different frequency ranges while keeping the operation simple for the clinician.
Data Source
AI summary
Described herein are an apparatus and method for displaying the signal processing effects of a hearing upon speech. Such visual speech mapping may include displaying text corresponding to words spoken to a patient wearing a hearing aid as derived from an input signal derived from the hearing aid. The text is displayed with indicia representing the effects of the signal processing function performed by the hearing aid upon individual letters or groups of letters.