Configuration of hearing prosthesis sound processor based on control signal characterization of audio

#Unless otherwise indicated herein, the description provided in this section is not prior art to the claims and is not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.

#Various types of hearing prostheses provide people having different types of hearing loss with the ability to perceive sound. Hearing loss may be conductive, sensorineural, or some combination of both conductive and sensorineural. Conductive hearing loss typically results from a dysfunction in any of the mechanisms that ordinarily conduct sound waves through the outer ear, the eardrum, or the bones of the middle ear. Sensorineural hearing loss typically results from a dysfunction in the inner ear, including the cochlea where sound vibrations are converted into neural signals, or any other part of the ear, auditory nerve, or brain that may process the neural signals.

#People with some forms of conductive hearing loss may benefit from hearing devices such as hearing aids or electromechanical hearing devices. A hearing aid, for instance, typically includes at least one small microphone to receive sound, an amplifier to amplify certain portions of the detected sound, and a small speaker to transmit the amplified sounds into the person's ear. An electromechanical hearing device, on the other hand, typically includes at least one small microphone to receive sound and a mechanism that delivers a mechanical force to a bone (e.g., the recipient's skull, or middle-ear bone such as the stapes) or to a prosthetic (e.g., a prosthetic stapes implanted in the recipient's middle ear), thereby causing vibrations in cochlear fluid.

#FIG. 1 is a simplified illustration of an example system in which features of the present disclosure can be implemented.

#FIG. 2 is a simplified block diagram depicting components of an example external device.

#FIG. 3 is a simplified block diagram depicting components of an example hearing prosthesis.

#Referring to the drawings, as noted above, FIG. 1 is a simplified illustration of an example system in which features of the present disclosure can be implemented. In particular, FIG. 1 depicts a hearing prosthesis recipient 12 fitted with a hearing prosthesis 14, and further depicts an external device 16 that is providing audio output 20 from a speaker 24. As shown, the audio output from the speaker of the external device is arriving as audio input 26 at a microphone or other sensor 28 of the hearing prosthesis, so that the hearing prosthesis may receive and process the audio input to stimulate hearing by the recipient.

#It should be understood that the arrangement shown in FIG. 1 is provided only as an example, and that many variations are possible. For example, although the figure depicts the external device providing audio output from a speaker and the audio output arriving as audio input at the ear of the recipient, the external device could instead provide audio to the hearing prosthesis through wireless data communication, such as through a BLUETOOTH link between a radio in the external device and a corresponding radio in the hearing prosthesis. Alternatively, the external device may provide audio to the hearing prosthesis through one or more separate speakers, possibly remote from the external device itself. Further, as another example, although the figure depicts the hearing prosthesis with an external behind-the-ear component, which could include one or more microphones and a sound processor, the hearing prosthesis 14 could take other forms, including possibly being fully implanted in the recipient and thus having one or more microphones and a sound processor implanted in the recipient rather than being provided in an external component. Other examples are possible as well.

#In line with the discussion above, the external device in this arrangement may be associated with the recipient of the hearing prosthesis, such as by having a defined wireless communication link 30 with the hearing prosthesis for instance. In practice, such a link could be a radio-frequency link or an infrared link, and could be established using any of a variety of air interface protocols, such as BLUETOOTH, WIFI, or ZIGBEE for instance. As such, the external device and the hearing prosthesis could be wirelessly paired with each other through a standard wireless pairing procedure or could be associated with each other in some other manner, thereby defining an association between external device and the recipient of the hearing prosthesis. Alternatively, the external device could be associated with the recipient of the hearing prosthesis in another manner.