Aided ear bud

#This invention relates to systems and methods for providing a hearing aid capable of communicating with a wireless phone. More particularly, this invention provides a hearing aid capable of simultaneously or alternatively performing the functions of an ear bud for the wireless phone.

#Hearing aid users commonly experience interference from the high-frequency electromagnetic signal emitted by wireless phones when the phone is placed in close proximity to the receiver/microphone of the hearing aid. The interference—manifested as a “buzz” or “hum” in the hearing aid—makes the use of wireless phone handsets difficult for the hearing-impaired device users. For example, a hearing aid device wearer is not able to effectively use a wireless phone by placing the handset in close proximity to hear a caller through the earpiece of the handset. Thus, the user is forced to endure the discomfort of the “hum,” use an induction-type device (if wearing a t-coil type hearing aid), constantly adjust the hearing aid or not use a wireless phone at all.

#Conventional attempts at solving this problem have had inherent problems that can make the use of those items undesirable. However, to this point, the hearing-impaired community hasn't had many choices. For example, personal loopsets were developed to apply the audio induction principle to t-coil type hearing aids. The coil of a loopset is worn around the user's neck. The coil is electromagnetically coupled to an emitter coil inside the hearing aid. The emitter coil receives a digital voice signal from the wireless phone, transmits the corresponding electromagnetic field to the coil, and ultimately to a hearing aid placed in proximity to the coil.

#Various exemplary embodiments of this invention will be described in detail, wherein like reference numerals refer to identical or similar components or steps, with reference to the following figures, wherein:

#FIG. 1 illustrates a conventional digital hearing aid;

#FIG. 2 illustrates the preferred embodiment of the aided ear bud according to the present invention;

#The exemplary embodiments of the systems and methods according to this invention provide a method for adapting a hearing aid so that the hearing aid is able to function as an ear bud device, i.e., an aided ear bud. The exemplary embodiments also provide a system that interprets incoming signals to determine in which operating mode the aided ear bud should operate. In the exemplary embodiments, the incoming signal can be digital or analog depending on the transmitting source.

#FIG. 1 illustrates a conventional digital hearing aid. The conventional hearing aid comprises a microphone 105, an A/D converter 110, a digital signal audio processor (DSP) 120, a D/A converter 130 and a speaker 140. In operation, sounds, represented by an analog signal and/or ambient noise emitted from an outside source, is captured by the microphone 105 and converted to a digital signal by the A/D converter 110. The DSP 120 manipulates the converted signal in accordance with well-known techniques and sends a processed signal to the D/A converter 130. In the D/A converter 130, the processed signal is converted to an analog signal and output to the speaker 140. The speaker 140 is placed in or around the hearing impaired user's ear. Thus, the captured sounds have been captured, processed, amplified, and output to the user.

#The manipulating processes of the DSP 120 serves both to amplify the converted signal from the A/D converter 110, and to correct any degraded signal areas so that an improved signal is sent to the speaker 140. The manipulation processes may also adjust the incoming signal based on a preprogrammed frequency mapping of the user's hearing characteristics.