Method and apparatus for directional acoustic fitting of hearing aids
AssigneeDean Robert Gary Anderson
InventorDean Robert Gary Anderson
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method of acoustically fitting a hearing aid comprises providing a plurality of audible tones, each having a predetermined frequency through stereo headphones. The tones are provided at specific sound pressure in each ear. The patient changes the relative sound pressure in each ear until a perceived direction of source of the tone is in front of the patient. The amplification or attenuation requirements of a hearing aid are modified based on the difference in the sound pressures required for the left and right ears of the patient for perceived directional sameness for each frequency band-pass channel.
Claims30
A method of acoustically fitting a hearing aid, comprising;
- providing through stereo headphones simultaneously to both ears of a patient a plurality of individual audible tones, each audible tone having at least one predetermined frequency wherein each individual audible tone is provided at a predetermined sound pressure to each ear;
- allowing the patient to change the sound pressure for each individual audible tone from the predetermined sound pressure in at least one ear to a second sound pressure in the at least one ear until the individual audible tone for a given predetermined sound pressure is perceived to be substantially binaurally balanced between both ears;
- recording the second sound pressure for each individual audible tone of the plurality of audible tones;
- and
- modifying an amplification or attenuation requirement for each frequency band of a hearing aid so that sound pressure produced by the hearing aid in each frequency band is perceived by the patient to be substantially binaurally balanced between both ears.
A method of acoustically fitting a hearing aid, comprising;
- providing a plurality of discrete audible tones through stereo headphones to a left and a right ear of a patient, each audible tone having a predetermined frequency and sound pressure and each predetermined frequency corresponding to one or more frequency bands of a hearing aid to be acoustically fitted;
- having the patient change the sound pressure in at least one ear until the sound pressure in both ears is perceived to be substantially binaurally balanced between both ears;
- determining a differential sound pressure for each tone between the left and right ears of the patient at the changed sound pressure;
- modifying a gain compensation of a hearing aid associated with each frequency band of the hearing aid based on the differential sound pressure to achieve substantially the same perceived binaural balance in both ears for all of the frequency bands of the hearing aid.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.