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US 9,432,778 B2Granted
Hearing aid with improved localization of a monaural signal source
AssigneeGN ReSound A/S
InventorGuilin Ma
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A new hearing aid is provided in which signals that are received from an external device, such as a spouse microphone, a media player, a hearing loop system, a teleconference system, a radio, a TV, a telephone, a device with an alarm, etc., are filtered in such a way that a user can localize the sound source.
Claims16
A hearing aid comprising:
- an electronic input for provision of a monaural audio signal in response to a wireless signal received by the hearing aid;
- an ITE microphone housing accommodating at least one ITE microphone, the at least one ITE microphone configured to provide an output signal;
- a filter for filtering the monaural audio signal and configured to output an output signal, wherein the filter is configured to:
- phase shift the monaural audio signal based on the output signal of the at least one ITE microphone, or
- apply a gain for the monaural audio signal based on the output signal of the at least one ITE microphone, or
- phase shift and apply the gain for the monaural audio signal based on the output signal of the at least one ITE microphone;
- a processor configured to generate a hearing loss compensated output signal based on the output signal of the filter, and
- a receiver for conversion of the hearing loss compensated output signal into an acoustic signal for transmission towards an eardrum of a user of the hearing aid.
5 more elements
A hearing aid comprising:
- an electronic input for provision of a monaural audio signal in response to a wireless signal received by the hearing aid;
- an ITE microphone housing accommodating at least one ITE microphone, the at least one ITE microphone configured to provide an output signal;
- a filter for filtering the monaural audio signal and configured to output an output signal, wherein the filter is configured to:
- phase shift the monaural audio signal based on the output signal of the at least one ITE microphone, or
- apply a gain for the monaural audio signal based on the output signal of the at least one ITE microphone, or
- phase shift and apply the gain for the monaural audio signal based on the output signal of the at least one ITE microphone;
- a processor configured to generate a hearing loss compensated output signal based on the output signal of the filter, and
- a receiver for conversion of the hearing loss compensated output signal into an acoustic signal for transmission towards an eardrum of a user of the hearing aid;
- wherein a transfer function of the filter is substantially equal to a left ear part or a right ear part of a Head Related Transfer Function.
6 more elements
A hearing aid comprising:
- an electronic input for provision of a monaural audio signal in response to a wireless signal received by the hearing aid;
- an ITE microphone housing accommodating at least one ITE microphone, the at least one ITE microphone configured to provide an output signal;
- a filter for filtering the monaural audio signal and configured to output an output signal, wherein the filter is configured to:
- phase shift the monaural audio signal based on the output signal of the at least one ITE microphone, or
- apply a gain for the monaural audio signal based on the output signal of the at least one ITE microphone, or
- phase shift and apply the gain for the monaural audio signal based on the output signal of the at least one ITE microphone;
- a processor configured to generate a hearing loss compensated output signal based on the output signal of the filter, and
- a receiver for conversion of the hearing loss compensated output signal into an acoustic signal for transmission towards an eardrum of a user of the hearing aid;
- wherein the filter is an adaptive digital filter with filter coefficients that are adapted to reduce a difference between the output signal of the at least one ITE microphone and the output signal of the filter;
- and
- wherein the filter coefficients are adapted towards a solution of:
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- SIEC(f,t) is a short time spectrum at time t of an output signal of the at least one ITE microphone, and
- S is a short time spectra at time t of the monaural audio signal,
- G(f,t) is a transfer function of the filter,
- p is a norm factor, and
- W(f) is a frequency weighting factor.
69 more elements
A method of processing a monaural signal in a hearing aid having an ITE microphone housing accommodating at least one ITE microphone, the at least one ITE microphone providing an output, the method comprising:
- filtering the monaural audio signal, wherein the monaural audio signal is generated at the hearing aid in response to a wireless signal received by the hearing aid, wherein the act of filtering comprises:
- phase shifting the monaural audio signal based on the output of the at least one ITE microphone, or
- applying a gain for the monaural audio signal based on the output of the at least one ITE microphone, or
- phase shifting and applying the gain for the monaural audio signal based on the output of the at least one ITE microphone;
- generating a hearing loss compensated output signal based the filtered monaural signal;
- and
- converting the hearing loss compensated output signal into an acoustic signal for transmission towards an eardrum of a user of the hearing aid.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.