Earhealth monitoring system and method II

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10012529-B2
Application number	US-201213424537-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 20, 2012
Priority date	Jun 1, 2006
Publication date	Jul 3, 2018
Grant date	Jul 3, 2018

Abstract

Methods of operating an audio device are provided. A method includes measuring sound pressure levels (SPL ECM ) for acoustic energy received by an ear canal microphone (ECM) during a time increment Δt; and calculating a SPL_Dose Δt during the time increment Δt using SPL ECM .

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method of operating an audio device comprising:
measuring sound pressure levels (SPL ECM1 ) for a first acoustic energy received by an ear canal receiver (ECR) operating in an ear canal microphone (ECM) mode during a time increment Δt;
measuring sound pressure levels (SPL ECM2 ) for a second acoustic energy received by an ear canal microphone (ECM) during the time increment Δt, wherein measurements corresponding to SPL ECM1 and SPL ECM2 are free field equivalent values which are measured while the audio device remains in a same position; and
calculating a calibration relationship between an intensity of the second acoustic energy with pressure measurements made by the ECM during the time increment Δt.

2. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising:
measuring sound pressure levels (SPL ECM ) for a third acoustic energy received by the ECM during a time increment Δt 1 ;
updating the SPL ECM using the calibration relationship to generate SPL ECM-update ; and
calculating a SPL_Dose Δt during the time increment Δt using SPL ECM-update , wherein the SPL_Dose accounts for a recovery function.

3. The method according to claim 2 , further comprising:
calculating an SPL_Dose total using the SPL_Dose Δt and further determining a recovery time constant tau for the recovery function.

4. The method according to claim 3 , further comprising:
comparing the total SPL_Dose to a threshold value, and, if the total SPL_Dose is greater than the threshold value, then an action parameter is read from a readable memory.

5. The method according to claim 4 , further comprising:
performing an action associated with ua value of the action parameter, wherein the action comprises modifying an operation of the audio device, modifying drive signals directed to the ECR, or a combination thereof, and then further sending an acoustic voice notification signal to a user.

6. The method according to claim 5 , wherein modifying the operation of the audio device comprises:
increasing the NRR of the audio device,
activating active noise cancellation of non-ECR generated acoustic energy, or a combination thereof.

7. The method according to claim 5 , where modifying the drive signals directed to the ECR includes at least one of the following:
reducing a signal to noise ratio of the drive signals to reduce an intensity of the acoustic signals produced by the ECR,
reducing frequencies in a spectral signature of the acoustic signals and converting a result into a modified acoustic signal, or a combination thereof.

8. The method according to claim 5 , where sending a notification signal to a user includes:
sending an acoustic voice notification;
sending an acoustic non-voice notification;
activating at least one indicator light;
activating a vibratory warning system, or a combination thereof.

9. The method according to claim 2 further comprising:
calculating a remaining duration time, Time_100%, using SPL ECM-update and accounting for audio playback and the exposure to environmental noise.

10. The method according to claim 2 , further comprising:
saving a portion, SPL ECMi , of SPL ECM _ update for a sub time increment Δt, of Δt 1 ;
measuring sound pressure levels (SPL ECM4 ) for a fourth acoustic energy received by the ECM during a time increment Δt 2 ,
calculating a SPL ECM5 for the time increment Δt 2 using SPL ECMi , where SPLECM5 is related to a measured value of an SPL generated by the ECR during the time increment Δt 2 ;
calculating estimated sound pressure levels (SPL ECR ) for drive signals directed to the ECR during the time increment Δt 2; and
calculating an updated ECR calibration relationship using SPL ECMS and SPL ECR .

11. The method according to claim 10 , further comprising:
calculating, using the updated ECR calibration relationship, new estimated sound pressure levels (SPL ECR-new ) for the acoustic signals directed to the ECR operating in the ECM mode, during a time increment Δt 2 .

12. The method according to claim 11 , further comprising:
measuring sound pressure levels (SPL ECM6 ) for a fifth acoustic energy received by the ECM during the time increment Δt 3 ;
calculating, using the updated ECR calibration relationship, the sound pressure levels (SPL ECR ) for the acoustic signals directed to the ECR during the time increment Δt 3 ; and
calculating an ambient SPL (SPL ambient ) during the time increment Δt 3 using SPL ECM6 and SPL ECR1 .

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the free field equivalent values are configured for an individual user.

14. A system, comprising:
an audio device that performs operations comprising:
measuring sound pressure levels (SPL ECM1 ) for a first acoustic energy received by an ear canal receiver (ECR) operating in an ear canal microphone (ECM) mode during a time increment Δt;
measuring sound pressure levels (SPL ECM2 ) for a second acoustic energy received by an ear canal microphone (ECM) during the time increment Δt, wherein measurements corresponding to SPL ECM1 and SPL ECM2 are free field equivalent values which are measured while the audio device remains in a same position; and
calculating a calibration relationship between an intensity of the second acoustic energy with pressure measurements made by the ECM during the time increment Δt.

15. The system of claim 14 , wherein the operations further comprise measuring sound pressure levels (SPL ECM ) for a third acoustic energy received by the ECM during a time increment Δt 1 .

16. The system of claim 15 , wherein the operations further comprise updating the SPL ECM using the calibration relationship to generate SPL ECM-update .

17. The system of claim 16 , wherein the free field equivalent values are configured for an individual user.

Assignees

• Goldstein Steven W
• Usher John
• Fligor Brian
• Keady John P
• Staton Techiya Llc

Inventors

• Goldstein Steven W
• Usher John
• Fligor Brian
• Keady John P

Classifications

• G01H3/14 Primary

  Measuring mean amplitude; Measuring mean power; Measuring time integral of power · CPC title