Fitting a bilateral hearing prosthesis system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10015605-B2
Application number	US-201715453370-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 8, 2017
Priority date	Mar 15, 2013
Publication date	Jul 3, 2018
Grant date	Jul 3, 2018

Abstract

A hearing prosthesis system includes a processor arranged to communicate a stimulation signal to a vibration stimulator of a first hearing prosthesis. The processor receives an indication of a measured input signal from a first transducer of a second hearing prosthesis. A processor calculates a feedback associated with the stimulation. The processor may also be further configured to adjust a gain table or an input to a feedback reduction algorithm in response to the calculated feedback. Additionally, the processor of the hearing prosthesis system may also be arranged to communicate a second stimulation signal to a vibration stimulator of the second hearing prosthesis. The processor receives an indication of a measured input signal from the first hearing prosthesis. Further, the processor calculates a second feedback associated with the second stimulation.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method, comprising:
generating, by a processor, a first stimulation signal using a first gain parameter;
delivering a first vibration to a first location of a recipient's head, wherein the first vibration is based on the first stimulation signal and is configured to evoke a hearing percept at a first ear of the recipient;
measuring a first signal at a second location on the recipient's head;
calculating a first feedback component based on the measured first signal, wherein the first feedback component comprises a portion of the first vibration conducted through the recipient's head from the first location to the second location; and
adjusting a first gain parameter based on the first feedback component to decrease the portion of the first vibration that is conducted through the recipient's head from the first location to the second location,
wherein the first gain parameter is defined as part of a gain table specifying a plurality of gains for use in generating stimulation signals, wherein the plurality of gains are each used to generate stimulation signals within a corresponding frequency band.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein adjusting the first gain parameter based on the first feedback component to decrease the portion of the first vibration that is conducted through the recipient's head from the first location to the second location comprises:
determining at least one frequency associated with the first feedback component; and
adjusting, in the gain table, a gain parameter that is associated only with the at least one frequency.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein adjusting, in the gain table, a gain parameter that is associated only with the at least one frequency comprises:
adjusting a maximum allowable gain associated with the at least one frequency.

4. The method of claim 2 , wherein adjusting, in the gain table, a gain parameter that is associated only with the at least one frequency comprises:
adjusting a prescribed gain associated with the at least one frequency.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
measuring at the first location on the recipient's head a first unilateral signal; and
calculating a first unilateral feedback component based on the first unilateral signal,
wherein the first unilateral feedback component comprises a portion of the first vibration, and wherein adjusting the first gain parameter is further based on the first unilateral feedback component.

6. The method of claim 5 , further comprising:
measuring at the second location on the recipient's head a second unilateral signal; and
calculating a second unilateral feedback component based on the second unilateral signal, wherein the second unilateral feedback component comprises a portion of the second vibration.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein calculating the first feedback component comprises:
correlating the first signal with the first stimulation signal to identify background noise.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein adjusting the first gain parameter based on the first feedback component to decrease the portion of the first vibration that is conducted through the recipient's head from the first location to the second location comprises:
adjusting the first gain parameter based on the identified background noise.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
at the second location on the recipient's head, measuring a plurality of signals each associated with a vibration delivered to a first location of a recipient's head,
wherein calculating the first feedback component comprises:
identifying, from the plurality of measurements, transient noise; and
calculating the first feedback component to remove the identified transient background noise.

10. A hearing prosthesis system comprising:
a first prosthesis coupled to a first location on a recipient's head, wherein the first prosthesis comprises a first input transducer and a first electromechanical stimulator;
a second prosthesis coupled to a second location on the recipient's head, wherein the second prosthesis comprises a second input transducer and a second electromechanical stimulator, and wherein the first location and the second location are on opposite sides of the recipient's head; and
at least one processor communicably coupled to at least one of the first prosthesis and the second prosthesis, wherein the at least one processor is configured to:
send a first stimulation signal to the first prosthesis, thereby causing the first prosthesis to deliver a first vibration that is based on the first stimulation signal;
receive, from the second prosthesis, an indication of a first signal detected by the second input transducer;
calculate, based on the indication of the first signal, a first feedback signal as a part of the first signal that is comprised of a portion of the first vibration conducted through the recipient's head from the first location to the second location by correlating the first signal with the first stimulation signal to identify background noise; and
adjust, based on the first feedback signal, at least one gain parameter for subsequent use at the first prosthesis.

11. The hearing prosthesis system of claim 10 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:
receive an indication of a second signal detected at the first input transducer of the first prosthesis,
calculate, based on the indication of the second signal, a second feedback signal as a part of the second signal that is comprised of a portion of the first vibration; and
adjust, based on the second feedback signal, at least one gain parameter for subsequent use at the second prosthesis.

12. The hearing prosthesis system of claim 10 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:
communicate a second stimulation signal to the second prosthesis, thereby causing the second prosthesis deliver a second vibration that is based on the second stimulation signal;
receive, from the first prosthesis, an indication of a third signal detected by the first input transducer;
calculate, based on the indication of the third signal, a third feedback signal as a part of the third signal that is comprised of a portion of the second vibration conducted through the recipient's head from the second location to the first location; and
adjust, based on the third feedback signal, the at least one gain parameter for subsequent use at the first prosthesis.

13. The hearing prosthesis system of claim 12 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:
receive an indication of a fourth signal detected at the second input transducer of the second prosthesis;
calculate, based on the indication of the fourth signal, a fourth feedback signal as a part of the fourth signal that is comprised of a portion of the second vibration; and
adjust, based on the fourth feedback signal, the at least one gain parameter for subsequent use at the second prosthesis.

14. The hearing prosthesis system of claim 10 , wherein the at least one gain is defined as part of a gain table specifying a plurality of gains for use in generating stimulation signals at the first prosthesis, wherein the plurality of gains are each used to generate stimulation signals within a corresponding frequency band, and wherein to adjust, based on the first feedback signal, at least one gain parameter for subsequent use at the first prosthesis, the processor is configured to:
determine at least one frequency associated with the first feedback component; and
adjust, in the gain table, a gain parameter that is associated only with the at least one frequency.

Assignees

• Cochlear Ltd

Inventors

• Flynn Mark C
• Hillbratt Martin

Classifications

• H04R25/552

  Binaural · CPC title

• H04R25/453

  electronically · CPC title

• H04R25/70 Primary

  Adaptation of deaf aid to hearing loss, e.g. initial electronic fitting · CPC title

• H04R25/45

  Prevention of acoustic reaction, i.e. acoustic oscillatory feedback · CPC title

• H04R2460/13

  Hearing devices using bone conduction transducers · CPC title