Method for operating a hearing apparatus system, and hearing apparatus system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10880655-B2
Application number	US-201916444077-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 18, 2019
Priority date	Jun 18, 2018
Publication date	Dec 29, 2020
Grant date	Dec 29, 2020

Abstract

A method for operating a hearing apparatus system with at least one hearing apparatus uses a first sensor of the hearing apparatus to capture a first measured variable characteristic of an actual wearing situation. If the first measured variable and/or a variation over time derived therefrom satisfies at least one prescribed first criterion, it is inferred that the hearing apparatus has had a tumble. If the tumble is detected to have taken place, at least one further measured variable and/or a variation over time derived therefrom is captured, and the at least one further measured variable is used to ascertain whether the hearing apparatus is arranged on the head of a hearing device wearer after the tumble.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method for operating a hearing apparatus system with at least one hearing apparatus, the method comprising:
using at least one first sensor of the hearing apparatus to capture a first measured variable that is characteristic of an actual wearing situation;
if the first measured variable and/or a variation over time derived from the first measured variable satisfies a prescribed first criterion, inferring that the hearing apparatus has been subject to a tumble;
using the first measured variable to ascertain a present orientation of the hearing apparatus and to compare the present orientation with a standard wearing orientation, and using as a criterion for the tumble whether the present orientation differs significantly from the standard wearing orientation;
if the tumble is detected, capturing at least one further measured variable and/or a variation over time derived from the at least one further measured variable;
if the tumble is detected to have taken place, checking to determine whether the present orientation of the hearing apparatus is altered and returned to the standard wearing orientation within a prescribed time window after the tumble; and
using the at least one further measured variable to ascertain whether the hearing apparatus is arranged on the head of the hearing device wearer after the tumble.

2. The method according to claim 1 , which comprises taking a position of the hearing apparatus after the tumble as a basis for taking a prescribed measure.

3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the first sensor is an acceleration sensor and the first measured variable is an acceleration of the hearing apparatus, and wherein the first criterion used for the tumble is whether an acceleration component contained in the acceleration and being indicative of gravitation assumes the value zero or at least lies below a prescribed threshold value.

4. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the first sensor is an acceleration sensor and the first measured variable is an acceleration of the hearing apparatus, and wherein the first criterion used for the tumble is whether a variation in the acceleration of the hearing apparatus is captured that is characteristic of an impact.

5. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the first sensor is a sensor that is sensitive to a change of angle of the hearing apparatus and the variation that is derived from the first measured variable is a variation in an angular position of the hearing apparatus, and wherein the first criterion used for the tumble is whether a pattern of the variation in the angular position of the hearing apparatus is sufficiently similar to at least one prescribed pattern.

6. The method according to claim 1 , which comprises using a second criterion for the tumble, the second criterion being whether the first criterion, or at least one of a plurality of first criteria, is repeatedly satisfied within a prescribed time window with interruption.

7. The method according to claim 1 , which comprises, on occasion of the tumble, capturing the further measured variable by way of a loudspeaker and a microphone of the hearing apparatus as a feedback variable characteristic of acoustic feedback, and comparing the captured feedback variable with a feedback variable stored for an intended worn state, and inferring from a prescribed difference result that the intended worn state is not present.

8. The method according to claim 7 , which comprises using the captured feedback variable to infer loss of the hearing apparatus and/or a tumble by the hearing device wearer together with the hearing apparatus.

9. The method according to claim 7 , wherein the hearing apparatus system comprises right and left hearing apparatus, and which comprises using two feedback variables captured for the respective hearing apparatus to check whether the hearing device wearer is lying on one side.

10. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the hearing apparatus system comprises right and left hearing apparatus each having a microphone for capturing ambient sounds, and which comprises ascertaining in each case one frequency spectrum of the captured ambient sounds for both hearing apparatuses, and using the frequency spectra check whether the hearing device wearer is lying on one side.

11. The method according to claim 1 , which comprises ascertaining the further measured variable by using a biosensor, and comparing the further measured variable or a variation therein with a stored reference variable representing an intended worn state or a reference variation.

12. The method according to claim 11 , wherein the biosensor is a device selected from the group consisting of a temperature sensor, a body-borne sound sensor, an ECG sensor, a pulse sensor, and a capacitive sensor.

13. The method according to claim 1 , which comprises, if the tumble is detected to have taken place, checking to determine whether the present orientation of the hearing apparatus is altered and returned to the standard wearing orientation within a prescribed time window after the tumble.

14. The method according to claim 1 , which comprises causing an emergency call to be made if, after the tumble, the hearing apparatus is arranged on the head of the hearing device wearer and the hearing apparatus is not being moved.

15. The method according to claim 1 , which comprises, in the event of a loss of the hearing apparatus, capturing a position of the tumble and stored the position in memory external to the hearing apparatus, and/or outputting a warning signal.

16. The method according to claim 1 , which comprises, on occasion of a tumble, capturing ambient sounds by way of a microphone of the hearing apparatus and analyzing the ambient sounds for a presence of utterances that are indicative of an emergency.

17. The method according to claim 1 , which comprises, on occasion of a tumble, capturing ambient sounds by way of a microphone of the hearing apparatus and analyzing the ambient sounds for a presence of a voice of a third person.

18. The method according to claim 17 , which comprises performing speech recognition on the voice of the third person in order to detect whether assistance being provided can be inferred from the utterances of the third person.

19. A hearing apparatus system, comprising at least one hearing apparatus that is configured to perform the method according to claim 1 .

20. A method for operating a hearing apparatus system with at least one hearing apparatus, the method comprising:
using at least one first sensor of the hearing apparatus to capture a first measured variable that is characteristic of an actual wearing situation;
if the first measured variable and/or a variation over time derived from the first measured variable satisfies a prescribed first criterion, inferring that the hearing apparatus has been subject to a tumble;
if the tumble is detected, capturing at least one further measured variable and/or a variation over time derived from the at least one further measured variable; and
using the at least one further measured variable to ascertain whether the hearing apparatus is arranged on the head of the hearing device wearer after the tumble; and
on occasion of a tumble, capturing ambient sounds by way of a microphone of the hearing apparatus and analyzing the ambient sounds for a presence of a voice of a third person, and performing speech recognition on the voice of the third person in order to detect whether assistance being provided can be inferred from the

Assignees

• Sivantos Pte Ltd

Inventors

• Kukla Christoph
• Wurzbacher Tobias
• Kecanovic Sandro

Classifications

• G08B21/24

  Reminder alarms, e.g. anti-loss alarms · CPC title

• G08B21/043

  detecting an emergency event, e.g. a fall · CPC title

• H04R25/30 Primary

  Monitoring or testing of hearing aids, e.g. functioning, settings, battery power · CPC title

• G10L15/22

  Procedures used during a speech recognition process, e.g. man-machine dialogue · CPC title

• A61B5/1117

  Fall detection · CPC title