SPL dose data logger system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9757069-B2
Application number	US-35232309-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 12, 2009
Priority date	Jan 11, 2008
Publication date	Sep 12, 2017
Grant date	Sep 12, 2017

Abstract

A method for using an earpiece ( 800 ) in a work environment is provided. The earpiece ( 800 ) attenuates sound from the work environment to the user's ear. The earpiece ( 800 ) includes an ear canal microphone ( 820 ) for measuring a sound pressure level in an ear canal of the user. Sound pressure levels are measured periodically while in the work environment. Each measured sound pressure levels is stored in memory ( 127 ) of the earpiece with time and location information. The sound pressure level information is downloaded to a database ( 1704 ) when the earpiece is removed from the user ear for recharging. The sound pressure level information is analyzed and any potential noise compliance issues in the work environment are identified.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method of mitigating hearing damage and providing sound pressure level (SPL) information comprising the steps of:
attenuating ambient sound from reaching an ear canal of a user by way of an earpiece having at least one transducer including an ear canal receiver (ECR);
periodically measuring first SPL information in a time period having a plurality of samples from the ambient sound received proximate the earpiece external to the ear canal;
periodically measuring second SPL information in the time period, synchronous with the first SPL information, from a driving signal provided to the ECR;
combining, for each time period, the first SPL information and the second SPL information to form combined SPL information;
storing at least the combined SPL information or an SPL_Dose in a memory with corresponding time and location information over plural time periods;
using an inflatable sealing section on the earpiece configured to seal an opening to the ear canal of the user to form an acoustic seal to reduce the ambient sound from an ambient environment in a cavity of the ear canal of the user;
using an ear canal microphone (ECM) configured to measure the sound pressure level in the cavity of the ear canal, to confirm the acoustic seal and to test a hearing sensitivity of the user, wherein a recovery time constant tau used in a recovery function is updated in response to the hearing sensitivity test;
measuring a total SPL_Dose including the recovery function for indicating an accumulated user sound exposure over an extended period of time that improves an accuracy of the total SPL_Dose measurement over the extended period of time; and
generating an output by a digital signal processor that adaptively adjusts a sound pressure level of the at least one transducer that accounts for the accumulated user sound exposure over the extended period of time.

2. The method of claim 1 further including the steps of:
measuring a SPL_Dose from a SPL measurement selected from among at least one of the first SPL information, the second SPL information or the combined SPL information when the SPL measurement is greater than a permissible sound level;
calculating the SPL_Dose using the recovery function when the SPL measurement is less than the permissible sound level, the recovery function modeling a decrease of the SPL_Dose below the permissible sound level for a measured period of time;
measuring the total SPL_Dose for indicating the accumulated user sound exposure over the extended period of time that is compared against a threshold value; and
storing the total SPL_Dose in the memory with the corresponding time and location information.

3. The method of claim 2 further including a step of periodically measuring the SPL_Dose and the total SPL_Dose while the user is wearing the earpiece and storing the SPL_Dose and the total SPL_Dose in the memory with the corresponding time and location information.

4. The method of claim 1 further including adjusting a periodicity of the measuring of the first SPL information and the second SPL information in response to changing sound pressure levels.

5. The method of claim 1 further including the steps of:
connecting the earpiece to a recharging station where the recharging station is wired or wirelessly coupled to a database;
recharging the earpiece;
initiating a connection from the earpiece to the database when the earpiece is connected to the recharging station; and
downloading at least one of the first SPL information, the second SPL information or the combined SPL information from the memory to the database to form stored SPL information.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the database stores the stored SPL information for a plurality of earpieces, the method further including the steps of:
organizing the stored SPL information by the respective user, a respective location, and a respective time; and
generating at least one map illustrating sound pressure levels in a predetermined area at a predetermined time or over a predetermined time period based on the stored SPL information.

7. The method of claim 1 further including the steps of:
measuring the first SPL information using an ambient sound microphone (ASM) of the earpiece;
measuring third SPL information in the ear canal of the user using the ear canal microphone (ECM) of the earpiece;
comparing the first SPL information of the ASM to the third SPL information of the ECM;
taking an action when the measured first SPL information and the third SPL information are within a predetermined range.

8. A method of using an earpiece in a work environment comprising the steps of:
attenuating sound in the work environment by way of an earpiece including an ear canal microphone (ECM);
periodically measuring sound pressure level information in an ear canal in a time period having a plurality of samples in the work environment using the ECM of the earpiece, where a time and location is included with each measurement;
storing at least the SPL_Dose in a memory over plural time periods;
downloading at least the SPL_Dose over the plural time periods to a database;
analyzing, in the database, at least the SPL_Dose over the plural time periods, to form analyzed information;
identifying potential noise compliance issues in the work environment responsive to the analyzed information;
using an inflatable sealing section on the earpiece to seal an opening to the ear canal of the user to form an acoustic seal; and
using the ear canal microphone to measure the SPL_Dose in the earpiece from the sound pressure level information, to confirm the acoustic seal, to test a hearing sensitivity of a user's ear and for updating a recovery time constant tau used in a recovery function in response to the hearing sensitivity test;
measuring a total SPL_Dose including the recovery function for indicating an accumulated user sound exposure over an extended period of time that accounts for effective quiet levels and improves an accuracy of the total SPL_Dose measurement over the extended period of time; and
generating an output by a digital signal processor that adaptively adjust a sound pressure level of at least one transducer of the earpiece that accounts for the accumulated user sound exposure over the extended period of time.

9. The method of claim 8 further including the steps of:
identifying areas of the work environment having a sound exposure risk based on the analyzed information; and
generating a map of at least one of the sound pressure level information or the SPL_Dose in the work environment at a predetermined time or over a predetermined time interval illustrating the areas of sound exposure risk.

10. The method of claim 8 further including the steps of:
increasing a pressure in a sealing section of the earpiece when the sound pressure level information is greater than a threshold value to increase an attenuation provided by the earpiece; and
decreasing the pressure in the sealing section of the earpiece when the sound pressure level information is less than the threshold value.

11. The method of claim 8 further including the steps of:
measuring a SPL_Dose with the sound pressure level information when the sound pressure level information is greater than a permissible sound level;
calculating the SPL_Dose using the recovery function when the sound pressure level information is less than the permissible sound level, the recovery function modeling a decrease of the SPL_Dose below the permissible sound level;
updating the total SPL_Dose with each sound pressure level information measurement;
storing the total SPL_Dose with each sound pressure level information measureme

Assignees

• Keady John
• Goldstein Steven
• Hoshizaki Gary
• Boillot Marc
• Usher John
• Staton Techiya Llc

Inventors

• Keady John
• Goldstein Steven
• Hoshizaki Gary
• Boillot Marc
• Usher John

Classifications

• H04R29/00

  Monitoring arrangements; Testing arrangements {(for hearing aids H04R25/30; detection of loudspeaker connection H04R5/04; sound-field adaptation dependent on speaker detection H04S7/308)} · CPC title

• A61F11/145

  electric, e.g. for active noise reduction · CPC title

• A61F11/08

  internal, e.g. earplugs · CPC title

• A61B5/6817 Primary

  Ear canal · CPC title

• A61B5/121

  evaluating hearing capacity · CPC title