EP2026601A1 - Frequenztranspositionsanwendungen zur Verbesserung des räumlichen Hörvermögens von Personen mit hochfrequentem Hörverlust - Google Patents

Frequenztranspositionsanwendungen zur Verbesserung des räumlichen Hörvermögens von Personen mit hochfrequentem Hörverlust Download PDF

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EP2026601A1
EP2026601A1 EP07114028A EP07114028A EP2026601A1 EP 2026601 A1 EP2026601 A1 EP 2026601A1 EP 07114028 A EP07114028 A EP 07114028A EP 07114028 A EP07114028 A EP 07114028A EP 2026601 A1 EP2026601 A1 EP 2026601A1
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subject
frequency
dependent
hearing
frequency transposition
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French (fr)
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Thomas Behrens
Tobias Neher
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Oticon AS
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Oticon AS
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Priority to EP07114028A priority Critical patent/EP2026601A1/de
Priority to AU2008203351A priority patent/AU2008203351B2/en
Priority to US12/222,308 priority patent/US8135139B2/en
Priority to CN200810134954.6A priority patent/CN101370325B/zh
Publication of EP2026601A1 publication Critical patent/EP2026601A1/de
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    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04R—LOUDSPEAKERS, MICROPHONES, GRAMOPHONE PICK-UPS OR LIKE ACOUSTIC ELECTROMECHANICAL TRANSDUCERS; DEAF-AID SETS; PUBLIC ADDRESS SYSTEMS
    • H04R25/00—Deaf-aid sets, i.e. electro-acoustic or electro-mechanical hearing aids; Electric tinnitus maskers providing an auditory perception
    • H04R25/35—Deaf-aid sets, i.e. electro-acoustic or electro-mechanical hearing aids; Electric tinnitus maskers providing an auditory perception using translation techniques
    • H04R25/353—Frequency, e.g. frequency shift or compression

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  • This invention generally relates to a method of configuring a frequency transposition scheme for transposing frequencies received by a hearing aid worn by a subject as well as an apparatus adapted to perform the transposition.
  • the invention further relates to a hearing aid adapted to perform frequency transposition of incoming sounds. More particularly, the invention relates to transposing frequencies for improving spatial hearing abilities of subjects with high-frequency hearing losses.
  • frequency transposition can imply a number of different approaches to altering the spectrum of a signal.
  • frequency compression refers to compressing a (wider) source frequency region into a narrower target frequency region, e.g. by discarding every n-th frequency analysis band and “pushing" the remaining bands together in the frequency domain. In the context of this invention, this will be termed the frequency-compression approach.
  • Frequency lowering refers to shifting a high-frequency source region into a lower-frequency target region without discarding any spectral information contained in the shifted high-frequency band. Rather, the higher frequencies that are transposed either replace the lower frequencies completely or they are mixed with them.
  • both types of approaches can be performed on all or only some frequencies of a given input spectrum.
  • both approaches are intended to transpose higher frequencies downwards, either by compression or lowering.
  • Frequency transposition of particular frequency regions in hearings aids is a known technique for improving the benefits of hearing-aid users.
  • patent application WO 2005/015952 describes a system that aims at improving the spatial hearing abilities of hearing-impaired subjects. The proposed system discards every n-th frequency analysis band and pushes the remaining ones together, thus applying frequency compression. As a result, spatially salient high-frequency cues are assumed to be reproduced at lower frequencies.
  • hearing aids may be of the behind-the-ear (BTE), mostly-in-the-ear (MIC), in-the-ear (ITE), completely-in-the-canal (CIC), or receiver-in-the-ear (RITE) type.
  • BTE behind-the-ear
  • MIC mostly-in-the-ear
  • ITE in-the-ear
  • CIC completely-in-the-canal
  • RITE receiver-in-the-ear
  • Patent application EP 1.742.509 relates to eliminating acoustical feedback and noise by synthesizing an audio input signal of a hearing device. Even though this method utilises frequency transposition, the purpose of frequency transposition in this prior art method is to eliminate acoustical feedback and noise in hearing aids and not to improve spatial hearing abilities.
  • audio frequencies which a subject has limited access to due to a hearing impairment
  • the configuration of the transposition process is based on at least one subject-dependent parameter indicative of that specific subject's ability to detect audio frequencies (e.g. the audiogram) and at least one subject-dependent parameter indicative of the location in frequency of one or more spectral cues, in particular spatially-salient spectral cues.
  • subject-dependent frequency transposition based on at least one of the parameters determined for each individual subject, the subject's spatial hearing capabilities can be significantly improved.
  • Embodiments of the method described herein utilise a number of audiologically-motivated approaches, so as to improve the spatial hearing abilities of subjects with high-frequency hearing impairments.
  • the configuration of the frequency transposition may be performed in a reproducible manner and with controllable quality.
  • the configuration is less dependent or even completely independent of the person performing the configuration.
  • the precise details of the transposition are determined based on information about the subject's hearing loss and location in frequency of spatially-salient spectral cues.
  • the frequency transposition is configured to downward-transpose at least one high-frequency source region.
  • spectral cues' is used herein to refer to properties of the received frequency spectrum (such as peaks and notches), i.e. in particular the high-frequency spectral information to be transposed downwards so as to improve the subject's spatial hearing abilities.
  • spatially-salient spectral cues are cues that carry information which the subject can utilise for sound localisation or, more generally, spatial hearing purposes.
  • HRTFs head-related transfer functions
  • determining the subject-dependent parameters includes a geometric measurement of the physical dimensions of one or more anatomical features of at least one outer ear of the subject.
  • determining the at least one subject-dependent parameter includes a geometric measurement of the physical dimensions of the subject's head, thus providing a particularly simple geometric measurement.
  • Such geometric measurements of a subject's outer ear(s) or head may determine which frequency transposition configuration is suitable for that subject.
  • a further advantage of this embodiment is that a geometric measurement is an objective and reproducible measurement.
  • the method comprises comparing the geometric measurement with predetermined physical models of the outer ear [e.g. Shaw, E. A. G. (1997), "Acoustical features of the human external ear," In: R. H. Gilkey and T. A. Anderson (eds.), Binaural and Spatial Hearing in Real and Virtual Environments, Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 25-47 ] so as to determine at least one source frequency region containing spectral cues, in particular spatially-salient spectral cues. This enables an assessment of which of these cues are accessible for a given person with a given hearing loss and which are not accessible.
  • predetermined physical models of the outer ear e.g. Shaw, E. A. G. (1997), "Acoustical features of the human external ear," In: R. H. Gilkey and T. A. Anderson (eds.), Binaural and Spatial Hearing in Real and Virtual Environments, Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 25-47 ]
  • a transposition scheme can be derived, which optimises accessibility of the transposed cues for the given person.
  • Comparison of the geometric measurement of the subject's ear with a predetermined physical model of the ear has the advantage of improving the configuration of the frequency transposition, since information about the location in frequency of spatially-salient spectral cues can be combined with information about the same subject's hearing impairment.
  • the geometric measurement is a measurement of at least one physical dimension, i.e. the width, depth or height, of the outer ear itself, the concha cavity, the ear canal or any other anatomical feature of the outer ear.
  • Salient anatomical features of the outer ear determine the magnitude as well as the location in frequency of the spatially-salient cues, which is why it is an advantage to perform a geometric measurement of these anatomical parts of the ear or head of the hearing-impaired subject.
  • the at least one subject-dependent physical parameter related to the head and outer ears is indicative of one or more of the following: the location in frequency of one or more predetermined spectral cues, e.g. spectral peaks and notches, the subject's head-related transfer function, the subject's open-ear or ear-canal resonance, or a combination thereof.
  • the at least one subject-dependent physical parameter may simply be derived from demographic information about the subject. For instance, a subject's age, gender and body height are known to have an influence on the physical dimensions of a subject's outer ears. Therefore, this type of information can also provide an indication of the location in frequency of spatially-salient spectral cues.
  • the frequency transposition method described in this document can be subdivided into a number of different, audiologically-motivated approaches for selecting and transposing high-frequency spectral cues.
  • the most significant difference between these approaches is whether the spectral cues that are transposed downwards are broadband or narrowband cues.
  • the level of detail required in the geometric model that is used to predict the location in frequency of the spatially-salient spectral cues are explained below.
  • This boosting and attenuating of the sound signal occurs over a comparatively large frequency range and can therefore be considered a broadband effect.
  • this is typically referred to as the "head-shadow effect” [e.g. Shaw, E. A. G. (1997), "Acoustical features of the human external ear,” In: R. H. Gilkey and T. A. Anderson (eds.), Binaural and Spatial Hearing in Real and Virtual Environments, Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 25-47 ].
  • the first audiologically-motivated approach to configuring the frequency transposition algorithm involves restoring, for a given frequency bandwidth that is determined by a subject's hearing loss, as much of the head-shadow effect as possible.
  • a frequency region is chosen such that, on average, it provides the largest boost and attenuation of a sound signal across a listener's two ears for the given frequency bandwidth.
  • Such transposition is advantageous because normal-hearing listeners are known to benefit from high-frequency head-shadow effects under complex listening conditions such as cocktail parties where there are multiple sound sources that overlap in time and frequency.
  • the frequency region with the overall largest head-shadow effect is therefore determined and transposed. Whilst the frequency-lowering approach seems to be most suitable for this implementation, frequency compression should in principle also be usable. Assuming that a 2 kHz bandwidth is available for transposition, the 6-8 kHz frequency region would be a good initial choice that should work reasonably well for a large number of subjects. This is because measurements averaged over 20 human subjects show that the magnitude of the head-shadow effect is largest in that frequency band [ Mehrgardt, S., and Mellert, V. (1977), "Transformation characteristics of the external human ear,” J. Acoust. Soc. Am., 61, 1567-1576 ].
  • the human outer ear Since the human outer ear is much smaller than the human head, it affects impinging sound waves at higher frequencies, i.e. above approximately 3 kHz [e.g. Weinrich, S. (1982), "The problem of front-back localization in binaural hearing,” Scand. Audiol. Suppl., 15, 135-145 ; Wightman, F. L., and Kistler, D. J. (1997), “Factors affecting the relative salience of sound localization cues," In: R. H. Gilkey and T. A. Anderson (eds.), Binaural and Spatial Hearing in Real and Virtual Environments, Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1-23 ].
  • the pinna Due to the fact that the pinna has a very complicated structure, it alters high-frequency sound in a complicated manner. More specifically, the pinna can be considered a direction-dependent filter that introduces spectral peaks and notches into the ear signals, which vary as a function of source position [e.g. Carlile, S., Martin, R., and McAnally, K. (2005), "Spectral information in sound localization,” Int. Rev. Neurobiol., 70, 399-434 ]. These features are widely considered to be responsible for improved localisation performance in normal-hearing listeners, especially in the vertical plane and with respect to discriminating between frontal and rearward sources [e.g. Middlebrooks, J. C., and Green, D. M.
  • the frequency region over which one or more individual spectral peaks and notches vary maximally is therefore determined based on comparisons of measurements of the physical dimensions of some or all relevant anatomical features with existing models [e.g. Shaw, E. A. G. (1997), "Acoustical features of the human external ear," In: R. H. Gilkey and T. A. Anderson (eds.), Binaural and Spatial Hearing in Real and Virtual Environments, Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 25-47 ; Lopez-Poveda, E. A., and Meddis, R. (1996), "A physical model of sound diffraction and reflection in the human concha,” J. Acoust. Soc.
  • the frequency region over which a given spectral cue varies maximally may also be predictable from the physical dimensions of the pinna as a whole and not just from those of smaller anatomical components.
  • a less elaborate geometric model may be sufficient for selecting the appropriate frequency region that is to be transposed downwards.
  • a model that is even less elaborate could be based on demographic information about a subject such as age, gender and body height to predict the frequency location of spatially-salient spectral cues.
  • the method further comprises enhancing individual spectral cues of the subject's head-related transfer function.
  • the method may comprise enhancing spectral peaks or notches, the centre frequencies of which are correlated with certain physical dimensions of certain anatomical features of the outer ear and thus can be predicted with the help of an ear-geometry model, by boosting a peak and/or attenuating the energy adjacent to the peak, or by attenuating a notch and/or boosting the energy adjacent to the notch.
  • An advantage of this embodiment is that both normal-hearing and impaired-hearing subjects are better able to detect these spectral features when they are enhanced [e.g. DiGiovanni, J. J., and Nair, P. (2006), "Auditory filters and the benefit measured from spectral enhancement," J. Acoust. Soc. Am., 120, 1529-1538 ].
  • configuring a subject-dependent frequency transposition comprises determining a subject-dependent bandwidth of a transposed frequency region and a transition frequency between an unmodified baseband and a replaced frequency region. It is an advantage of this embodiment that the bandwidth of the transposed frequency region and the transition frequency is subject-dependent, since this provides optimal frequency transposition for a subject.
  • the method further comprises synchronizing the frequency transposition across the two ears of a subject when this subject is wearing a hearing aid in both ears. Consequently, any interaural level or time difference cues contained within the transposed frequency band are preserved.
  • the method may comprise synchronizing dynamic range compression across the two hearing aids of the subject.
  • Dynamic range compression is typically applied to "squeeze" the (physical) level range of an input signal into the (perceptual) level range of hearing-impaired subjects.
  • Non-synchronised dynamic range compression has recently been shown to result in poorer directional hearing performance of bilaterally fitted normal-hearing and impaired-hearing subjects, because such compression can reduce high-frequency interaural level differences [ Musa-Shufani, S., Walger, M., von Wedel, H., and Meister, H. (2006), "Influence of dynamic compression on directional hearing in the horizontal plane," Ear Hear., 27, 279-285 ].
  • An advantage of this embodiment is therefore that when a hearing-impaired subject is wearing two hearing aids, one on each ear, the acoustical effects of the two hearing aids on the ear signals are taken into account.
  • the method further comprises adjusting the frequency transposition according to the position of one or more microphones of the hearing aid.
  • This is advantageous because the acoustical effects occurring in the concha cavity are different from those occurring above or behind the outer ear, for example [ Agnew, J. (1994), "Acoustic advantages of deep canal hearing aid fittings,” Hear. Instr., 45, 22-25 ]. That is why the high-frequency spectral cues are also position-dependent.
  • An advantage of this embodiment is that the effect of the position of the hearing aid microphone(s) is taken into account when configuring the transposition.
  • a suitable frequency-dependent gain for audio signals processed through the hearing aid is determined based on an open-ear resonance.
  • the open-ear resonance can vary from subject to subject, and it is an advantage that the open-ear resonance is predicted for each subject with the help of an ear-geometry model. If there is a mismatch between predicted and actual open-ear response, poorly prescribed gain will be the result. Consequently, the gain of the audio signals processed by a hearing aid is determined on the basis of the subject-dependent open-ear resonance, which has the effect that the audiological amplification typically prescribed in hearing aids is more suitable for the specific subject.
  • performing the frequency transposition includes performing a Fast Fourier Transform (FFT).
  • performing the frequency transposition includes performing the frequency transposition by means of a filterbank. Consequently, the frequency transposition may be performed in several ways so as to lead to the most efficient and effective implementation.
  • FFT Fast Fourier Transform
  • performing the frequency transposition includes performing the frequency transposition by means of a filterbank. Consequently, the frequency transposition may be performed in several ways so as to lead to the most efficient and effective implementation.
  • the present invention relates to different aspects including the method of configuring frequency transposition described above and in the following, and corresponding methods, devices, and/or product means, each yielding one or more of the benefits and advantages described in connection with the first mentioned aspect, and each having one or more embodiments corresponding to the embodiments described in connection with the first mentioned aspect and/or disclosed in the appended claims.
  • a hearing aid adapted to perform a frequency transposition of a set of received frequencies of an audio signal to a transposed set of frequencies
  • the hearing aid comprises storage means having stored therein at least one subject-dependent configuration parameter configured based on the subject's ability to detect audio frequencies (e.g. the subject's audiogram) and the location in frequency of the subject's spectral cues, in particular spatially-salient spectral cues, and processing means for processing a subject-dependent frequency transposition configured from the at least one subject-dependent configuration parameter, the subject-dependent frequency transposition being configured to facilitate the subject's spatial hearing capabilities.
  • the subject-dependent configuration parameter configured based on the subject's ability to detect audio frequencies (e.g. the subject's audiogram) and the location in frequency of the subject's spectral cues, in particular spatially-salient spectral cues
  • processing means for processing a subject-dependent frequency transposition configured from the at least one subject-dependent configuration parameter, the subject-dependent frequency transposition being configured to facilitate
  • the hearing aid is configured to take into account which frequencies the subject has no or only limited access to, and hence the subject experiences optimal hearing capability when wearing the hearing aid due to the specific transposition of frequencies in the hearing aid.
  • the term 'processing means' comprises any circuit and/or device suitably adapted to perform the above functions.
  • the term 'processing means' comprises general- or special-purpose programmable microprocessors, Digital Signal Processors (DSP), Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASIC), Programmable Logic Arrays (PLA), Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGA), special purpose electronic circuits, etc., or a combination thereof.
  • DSP Digital Signal Processors
  • ASIC Application Specific Integrated Circuits
  • PDA Programmable Logic Arrays
  • FPGA Field Programmable Gate Arrays
  • the term 'storage means' comprises any suitable circuitry or device for storing the determined configuration parameters, e.g. a non-volatile memory, such as a ROM, an EPROM, and EEPROM, a flash memory, and/or the like.
  • the determined parameter(s) may be stored as part of a program for controlling the processing means.
  • the frequency transposition when the frequency transposition is carried out in a subject-dependent manner by measuring the dimensions of predetermined salient anatomical features of the head and/or outer ear(s), the frequency locations of the spectral cues can be predicted and the cues themselves be transposed.
  • a combination with information about hearing loss configuration determined by means of standardised audiometric procedures is performed, and the transposition scheme can then be configured in such a way that, for each subject, best possible access to the spectral cues is ensured.
  • the frequency transposition is configured for each individual subject based on geometric measurements of salient anatomical features of the subject, since this is expected to result in optimal spatial hearing abilities and therefore improved speech intelligibility for each subject.
  • FIG 1 the overall process of configuring and implementing a subject-dependent frequency transposition scheme is displayed.
  • the subject's residual hearing sensitivity is determined by means of standard audiometric measurement procedures [e.g. Arlinger, S. (1991), Manual of Practical Audiometry - Volume 2, London: Whurr Publishers Ltd. ].
  • Estimates of hearing thresholds are thereby obtained that reveal the subject's configuration and degree of hearing loss. If a relatively mild hearing loss is diagnosed, the subject should have sufficient residual frequency resolution to resolve finer spectral cues [e.g. Moore, B. C. J. (1998), Cochlear Hearing Loss, London: Whurr Publishers Ltd. ].
  • the results from the audiometric evaluation can have a bearing on the type of spatially-salient spectral cues most suitable for that subject and therefore on the measurements that are made to determine these (step 104).
  • the audiometric measurements are used to determine at least one target frequency band suitable for the subject under consideration, e.g. at least one frequency band where the subject has sufficient residual hearing sensitivity to distinguish spectral cues.
  • the target frequency band e.g. at least one frequency band where the subject has sufficient residual hearing sensitivity to distinguish spectral cues.
  • the 4-6 kHz region could be chosen as the target frequency band. Any spatially-salient spectral cues occurring at higher frequencies could then be transposed into that target frequency band, where, given the subject's better residual hearing sensitivity, they should be of much greater benefit to that subject.
  • one or more geometric measurements of anatomical features of a hearing-impaired subject's outer ear(s) and/or head are performed. In some embodiments it is sufficient to measure dimensions of the subject's head, while other embodiments require measurements of the outer ear(s) or even of individual anatomical components of the outer ear(s). The actual measurements being made are related to the subject's hearing loss profile. For highly hearing-impaired subjects with limited frequency selectivity, it may be advantageous to try to restore access to broadband head-shadowing effects, and so measurements of the head dimensions may suffice. Such simple geometric measurements can be performed with the help of a tape measure or any other suitable measuring device that can be used to determine the depth, width and height of the head, for example.
  • Such geometric measurements can be performed by means of an ear scanner or any other suitable measuring device, which can measure the depth, width and height of the pinna as a whole or those of the concha cavity and the ear canal, for example.
  • step 105 demographic factors such as the subject's age, gender or body height may be registered, since these are known to have an impact on the overall size of the subject's head and pinnae, too. Hence, this type of information can be used in order to obtain additional, basic information about the location in frequency of the subject's spatial cues.
  • the geometric measurements and/or demographic data are used to determine at least one source frequency band suitable for the subject under consideration, e.g. the frequency region over which a given spectral cue varies maximally or is most pronounced.
  • the size of the head as well as the human outer ear and its individual anatomical components e.g. the concha cavity
  • the location in frequency of the spatially-salient spectral cues that these body components give rise to e.g. Middlebrooks, J. C. (1999), "Individual differences in external-ear transfer functions reduced by scaling in frequency," J. Acoust. Soc. Am., 106, 1480-1492 ].
  • a tall person with comparatively large outer ears can be expected to exhibit spatially-salient spectral cues that occur lower in frequency compared to those of a smaller person with comparatively small outer ears. Determination of the precise location in frequency of these cues can, for example, be performed by comparing the geometric measurements with predetermined physical models of the head and/or outer ears [e.g. Shaw, E. A. G. (1997), "Acoustical features of the human external ear," In: R. H. Gilkey and T. A. Anderson (eds.), Binaural and Spatial Hearing in Real and Virtual Environments, Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 25-47 ; Lopez-Poveda, E. A., and Meddis, R.
  • predetermined physical models of the head and/or outer ears e.g. Shaw, E. A. G. (1997), "Acoustical features of the human external ear," In: R. H. Gilkey and T. A. Anderson (eds.), Binaural
  • the location in frequency of spatially-salient spectral cues it may also be useful to consider the influence of hearing aid-related factors (step 103).
  • An example would be the location of the input transducer(s), e.g. microphone(s), of the hearing aid, in which the frequency transposition scheme is to be implemented.
  • the microphones are located at the ear-canal entrance, and so they can capture all the spatially-salient spectral cues originating in the pinnae.
  • the microphones are located above or behind the pinnae where the acoustical effects of the human head and outer ears on impinging sound waves are known to be different [ Berland, O., and Nielsen, T. E. (1968), "Sound pressure generated in the human external ear by a free sound field,” Oticon Laboratories, Copenhagen, Denmark ]. Consequently, with BTE devices the available spatially-salient spectral cues have different acoustical properties, which have to be taken into account in the selection of suitable source frequency bands, so that the spectral cues of interest can be optimally restored for a given microphone location.
  • Another example of a hearing aid-related factor that could have an influence on the determination of suitable source frequency bands would be the input bandwidth of the hearing aid. This is because the highest frequency the hearing-aid microphone(s) could faithfully transmit would set the limit in terms of how high in frequency the source frequency bands could be located.
  • a hearing aid-related factor that could have a bearing on the determination of suitable target frequency bands would be the output bandwidth of the hearing aid. This is because the highest frequency a hearing-aid output transducer, e.g. a receiver or loudspeaker, could faithfully transmit would set the limit in terms of how high in frequency the target frequency bands could be located.
  • the open-ear resonance may be predicted based on measurements of the dimensions of the ear canal. Such knowledge may then be used to ensure correct gain for sounds processed through a hearing aid in the frequency region surrounding the open-ear resonance. This is useful because proper amplification in the frequency region from 1-3 kHz significantly contributes to obtaining good speech intelligibility [ ANSI S3.5-1997 (1997), "Methods for the calculation of the intelligibility index," American National Standards Institute, New York ]. If, on the other hand, an average estimate of the open-ear resonance was used and a hearing-aid user's own resonance differed notably from that average, a less suitable prescription of amplification in that particular frequency region would be the result.
  • a frequency transposition algorithm is then designed for the specific subject in step 107.
  • the source frequency band containing spatially-salient spectral cues which the subject is unable to detect due to its high-frequency hearing loss is transposed into the target frequency region where the subject has sufficient remaining hearing sensitivity.
  • the target frequency band determines the maximum available bandwidth for the frequency transposition. Consequently, if the source frequency band occupies a frequency range that exceeds one of the target frequency band, it will have to be compressed into the available bandwidth by means of frequency compression.
  • a 4-12 kHz source frequency band could be compressed into that target frequency band using a compression ratio of 2:1. This would then imply that half of the information contained in the source frequency band would be discarded.
  • a 6-8 kHz source frequency band could be transposed into that target frequency band by means of frequency lowering.
  • the frequency transposition algorithm may be implemented in such a manner that it can accommodate manipulation of the spectral shape of the source frequency band, so that the spatial cues of interest can be made more pronounced.
  • the frequency transposition algorithm described herein may be further extended by synchronizing the transposition applied in the two hearing aids of a subject. This means that the same transposition parameters could be used in both hearing aids. Additionally and/or alternatively, through the use of wireless "ear-to-ear" communication, dynamic range compression could be synchronized across the two hearing aids. Both types of synchronization may be advantageous in that they would help preserve interaural spatial cues contained in both transposed and non-transposed frequency bands. This, in turn, would mean that optimal contribution of these cues to spatial hearing performance would be maintained.
  • the configured frequency transposition algorithm is implemented in a hearing aid which is adapted to be worn by the hearing-impaired subject in order to improve the spatial hearing abilities of that subject.
  • the technical realisation of the frequency transposition may be based on any suitable technique, e.g. an FFT-based or a filterbank-based realisation may be chosen. Examples of such implementational realisations in hearing aids are disclosed in EP 1742509 and WO 2005/015952 .
  • a hearing aid adapted to be worn by a subject and configured to perform frequency transposition of received audio signals.
  • the hearing aid comprises an input transducer 201, e.g. a microphone, processing means 202, storage means 203 and an output transducer 204, e.g. a loudspeaker.
  • Audio signals are received by the input transducer 201, e.g. a microphone, converting a sound signal entering the ear from the surroundings of the subject to an electric sound signal.
  • the electric sound signal is communicated to a processing unit 202, e.g. a suitably programmed general-purpose microprocessor, an ASIC, or any other suitable control circuitry, connected to storage means 203, e.g.
  • the subject-dependent configuration parameter(s) may indicate a subject-dependent bandwidth of a transposed frequency region and a transition frequency between an unmodified baseband and a replaced frequency region.
  • the subject-dependent configuration parameter(s) may be indicative of other forms of transformation as described herein.
  • the subject-dependent configuration parameters may be determined by the methods described herein. Accordingly, the signal processing unit 202 is adapted to process the electric sound signal in accordance with a configured frequency transposition configured from the subject-dependent parameter.
  • the processed/configured electric sound signal is communicated to an output transducer 204, e.g. a loudspeaker.
  • the output transducer 204 converts the electric sound signal to a sound pressure signal, which is audible to the subject.
  • FIG 2 shows the processing means and the storage means as two separate units, it is to be understood that the processing means and the storage means may also be combined in one unit.
  • embodiments of the method described herein, and in particular the configuration of the frequency transposition described herein may be implemented at least in part by means of hardware comprising several distinct elements, and/or by means of a data processing system or other processing means caused by the execution of computer program code means such as computer-executable instructions.
  • several of these means can be embodied by one and the same item of hardware, e.g. a suitably programmed microprocessor or computer, and/or one or more communications interfaces as described herein.
  • the mere fact that certain measures are recited in mutually different dependent claims or described in different embodiments does not indicate that a combination of these measures cannot be used to advantage.

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EP07114028A 2007-08-08 2007-08-08 Frequenztranspositionsanwendungen zur Verbesserung des räumlichen Hörvermögens von Personen mit hochfrequentem Hörverlust Withdrawn EP2026601A1 (de)

Priority Applications (4)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
EP07114028A EP2026601A1 (de) 2007-08-08 2007-08-08 Frequenztranspositionsanwendungen zur Verbesserung des räumlichen Hörvermögens von Personen mit hochfrequentem Hörverlust
AU2008203351A AU2008203351B2 (en) 2007-08-08 2008-07-25 Frequency transposition applications for improving spatial hearing abilities of subjects with high frequency hearing loss
US12/222,308 US8135139B2 (en) 2007-08-08 2008-08-06 Frequency transposition applications for improving spatial hearing abilities of subjects with high-frequency hearing losses
CN200810134954.6A CN101370325B (zh) 2007-08-08 2008-08-07 用于提高具有高频听力损失的主体的空间听觉能力的移频应用

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WO2014206491A1 (en) 2013-06-28 2014-12-31 Phonak Ag Method and apparatus for fitting a hearing device employing frequency transposition
EP3174315A1 (de) * 2015-11-03 2017-05-31 Oticon A/s Hörgerätesystem und verfahren zur programmierung eines hörgeräts
US9980053B2 (en) 2015-11-03 2018-05-22 Oticon A/S Hearing aid system and a method of programming a hearing aid device
US10085099B2 (en) 2015-11-03 2018-09-25 Bernafon Ag Hearing aid system, a hearing aid device and a method of operating a hearing aid system

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