Oticon A/s

Anders Thule

Svend Oscar Petersen

Michael Syskind Pedersen

Karsten Bo Rasmussen

Steen Michael Munk

Thomas Kaulberg

Jesper Bruun Jensen

Meng Guo

Troels Holm Pedersen

Kenneth Rueskov Møller

Sune Heibing

Michael Porsbo

Maria Mehlsen

Kennet Draaby Hansen

Jens Mørup

Nicolai Terp Holm

A hearing aid with an earpiece for placement in the ear canal, and a dome, are disclosed. The earpiece comprises a speaker unit comprising: a receiver extending along an axis between an outlet surface perpendicular to the axis and a bottom surface perpendicular to the axis, a receiver outlet directed towards the ear canal of the user when the earpiece is mounted in the ear canal, a microphone having an inlet surface and a bottom surface, wherein the microphone is placed in connection with the receiver, a microphone inlet directed towards the ear canal of the user when the earpiece is mounted in the ear canal, wherein the receiver outlet is placed side by side with the microphone inlet, and wherein the microphone inlet and receiver outlet are separated by a wall, the earpiece further comprising a dome for placement on the speaker unit, the dome comprising: a speaker unit interface connecting a tip of the speaker unit to the dome such that when connected, the microphone inlet and receiver outlet are separated all the way into the ear canal, and an outer dome portion, wherein the dome comprises a two-component material in which the interface comprises a harder material, and the outer dome portion comprises a softer material.

Hearing aid with speaker unit and dome

A hearing device, e.g. a hearing aid, configured to be worn by a user, comprises a) two or more input transducers (e.g. microphones) wherein said two or more input transducers during use of the hearing device are arranged with a distance between them; b) a directional system comprising a directional algorithm configured to provide a directional pattern in dependence of said distance. The hearing device is configured to estimate a current value of said distance, or an equivalent acoustic delay, or beamformer weights of said directional system, thereby the directional performance can be optimized to the individual user.

Hearing device comprising a microphone adapted to be located at or in the ear canal of a user

A hearing device, e.g. a hearing aid, comprises a) an input unit comprising a1) at least one first input transducer for picking up said sound user and providing respective at least one first electric input signals, and a2) a second input transducer for picking up said sound and providing a second electric input signal, the second input transducer being located at or in an ear canal of the user; b) an output unit comprising an output transducer for converting a processed electric signal representing said sound to a stimulus perceivable by said user as sound; c) a near-field beamformer applied to said multitude of electric input signals and implementing a feedback suppression system for suppressing feedback from said output unit to said at least one first input transducer, and comprising an adaptation unit for modifying the second electric input signal in approximation of an acoustic transfer function, or an impulse response, from the second input transducer to the at least one first input transducer and providing a modified second electric input signal representative of an estimate of said feedback. This has the advantage of allowing an increased gain to be applied to the input sound signal without a risk of feedback. A method of operating a hearing device is furthermore provided.

An earpiece configured to be worn in an ear canal of a user is disclosed. The earpiece includes an adaptor having an interface configured to receive at least a part of a speaker unit and hereby be attached to the speaker unit. The earpiece includes an adaptable part, preferably a part made of a foam material or a gel material shapeable to fit the ear canal of the user. The adaptable part at least partly surrounds the adaptor. The adaptor has a sound outlet channel and at least one vent.

Sealing earpiece

A hearing device, e.g. a hearing aid, adapted for being located at or in an ear of a user and/or for being fully or partially implanted in the head of the user, comprises The beamformer filtering unit comprises an audio signal cancelling beamformer configured to provide that sound from the direction from the hearing device to the audio signal source is cancelled or attenuated compared to other directions in said beamformed signal. The application further relates to a method of operating a hearing device.

Hearing device comprising a wireless receiver of sound

A hearing device, e.g. a hearing aid, comprises a) first and b) second input transducers located on the head, and at or in an ear canal of the user, respectively, and providing respective electric input signals, c) a signal processing unit comprising c1) a weighting unit for applying weights to the electric input signals, and c2) a hearing loss processing unit providing a processed signal. The hearing device further comprises d) an output unit to provide a stimulus perceivable by the user as sound, e) a feedback detection unit for providing a measure of the current level of feedback from the output to the input, and f) an input signal weight control unit configured to control or influence first and second weights applied to the first and second electric input signals in dependence of the measure of the current level of feedback, and a current level and frequency dependent target gain.

Hearing device comprising a microphone control system

A hearing device, e.g. a hearing aid, adapted for being arranged at least partly on a user's head or at least partly implanted in a user's head is provided. The hearing device comprises an own voice detector comprising first and second signal strength detectors for providing signal strength estimates of first and second electric input signals. The own voice detector comprises a comparison unit operationally coupled to the first and second signal strength detectors and configured to compare the signal strength estimates of the first and second electric input signals and to provide an indication of the difference between said signal strength estimates; and a control unit for providing an own voice detection signal indicative of a user's own voice being present or not present in the current sound in the environment of the user, the own voice detection signal being dependent on said signal strength comparison measure.

Hearing device comprising an own voice detector

A hearing device comprising a first and a second input sound transducers, a processing unit, and an output sound transducer. The first transducer is configured to be arranged in an ear canal or in the ear of the user, to receive acoustical sound signals from the environment and to generate first electrical acoustic signals from the received acoustical sound signals. The second transducer is configured to be arranged behind a pinna or on, behind or at the ear of the user, to receive acoustical sound signals from the environment and to generate second electrical acoustic signals from the received acoustical sound signals. The processing unit is configured to process the first and second electrical acoustic signals and apply a direction dependent gain. The output sound transducer is configured generate acoustical output sound signals in accordance with the applied direction dependent gain.

Hearing device

The application relates to a hearing device comprising a) first and second input transducers for picking up sound signals from the environment and providing first and second electric input signals, b) a first and signal strength detectors for providing signal strength estimates of the first and second electric input signal, the first input transducer being located at or behind an ear of the user, and the second input transducer being located at or in an ear canal of the user. The hearing device further comprises c) a signal processing unit providing a processed signal based on the first and second electric input signals, and d) an output unit comprising an output transducer for converting the processed signal or a signal originating therefrom to a stimulus perceivable by said user as sound. The hearing device further comprises e) a feedback detector comprising e1) a comparison unit operationally coupled to the first and second signal strength detectors and configured to compare the signal strength estimates of the first and second electric input signals and to provide a signal strength comparison measure indicative of the difference between the signal strength estimates, and e2) a decision unit for providing a feedback measure indicative of current acoustic feedback from the output transducer to the first and/or second input transducers based on the comparison measure. In an embodiment, the feedback measure is used to control processing in the signal processing unit, e.g. a beamformer unit and/or a feedback cancellation system, and/or an amplification unit. The invention may e.g. be used in hearing aids, in particular hearing aids comprising an ITE-part adapted for being located at or in an ear canal of a user and a BTE-part adapted for being located at or behind an ear or the user.

Hearing device comprising a feedback detector

A hearing device comprising a first and a second input sound transducers, a processing unit, and an output sound transducer. The first transducer is configured to be arranged in an ear canal or in the ear of the user, to receive acoustical sound signals from the environment and to generate first electrical acoustic signals from the received acoustical sound signals. The second transducer is configured to be arranged behind a pinna or on, behind or at the ear of the user, to receive acoustical sound signals from the environment and to generate second electrical acoustic signals from the received acoustical sound signals. The processing unit is configured to process the first and second electrical acoustic signals. The output sound transducer is configured to be arranged in the ear canal of the user and to generate acoustical output sound signals from electrical acoustic signals.

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Smørum, Denmark

Anders Thule