Siemens Audiologische Technik Gmbh

Siemens Medical Instruments Pte. Ltd.

Sivantos Pte. Ltd.

Jürgen Reithinger

Eghart Fischer

Peter Nikles

Uwe Rass

Homayoun Kamkar-Parsi

Benjamin Schmidt

Ulrich Schätzle

Erwin Singer

Mihail Boguslavskij

Christian Weistenhöfer

Hans Adel

Thomas Lotter

Daniel Alber

Birgit KÜFNER-Schwerdtner

A wireless audio transmission, for example from a television to a hearing device, is to be achieved simply and with a low signal delay. For this purpose are proposed a transmission facility with a transmission device for transmitting audio data in a signal conforming to a Bluetooth&#xae; communications protocol, a hearing-aid-specific coder which is integrated into the transmission device for the purpose of compressing the audio data before its transmission, and a relay station for converting the Bluetooth&#xae; signal from the transmission device into a signal for inductive transmission to the hearing device. In the relay station, no recoding is performed during the conversion. The transmission device transmits in accordance with the Bluetooth&#xae; A2DP protocol. The hearing-aid-specific coder has a lower sampling rate than the standard Bluetooth&#xae; coder SBC. Encoding delays and processing delays in the relay station can be minimized by this system.

Bluetooth transmission facility for hearing devices, and corresponding transmission method

The installation size of hearing apparatuses and in particular of hearing devices is to be reduced. Provision is thus made for a hearing apparatus with a transmitting facility including an antenna for the wireless, electromagnetic transmission of data and a switching controller including an inductor, which is used to supply energy to the hearing apparatus and the transmitting facility, with the inductor of the switching controller being identical to the antenna of the transmitting facility. This multiple use of the inductor can save on installation space. In order to avoid mutual interference of the transmitting facility and the switching controller, the signals thereof are modulated independently of one another.

Hearing apparatus using an inductive switching controller as a radio transmitter

A method for programming a hearing device is described, in which audio data and programming data is transmitted from a programming device to the hearing device, with the audio data and the programming data being converted into data packets and transmitted via a common channel of a digital radio connection from the programming device to the hearing device.

Control device and method for wireless audio signal transmission within the context of hearing device programming

With the date transmission in a hearing device system, overloads are to be avoided and the energy consumption during transmission is to be kept as low as possible. To this end, a transmission method and a corresponding system for the inductive transmission is proposed, in which the receiver returns an item of quality information relating to the received signal back to the transmitter. The transmission power of the transmitter is then dynamically varied as a function of the item of quality information. With unidirectional transmission, the transmitter can obtain an item of distance information relating to the distance of the receiver from the transmitter and thereupon adjust the transmission power accordingly.

Transmission method with dynamic transmission power adjustment and corresponding hearing device system

The invention relates to a water-resistant hearing device, which has the following: At least one first electroacoustic transducer for receiving sound waves and converting said sound waves into electrical signals, an electronic circuit sealed against liquids by coating and/or encapsulation, at least one second electroacoustic transducer converting electrical signals supplied to the circuit into sound waves and an electrical energy source sealed against liquids by means of coating and/or encapsulation. In this way the electroacoustic transducers are made of materials which realize a deformation in an electrical and/or magnetic field and/or an electrical current flow and/or an electrical voltage (and/or vice versa) and are insensitive to liquids, in particular water, salt water and slight acids.

Water-resistant hearing device

Inductive transmission to a hearing apparatus and in particular to a hearing device is to be improved. To this end, it is proposed to equip the hearing apparatus with two or three orthogonal coils. The coil signals are added with different signs and that signal which exhibits the highest level is forwarded from the resulting signals for further processing. It is thus possible to ensure an optimum reception quality in all alignments of the hearing apparatus.

Hearing apparatus having coils arranged orthogonal to one another

In a hearing aid system comprising two hearing aids between which wireless signal transmission is provided. The hearing aids are automatically switched on and off. To this end, a field strength or value of an electromagnetic signal received by a hearing aid that is transmitted from the respective other hearing aid may be determined. The determined value is compared with a threshold value, the relevant hearing aid being switched off (sleep mode), as long as the field strength is greater than the threshold value and the hearing aid being switched on as long as the measured field strength is lower than the threshold value.

Fully automatic switching on/off in hearing aids

There is described an amplifier for a radio frequency signal for transmitting a transmit signal to an otological apparatus. The amplifier comprises at least one power transistor for switching an output signal. A breaker gap of the power transistor is actively connected to a network such that a power loss converted in the power transistor is at least partially reduced during a switchover into a switched-on state and/or at least during a switchover into a switched-off state. The breaker gap of the at least one transistor is at least indirectly connected in series to a power supply source by way of a choke coil. The amplifier comprises a transmit coil as an output load, with the transmit coil comprising an inductor and being actively connected to the power transistor. The transmit coil is coupled to the choke coil in a transformer-like manner, with the choke coil thus being able to transmit an output power to the transmit coil. The transmit coil can generate a transmit signal from the output power.

Amplifier for a radio frequency transmitter for transmitting a transmit signal to an otological apparatus

An arrangement of devices which may be worn on the body of a person comprising a first device for transmitting signals to at least one second device via electromagnetic fields or waves, with the first device comprising a transmitter for transmitting such signals and an antenna connected to this transmitter, having a linear or chain-like, but not necessarily straight, arrangement of materials starting from the antenna, which affect the path of the electromagnetic waves or fields transmitted or produced by the antenna, such that at the location of at least one second device a higher receiving field strength of the signals transmitted by the transmitter prevails than without this arrangement of materials.

Arrangement of devices comprising at least one transmitter and method for improving the receiving field strength

Structurally simple transmit/receive circuits for hearing devices are to be able to be deployed for higher frequencies as well. It is therefore proposed according to the invention that at least two PIN diodes should be connected in an anti-parallel manner between the receive oscillating circuit and the amplifier connected thereto to protect the amplifier. A capacitance diode can optionally be expanded so that larger component tolerances can be permitted for the circuit.

Transmit/receive circuit with PIN diodes

The aim is to be able to determine the spatial structure of an ear canal in a simple and reliable fashion. To this end, it is proposed to produce a hologram of the ear canal, by inserting a holography unit at least partially into the ear canal. The data for the shape of a housing shell or an otoplastic can then be obtained from the resulting hologram for automatic manufacturing methods.

Ear canal hologram for hearing apparatuses

A simple, interference-free digital phase modulator is to be provided. To this end, the phase modulator is provided with a counter for outputting a counter signal on the basis of a predetermined clock signal and a comparator, which receives a current counter state from the counter, in order to record a digital input signal. The comparator compares the input signal with the current counter state on the basis of a predetermined allocation table and resets the counter, if the input signal corresponds to a counter state assigned via the allocation table. A predetermined signal value of the output counter signal is herewith phase-modulated as a function of the input signal. As only one phase position is generated with the circuit at any point in time, interferences, which are produced by the digital phase modulator itself, are significantly less.

Digital phase modulator and corresponding method

A transmission coil system has a first and a second transmission coil in which the first transmission coil is connectable to a stimulation unit, and the second transmission coil can be used as part of a resonant circuit which can be stimulated to resonate, and having a coil core for two transmission coils that are loosely magnetically coupled to one another in that the two transmission coils are wound alongside one another on the coil core. Stimulation of the first transmission coil leads to a resonant increase in the applied voltage in the second transmission coil, and thus to an amplified transmission power. This may be used, for example, for remote control of the hearing aid, since, for example, it allows 200 bits/s data transmission over several meters from a low-voltage source.

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Neunkirchen am Brand, Germany

Jürgen Reithinger