Siemens Medical Instruments Pte. Ltd.

Sivantos Pte. Ltd.

Siemens Audiologische Technik Gmbh

Sebastian Pape

Tobias Wurzbacher

Stefan Petrausch

Marko Lugger

Ulrich Giese

Maja Serman

Homayoun Kamkar Parsi

Ulrich Kornagel

Jens Hain

Ronny Hannemann

Matthias Müller-Wehlau

Dirk Junius

Heike Heuermann

A hearing aid device and a method for operating the hearing aid device. The hearing aid device has an acousto-electrical transducer, a signal processing unit, an electro-acoustic transducer and a unit for recognizing a wearer's own voice. The hearing aid device detects and recognizes the wearer's own voice by way of the recognition unit and, when the wearer's own voice has been detected, operates the signal processing unit with a modified signal processing parameter that is modified such that the sound of the wearer's own voice is improved.

Method and device for the improved perception of one's own voice

Acoustic feedback in an audio device is reduced or eliminated via a feedback compensator. The feedback compensator disposes of at least one adaptive filter whose adaptation is governed by a step-size parameter &#x3bc;. A step-size parameter &#x3bc; of the adaptive filter is set at a high level to eliminate acoustic feedback and the parameter &#x3bc; is decreased when a critical excitation signal is detected. This way to proceed allows for efficient elimination of feedback whistling while required environment signals are retained.

Method and device for reducing acoustic feedback

A hearing aid device has a directional microphone system with a first microphone outputting a first microphone signal and a second microphone outputting a second microphone signal. A delay unit generates a directivity by delaying the second microphone signal or a fourth microphone signal derived therefrom by an internal time delay and associating it with the first microphone signal or a third microphone signal derived therefrom for generating a directional microphone signal. A cross-correlation analysis unit receives the first or the third microphone signal and the second or the fourth microphone signal and determines a value of a cross correlation of the two microphone signals. A control unit adjusting the time delay depending on the value of the cross correlation of the two microphone signals. A classifier determines audio conditions in which the hearing aid device is currently situated, and the time delay is adjusted depending on the audio conditions.

Hearing aid device with a directional microphone system and method for operating a hearing aid device having a directional microphone system

A method of operating a hearing device monitors for a head movement of a hearing device wearer. When a head movement is detected, an acoustic signal acquired by a microphone is output in an amplified and phase-modulated manner with a receiver. Furthermore, a hearing device includes a motion sensor and a signal processing unit that is configured to execute the method.

Method for operating a hearing device having reduced comb filter perception and hearing device having reduced comb filter perception

A method is provided for adapting a feedback suppression device of a hearing device to a given situation in order to improve the quality of feedback suppression in hearing devices and in hearing aids in particular. In the method an adaptation procedure of the feedback suppression device is periodically activated and adaptation of the feedback suppression device is performed regularly even if a feedback detector does not detect a feedback situation. A feedback suppression device for a hearing device is also provided.

Feedback suppression device and method for periodic adaptation of a feedback suppression device

A method for the operation of a hearing device with at least one receiver includes carrying out a fixed second frequency shift of an electrical receiver signal supplying the receiver or of a predefinable frequency range of the receiver signal and a variable first frequency shift of the receiver signal or of a predefinable frequency range of the receiver signal. The first frequency shift is changed depending on the occurring feedback. A frequency shift which effectively prevents feedback is advantageously carried out, while artifacts of the frequency shift are minimized.

Method for the operation of a hearing device and hearing device with variable frequency shift

A hearing aid device has an input converter for receiving an input signal and converting the signal into an electrical input signal, a signal processing unit for processing and frequency-dependent amplification of the electrical input signal and generating an electrical output signal, an output converter for converting the electrical output signal into an acoustic output signal, and a sound detector facility for identifying sounds in a signal. Facilities increase an amplification above a normal amplification for a frequency range in which an identified sound contains signal components. Further facilities set the normal amplification of an electrical input signal in dependence on a signal frequency. The amplification is restricted to a maximum amplification in a specific frequency range. The amplification exceeds the normal amplification or the maximum amplification for the duration of the identified sound and at most for a duration which lies below a setting time of a feedback whistling.

Hearing aid device and method for operating a hearing aid device

A hearing device has a signal-processing apparatus for processing an input signal into an output signal, and a feedback-canceller apparatus for reducing feedback artifacts on the basis of the input signal and the output signal. The feedback-canceller apparatus has an adaptive, first filter, for establishing a set of filter coefficients for a predefined feedback situation. The feedback-canceller apparatus is configured to store the set of filter coefficients. It has at least one second filter, which can be operated directly parallel to the first filter on the basis of the stored set of filter coefficients. The adaptive, first filter can be continuously adapted to a current feedback situation, and the feedback-canceller apparatus is configured such that in the current feedback situation it automatically selects either the first or the second filter. As a result, it generally only requires a simple switchover, but not a complete adaptation.

Hearing device with feedback-reduction filters operated in parallel, and method

The understanding of speech is to be improved in cases of hearing loss in which certain frequency ranges can no longer be perceived even at high volume or amplification, as applicable. A frequency transposition is performed on an input signal coming into a hearing aid and specific features of an electrical input signal are detected and a transposed signal is filtered as a function of the specific features detected in the electrical input signal. The hearing aid provides appropriate facilities for detecting specific features of the electrical input signal and filtering facilities for filtering the transposed signal. The objective of this is to detect particular properties of the input signal, in particular signal properties which are characteristic of fricatives, which may possibly be lost as a result of the frequency transposition, and at least partially to restore them in the transposed signal.

Method for improving the comprehensibility of speech with a hearing aid, together with a hearing aid

A method operates a hearing device having at least two omnidirectional microphones emitting microphone signals and a detection unit for defining acoustic feedback. The method includes connecting a first electrical connection of the microphones to one another in order to form a first signal with directional effect, an adjustment of the directional effect of the first signal such that the acoustic feedback in the first signal is maximized, and an analysis of the first signal by the detection unit for defining the acoustic feedback. It is advantageous that the feedback can be detected by a signal with an improved signal-to-noise ratio. Feedbacks are therefore recognized more reliably and more rapidly.

Method and hearing device for feedback recognition and suppression with a directional microphone

A hearing apparatus and in particular a hearing device is to be provided, in which interference noises are to be reduced however as natural an acoustic image as possible is consequently retained. To this end, a hearing apparatus with a first signal processing channel, into which a noise reduction device is integrated and a second signal processing channel, which has the same input as the first signal processing channel and into which no noise reduction device, but instead a level limitation device is integrated, is proposed. An adding device adds the output signals of both signal processing channels to form an overall output signal. A passive input level-dependent noise reduction can thus be realized, with which quiet signals can be heard again despite the noise reduction.

Hearing apparatus with passive input level-dependent noise reduction

Feedback in a hearing device and, more particularly, in a hearing aid should be compensated for before it becomes audible. To this end, a method is proposed for compensating for a feedback signal in a hearing device with an input-transducer apparatus, a signal-processing apparatus and an output-transducer apparatus, in which method a feedback signal is compensated for, which feedback signal is fed back to the input-transducer apparatus from the output-transducer apparatus or the signal-processing apparatus. More particularly, a probability of having a plurality of notches, equally spaced apart from one another, in the spectrum of an input signal is established, which input signal originates directly from the input-transducer apparatus or which is a difference signal between the signal directly from the input-transducer apparatus and a compensation signal serving for compensation. The compensation is modified or the signal-processing apparatus is amplified as a function of this established probability.

Method for compensating for a feedback signal, and hearing device

Acoustic signal tones of a hearing aid need to be adjusted to the particular situation so as to be easy to hear, i.e. on the one hand they should not be too loud in quiet situations, and on the other hand they should not be too quiet in noisy situations. In order to fulfill these requirements, the acoustic signals of the hearing aid according to the invention are shifted up or down in frequency if the ambient noises are extremely pronounced, particularly in the frequency band range of the acoustic signals.

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Erlangen, Germany

Sebastian Pape