194results about "Electric tinnitus maskers" patented technology

A tinnitus masking system for use by a person having tinnitus The system comprises a sound delivery system having left and right ear-level audio delivery devices and is configured to deliver a masking sound to the person via the audio delivery devices such that the masking sound appears to originate from a virtual sound source location that substantially corresponds to the spatial location in 3D auditory space of the source of the tinnitus as perceived by the person. The masking sound being represented by left and right audio signals that are converted to audible sound by the respective audio delivery devices.

A tinnitus method and device for providing relief to a person suffering from the disturbing effects of tinnitus is described. The method can be implemented entirely in software to spectrally modify an audio signal in accordance with a predetermined masking algorithm which modifies the intensity of the audio signal at selected frequencies. A predetermined masking algorithm is described which provides intermittent masking of the tinnitus wherein, at a comfortable listening level, during peaks of the audio signal the tinnitus is completely obscured, whereas during troughs the perception of the tinnitus occasionally emerges. In practice it has been found that such intermittent masking provides an immediate sense of relief, control and relaxation for the person, whilst enabling sufficient perception of the tinnitus for habituation and long term treatment to occur. Advantageously the predetermined masking algorithm is specifically tailored to the audiometric configuration of the person. For example, the masking algorithm may be partly tailored to the hearing loss characteristic of the person. A tinnitus rehabilitation device used in conjunction with a personal sound reproducing system is also described.

Methods and apparatus for treating tinnitus are described where an oral appliance having an electronic and/or transducer assembly for generating sounds via a vibrating transducer element is coupled to a tooth or teeth. Generally, the transducer may generate one or more frequencies of sound via the actuatable transducer positioned against at least one tooth such that the sound is transmitted via vibratory conductance to an inner ear of the patient, whereby the sound completely or at least partially masks or provides sound therapy for habituation of the tinnitus perceived by the patient. The one or more generated frequencies may be correlated to measured tinnitus frequencies or they may be preset.

The present invention relates to a system for improving a user's hearing and more particularly to a receiver system used in the system. In one embodiment, the receiver system has a housing and a plurality of arms extending from the housing for positioning and suspending the receiver within the ear canal of a user. Each of the arms may be formed from a flexible, plastic material or a bendable wire. In a second embodiment, the receiver system is surrounded by a disc formed from a sound filtering material. When installed in a hearing aid system, the receiver is separated from the microphone. When installed in a tinnitus/hyperacusis device, the receiver is separated from the body of the instrument.

A system for rehabilitation of a hearing disorder which comprises at least one acoustic sensor for picking up an acoustic signal and converting it into an electrical audio signal, an electronic signal processing unit for audio signal processing and amplification, an electrical power supply unit which supplies individual components of the system with current, and an actuator arrangement which is provided with one or more electroacoustic, electromechanical or purely electrical output-side actuators or any combination of these actuators for stimulation of damaged hearing, wherein the signal processing unit has a speech analysis and recognition module and a speech synthesis module.

Tinnitus masking systems for treating tinnitus are described where a device is coupled to a surface of a bone or to a tooth or several teeth. Such a device may comprise an oral appliance having an electronic and/or transducer assembly for generating sounds via a vibrating transducer element. Generally, the transducer may generate one or more frequencies of sound via the actuatable transducer to transmit a modified audio signal via vibratory conductance to an inner ear of the patient to mask tinnitus during a peak of the audio signal and to allow the user to perceive the tinnitus during a trough of the audio signal. The audio signal is also modified to account for any hearing loss of the patient as well as a bone conductance profile measured from the patient.

A flexible membrane of piezoelectric material sized to be supported by and to conform to the eardrum. Electrodes on the membrane allow the membrane to function as an audio transducer stimulating the eardrum with an audio signal or detecting audio signals at the eardrum. Applications may include detecting a variety of pathophysiological and biomechanical features of the tissues of the tympanic membrane and regional integrated anatomy, detecting audio, physical and biological signals, and/or delivery a variety of therapeutic modalities.

The invention relates to a tinnitus hearing aid which comprises a tinnitus masking module and a hearing compensation module, and is characterized in that the tinnitus hearing aid further comprises a control module; the control module comprises a pre-setting unit, a selecting unit and a voice classification device; the pre-setting unit is used for selecting any one function mode in tinnitus masking, hearing compensation and tinnitus masking and hearing compensation, and inputting related preset parameters; the voice classification device is used for sequentially performing pre-treatment, feature extraction and classification according to received signals, and finally determining a sound field environment; a signal processing algorithm is selected and the parameters in the signal processingalgorithm are adjusted according to the function mode selected by the pre-setting unit and the determined sound field environment, and optimal combination is further performed; and the selecting unitis used for opening the voice classification device and working according to the function mode selected by the pre-setting unit.

A bone conduction hearing aid system includes a hearing aid housing with a hearing aid vibrator. A skin interface has an interface connector offset on an outer interface surface and detachably connected to a housing connector. A skin adhesive connects to the skin of a patient user to transmit the sound vibrations through the skin to underlying skull bone for transmission by bone conduction to a hearing organ of the user. When the skin adhesive is pressed against the skin of the user, the skin is initially engaged during an initial engagement period with an initial adhesive force that promotes removal and relocation of the skin interface, and the skin is fully engaged after the initial engagement period with a full adhesive force greater than the initial adhesive force that promotes a fixed secure connection that resists removal of the skin interface.

A user programmable hearing aid allows a user to select acoustical configuration programs that provide optimum performance for the user. The user may cycle through and evaluate various available programs by rotating a scroll wheel on the hearing aid housing to switch from one program to the next. When a preferred program is active, the user can press a push button on the housing for an extended time to select the currently active program. The user can then use the scroll wheel to adjust the audio gain for the selected program. The hearing aid may also operate in a Configuration Mode wherein configuration settings may be changed using the scroll wheel and the push button. In the Configuration Mode, a clinician or patient may easily change configuration settings manually, with no need to connect the apparatus to a computer or other programming interface.

An apparatus, software, procedures and technology that, beginning with a simple manipulative auditory paradigm, moves up the auditory neural pathways, modifying the basic stimulus from a unilateral routine audiology tool to a dichotic central auditory processing diagnostic tool that defines hearing loss along the entire auditory chain from the middle ear to the cortex. From the resultant data comes information related to the reduction of tinnitus employing parathreshold central procedures rather than the traditional suprathreshold masking or phase-shifting techniques. The new application modifies and applies known technology in new ways for both the top-down and bottom-up differential diagnosis of auditory disorders and the tinnitus reduction.

A hearing aid (62, 72, 82, 92, 102, 112) adapted for alleviating tinnitus of a user (75), comprises an audio input means (83), a signal processing unit (88, 98, 108, 118) and an output transducer (80). The hearing aid further comprises a band stop filter (87) arranged to match a tinnitus of the user and switching means (86, 116) and switch control means (84, 114) for controlling the switching of said band stop filter (87) into and out of the signal path between the audio input means (83) and the output transducer (80), in response to a predefined trigger event. The invention further provides a method of adjusting a hearing aid.

A method for generating optimized tinnitus masks includes, for example, presenting stimuli in succession to a user, receiving the user's rating of the effectiveness of each presented stimulus in reducing tinnitus, selecting a subset of the stimuli to maintain as tinnitus masks, and, generating variant stimuli from the subset of the stimuli that is maintained as tinnitus masks.

Systems, methods and apparatuses for auditory system disorder rehabilitation by providing a stimulus to the auditory system of an individual experiencing an auditory disorder, tinnitus, conditions of reduced tolerance of loud sounds, or combinations thereof comprising, for example, a playback device and a method and apparatus for modifying an audio signal. The methods may include allowing a user to select an audio source (for example, a music track or the audio output of a television program) and modifying the audio with a spectral modified signal to create a spectrally modified audio. The spectrally modified audio can then be output by the playback device or other means for listening by the user.

A system for capturing an individual's hearing characteristics, including loudness tolerance levels at different sound frequencies, as an individualized shaped auditory profile for automatically enhancing audio to complement and address an individual's hearing deficits experienced via a particular signal pathway including the audio device, the sound environment, and the individual's hearing capabilities. The auditory profile is used to produce enhanced sound subsequently transmitted to the individual via the same signal pathway. The enhanced sound may be produced with consideration of both ears' auditory profile shapes together to increase the dynamic range of the enhanced sound. The sound enhancement can be introduced gradually over a sound reproduction session or a period of time of use. Manual gain adjustments applied by multiple users to particular sound enhancement are recorded and used in pattern recognition to allow the system to learn and suggest alternatives to the desired sound enhancement for the auditory profile.