1463 results about "Electrophonic hearing" patented technology

A silicon-based transducer assembly coupled to a movable structure in a hearing instrument. The transducer assembly includes at least one microphone chip and an ASIC having multiple integrated components such as any combination of a DSP, an A / D converter, an amplifier, a filter, or a wireless interface. The movable structure may be a battery access door, a volume dial, a switch, or a touch pad. A protection strip can be disposed across the battery access door to prevent debris from clogging the silicon-based transducer assembly. The transducer assembly may also include an array of microphone chips to achieve adaptive beam steering or directionality. When equipped with a wireless interface, the hearing instrument wirelessly communicates with another hearing instrument or with a network.

Hearing systems for both hearing impaired and normal hearing subjects comprise an input transducer and a separate output transducer. The input transducer will include a light source for generating a light signal in response to either ambient sound or an external electronic sound signal. The output transducer will comprise a light-responsive transducer component which is adapted to receive light from the input transducer. The output transducer component will vibrate in response to the light input and produce vibrations in a component of a subject's hearing transduction pathway, such as the tympanic membrane, a bone in the ossicular chain, or directly on the cochlea, in order to produce neural signals representative of the original sound.

Specific Cytokine Antagonists, including TNF antagonists and / or Interleukin-1 antagonists, are used as novel therapeutic agents for the treatment of hearing loss, including presbycusis and other forms of sensorineural hearing loss. The present invention provides a method for inhibiting the action of TNF and / or IL-1 antagonists for treating hearing loss in a human by administering a TNF antagonist and / or an IL-1 antagonist for reducing the inflammation affecting the auditory apparatus of said human, or for modulating the immune response affecting the auditory apparatus of said human, by administering a therapeutically effective dosage level to said human of a TNF antagonist and / or an IL-1 antagonist. Administration may be systemic, through the subcutaneous, intramuscular, oral, or intravenous routes; or by delivering an anatomically localized application in the region of the head. The TNF antagonist is selected from the group consisting of etanercept, infliximab, D2E7, CDP 571, or thalidomide; and the IL-1 antagonist is either IL-1 RA or IL-1R type II receptor. Antiviral agents may be added for treating certain patients.

The invention relates to wireless communication between listening devices, in particular to a hearing aid system comprising a hearing instrument and a telephone apparatus. The invention further relates to a method of receiving a telephone call and to the use of a hearing aid system. The object of the present invention is to provide a relatively simple, reliable scheme for receiving a telephone call in a hearing instrument. The problem is solved in that the telephone apparatus comprises a transmitter for establishing a short range digital, low-power link to a hearing instrument comprising a corresponding receiver. This has the advantage of providing a relatively simple and low power solution, where at least the incoming part of a telephone conversation is wirelessly transmitted via a low-power link. The invention may e.g. be used for the communication between a hearing instrument and a telephone, where a standard wireless interface for local connectivity, such as a Bluetooth interface, is not technically feasible or not available for other reasons.

A personalized hearing profile is generated for an ear-level device comprising a memory, microphone, speaker and processor. Communication is established between the ear-level device and a companion device, having a user interface. A frame of reference in the user interface is provided, where positions in the frame of reference are associated with sound profile data. A position on the frame of reference is determined in response to user interaction with the user interface, and certain sound profile data associated with the position. Certain data is transmitted to the ear level device. Sound can be generated through the speaker based upon the audio stream data to provide real-time feedback to the user. The determining and transmitting steps are repeated until detection of an end event.

The present invention relates to a method for recording information in a hearing device and / or in a recording unit at least temporally operationally connected to the hearing device. The method consists in that a point in time of the recording and / or a recording frequency as well as the information to be recorded, as data and / or parameters and / or adjustments of the hearing device are adjusted freely or are programmable, respectively. Furthermore, a hearing device is described that is suitable to use the method. By the present invention, a multitude of the parameters being adjustable in a hearing device can be checked or surveyed all together or selectively in real, i.e. actually existing acoustic environments in order to optimally adjust or adapt the hearing device afterwards, that means after the analysis by the fitter, for example.

A method for providing communication services for the hearing-impaired may include receiving a telephone call from a hearing-impaired party or a hearing party. The method may also include forwarding the telephone call to a communication assistant and establishing a communication link, such an Internet protocol link, that links the hearing-impaired party, the communication assistant and the hearing party.

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.

The compact and portable interactive system allows person-to-person communication in a typed language format between individuals experiencing language barriers such as the hearing impaired and the language impaired. The communication system includes a custom configuration having a display screen and a keyboard, a data translation module for translating the original data from a first language type to a second language type. The display screen shows a split configuration with multiple dialogue boxes to facilitate simultaneous display of each user's input. The system supports multilingual text-based conversations as well as conversion from audio-to-text and text-to-audio conversations. Translation from one communication format to a second communication format is performed as messages are transmitted between users.

At least a partial seal between a housing of a hearing instrument and an ear canal is provided. First signals are received from an internal microphone disposed in the ear canal. Second signals are received from an external microphone disposed outside of the ear canal. A condition of the at least a partial seal is determined, and when the condition of the at least a partial seal indicates a leak, one or more of the level and the spectrum of the first signals is adjusted to compensate for the leak and producing first adjusted signal. A first amount of the first adjusted signals is blended with a second amount of the second signals to produce a blended signal, the first amount and the second amount selected based upon a level of noise.