288 results about "Hearing Impaired Persons" patented technology

The invention comprises a totally implantable hearing prosthesis for hearing impaired persons. An inertial vibrational element is hermetically sealed and implanted in bone between the lateral and superior semicircular canals without breaching the integrity of the canals. The vibrational element is adapted to vibrate the walls of the canals and the fluids contained therein, thereby vibrating contiguous fluids within the cochlea thus stimulating hair cells and creating a hearing percept. The invention can also be adapted to be a tinnitus masking system, and / or used in combination with a coehlear implant hearing system.

A system for use with an audio reproduction system that corrects for distortion caused by the system as well as any hearing impairment suffered a listener. Test signals are introduced into the input of the system to produce test sounds that are perceptible by the listener. Using a pushbutton, the listener indicates when a test signal of progressively increasing volume reaches an audible level. The resulting measured values of the listener's threshold of hearing at different frequencies is compared with comparable data for a normal listener to generate correction values that are used to program an equalizer which compensates for not only the listener's hearing impairments but also any distortion produced by system components or room acoustics.

The invention comprises a surgically implantable hearing aid for hearing impaired persons. The hearing aid includes a vibrational element which is vibrated by sound waves and attached to the skull of the person, and a connector which crosses the mastoid cavity and delivers the sound waves to the dura mater of the human being thereby vibrating the dura mater, the cerebrospinal fluids, and the brain to create a hearing percept. The invention can also be adapted to act as a tinnitus masker or used in conjunction with a cochlear implant. It can also be used in a modified form to connect directly through the skull of the human being.

Method, system and device useful with conventional personal computers respond automatically to an identified alarm sound by sending a notification signal via the Internet only when a special sound monitoring program is active. Additionally, bedside detection of acoustic alarms is combined with enhanced waking devices to insure the waking of a child or hearing impaired person in response to an emergency. Home safety and security are provided using a bedside unit to monitor audible safety and security alarms and send notification signals to the appropriate communication site. A health monitoring method and system utilizes the bedside device to monitor breathing patterns and other health measuring signals and communicate these patterns and signals to a medical monitoring station.

Transfer functions like Head Related Transfer Functions (HRTF) needed for binaural rendering are implemented efficiently by a subband-domain filter structure. In one implementation, amplitude, fractional-sample delay and phase-correction filters are arranged in cascade with one another and applied to subband signals that represent spectral content of an audio signal in frequency subbands. Other filter structures are also disclosed. These filter structures may be used advantageously in a variety of signal processing applications. A few examples of audio applications include signal bandwidth compression, loudness equalization, room acoustics correction and assisted listening for individuals with hearing impairments.

The invention comprises a surgically implantable hearing aid for hearing impaired persons. The hearing aid includes a vibrational element which is vibrated by sound waves and attached to the skull of the person, and a connector which crosses the mastoid cavity and delivers the sound waves to the dura mater of the patient thereby vibrating the dura mater, the cerebrospinal fluids, and the brain to create a hearing percept. The invention can also be adapted to act as a tinnitus masker or used in conjunction with a cochlear implant. It can also be used in a modified form to connect directly through the skull of the person.

The invention relates to one or more inhibitors, in particular siRNAs, which down-regulate the expression of human pro-apoptotic genes. The invention also relates to a pharmaceutical composition comprising the compound, or a vector capable of expressing the compound, and a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier. The present invention also contemplates a method of treating or preventing the incidence or severity of hearing impairment (or balance impairment), particularly hearing impairment associated with cell death of the inner ear hair cells or outer ear hair cells, comprising administering to the patient the pharmaceutical composition in a therapeutically effective dose so as to thereby treat the patient.

The present invention relates generally to a portable / wearable device as well as application or a software program to be downloaded onto a mobile device or computer. The present invention is intended to measure sound intensity / level and provide an alert signal to remind user(s) or crowds (i.e groups of people) that they are speaking too loud or making too much noise. Furthermore, optionally, the device may play a pre-selected music or pre-recorded message when the sound level threshold is exceeded, which can encourage all of the users to use the bio-feedback of the present invention to relax when they see the visual que such as the light color changes, hear the music, message or produced from the device. Another object of the present invention is to help people to know whether his / her voice is loud enough to be heard by people who have hearing impairment.

Method, system and device useful with conventional personal computers respond automatically to an identified alarm sound by sending a notification signal via the Internet only when a special sound monitoring program is active. Additionally, bedside detection of acoustic alarms is combined with enhanced waking devices to insure the waking of a child or hearing impaired person in response to, an emergency. Home safety and security are provided using a bedside unit to monitor audible safety and security alarms and send notification signals to the appropriate communication site. A health monitoring method and system utilizes the bedside device to monitor breathing patterns and other health measuring signals and communicate these patterns and signals to a medical monitoring station.

The invention relates to a hearing aid for correcting hearing impairments, comprising a metal housing which has a battery compartment and a sound exit opening. According to the invention, the housing surrounds the electronics located in the treatment device in such a way as to shield them from electromagnetic waves on all sides and the sound exit opening is sealed by an acoustically permeable, water-tight film. The housing also has an essentially cylindrical shape.

A system and method for a deaf party to communicate in a sign language by way of a video computing device to relay center having a sign language interpreter. A relay system receives a sign language input from the deaf party. Then, a spoken message is relayed to the hearing party that corresponds to the received sign language input. The relay system may also receive a spoken message from the hearing party. Then a sign language message is relayed to the deaf party corresponding to the spoken message via relay communication link.

A system for use with an audio reproduction system that corrects for distortion caused by the system as well as any hearing impairment suffered a listener. Test signals are introduced into the input of the system to produce test sounds that are perceptible by the listener. Using a pushbutton, the listener indicates when a test signal of progressively increasing volume reaches an audible level. The resulting measured values of the listener's threshold of hearing at different frequencies is compared with comparable data for a normal listener to generate correction values that are used to program an equalizer which compensates for not only the listener's hearing impairments but also any distortion produced by system components or room acoustics.

A method and device for automatically assessing loss of hearing sensitivity and compression (recruitment) with user defined frequency resolution by means of extrapolated DPOAE I / O functions and ABRs as well as for automatically fitting hearing aids without any cooperation of the subject tested using a device having a display screen attached to a handheld device generating and collecting otoacoustic emission signals and brain stem response signals into a programmed with a clinical audiogram with fitting parameters for hearing aids calculated on the basis of assessed hearing threshold and compression and identifying the type of hearing required for the individual.

Method, system and device useful with conventional personal computers respond automatically to an identified alarm sound by sending a notification signal via the Internet only when a special sound monitoring program is active. Additionally, bedside detection of acoustic alarms is combined with enhanced waking devices to insure the waking of a child or hearing impaired person in response to an emergency. Home safety and security are provided using a bedside unit to monitor audible safety and security alarms and send notification signals to the appropriate communication site. A health monitoring method and system utilizes the bedside device to monitor breathing patterns and other health measuring signals and communicate these patterns and signals to a medical monitoring station.

This invention generally provides compounds, pharmaceutical compositions, and methods for their use, which include methods that result in increased expression in an Atoh1 gene (e.g., Hath1) in a biological cell. More specifically, the invention relates to the treatment of diseases and / or disorders that would benefit from increased Atoh1 expression, e.g., a hearing impairment or imbalance disorder associated with a loss of auditory hair cells, or a disorder associated with abnormal cellular proliferation.

A method to optimize the audio sound field for normal and hearing-impaired listeners are disclosed. The approach allows for the determination of the characteristics of the frequency response of the audio system and any hearing impairment of the listener. These characteristics define a hearing profile that can be applied to customize audio products.

The invention discloses a headset. The headset comprises a left earmuff, a right earmuff, a head band portion, two horns, a vibration motor, a sleep state monitoring unit, a control unit and an earmuff distance telescopic unit. The sleep state monitoring unit is used for monitoring different sleep states of a user of the headset and sending a monitoring result to the control unit. The control unit is used for controlling the output volume of the horns to be lowered when the monitoring result of the sleep state monitoring unit is light sleep; the control unit is used for sending a distance increasing signal to the earmuff distance telescopic unit when the monitoring result of the sleep state monitoring unit is deep sleep. The earmuff distance telescopic unit is used for increasing the distance between the left earmuff and the right earmuff when the distance increasing signal sent by the control unit is received. The headset can solve the problems that an existing headset can work after the user falls asleep so that hearing impairment can be caused easily.

Method, system and device useful with conventional personal computers respond automatically to an identified alarm sound by sending a notification signal via the Internet only when a special sound monitoring program is active. Additionally, bedside detection of acoustic alarms is combined with enhanced waking devices to insure the waking of a child or hearing impaired person in response to an emergency. Home safety and security are provided using a bedside unit to monitor audible safety and security alarms and send notification signals to the appropriate communication site. A health monitoring method and system utilizes the bedside device to monitor breathing patterns and other health measuring signals and communicate these patterns and signals to a medical monitoring station.

A method and device for automatically assessing loss of hearing sensitivity and compression (recruitment) with user defined frequency resolution by means of extrapolated DPOAE I / O functions and ABRs as well as for automatically fitting hearing aids without any cooperation of the subject tested using a device having a display screen attached to a handheld device generating and collecting otoacoustic emission signals and brain stem response signals into a programmed with a clinical audiogram with fitting parameters for hearing aids calculated on the basis of assessed hearing threshold and compression and identifying the type of hearing required for the individual.

Embodiments of the present invention relate to an earphone that allows for individual adjustment of different audio levels produced out of a first and second speaker to compensate for hearing impairment in one or both ears. The earphone may include a jack plug that is configured for insertion into an audio source that has a first volume control for setting the audio volume level produced by the first speaker. The earphone may also include a second volume control having an inlet and an outlet the inlet being operably connected to the jack plug. The second volume control may be configured to adjust the audio volume level produced by the second speaker. The maximum audio volume level of the second volume control may be approximately the same as the audio volume level set by the first volume control. The minimum audio volume of the second volume control may be inaudible.

There is provided a cochlear implant for improving the hearing ability of a patient suffered from hearing impairment comprising an internal receiving unit implanted into the body, which comprises a receiving part for receiving external signal, an active electrode and a reference electrode, characterized in that the active electrode is constructed with a single electrode wire having different thickness in at least two different regions. The active electrode of the internal receiving unit is inserted into a space formed at between the mastoid bone and the ear canal skin and end of the active electrode is inserted into the scala tympani of the cochlea and directly stimulates spiral ganglion. The cochlear implant provides easier implantation into the body and improved hearing ability at a lower cost.

The invention relates to one or more inhibitors, in particular siRNAs, which down-regulate the expression of human pro-apoptotic genes. The invention also relates to a pharmaceutical composition comprising the compound, or a vector capable of expressing the compound, and a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier. The present invention also contemplates a method of treating or preventing the incidence or severity of hearing impairment (or balance impairment), particularly hearing impairment associated with cell death of the inner ear hair cells or outer ear hair cells, comprising administering to the patient the pharmaceutical composition in a therapeutically effective dose so as to thereby treat the patient.

A method and an apparatus for providing automated speech-to-text encoding and decoding for hearing-impaired persons. A broadband subscriber terminal interfaces to: (a) a network to convey speech packets thereover, (b) a telephone to convey speech information, and (c) a display device to display textual information of spoken words. A speech buffer in the subscriber terminal receives speech data and a processor decodes and displays textual representations of speech on the display device. A database stores voice and / or speech patterns that are used by a speech analyzer to recognize an incoming caller and to associate a name or characteristic (e.g., male or female) with the incoming call. A tonal and inflection analyzer analyzes speech to add punctuation to the displayed text. A detector, such as a DTMF detector, responds to subscriber inputs to activate / deactivate speech recognition or other functions.

The invention discloses a digital hearing aid loudness compensation method based on frequency compression and movement, which belongs to the technical field of voice signal processing. The digital hearing aid loudness compensation method comprises the following steps of: filtering, and extracting the low-frequency part and the high-frequency part of a signal; compressing and moving the voice high-frequency part according to proportion; simulating a voice signal heard by a patient; designing a four-channel FIR-QMFB (Quadrature Mirror Filter Banks); dividing a frequency range; and carrying out loudness compensation and gain control; and combining voice. The digital hearing aid loudness compensation method is characterized in that the original voice signal is divided into low frequency and high frequency, then, the high-frequency part is compressed and moved to a medium and low frequency range according to proportion, and the overlaid voice signal is subjected to frequency band division and loudness compensation according to a hearing test curve of a hearing impairment patient. Therefore, negative effects brought by carrying out high-gain loudness compensation on the high frequency range in the prior art can be effectively avoided, and the hearing level and the language recognition rate of the patient can be effectively improved.