The present invention relates to a method defined in the preamble of claim 1.
Hearing aids must be matched to specific requirements, that is to the particular hearing impairment of a patient. As a rule a patient audiogram must be recorded on the basis of which first an optimal hearing aid shall be selected to best meet the hearing impairment being addressed. Moreover, once a hearing aid has been selected, the adjustable parameters must be optimally set on the basis of said audiogram.
The German Offenlegungsschrift 44 18 203 discusses one approach in matching hearing aids. This known disclosure relates to matching the transmission characteristics of a hearing aid using a data processing device connectable to the hearing aid, the adjustable parameters being set using a pointer device and a display unit showing both the instantaneous values as well as the transfer characteristic resulting from them.
However the known procedure incurs the drawback of precluding overview, and hence being totally unsuitable, for binaural matching: binaural matching requires accurately matching to each other two hearing-aid portions, one for the left ear and one for the right ear. This procedure requires taking into account the interactions of parameter settings between the two hearing-aid portions.
It is the objective of the present invention to create an appropriate method to optimally match binaural hearing aids.
This problem is solved by the features of the invention stated in claim 1. Advantageous embodiments of the invention are stated in further claims.
The invention offers the following advantages: because the parameters determining the transmission characteristics of the hearing-aid portions can be adjusted simultaneously as well as for each of the two sides independently of the other, extremely accurate and surveyable adjustment is now possible. In particular the possibility of simultaneous adjustment allows adjusting the hearing-aid portions faster and more efficiently than do the known procedures.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds