Hearing deficiencies can range from partial hearing impairment to complete hearing loss. Often, an individual's hearing ability varies across the range of audible sound frequencies, and many individuals have hearing impairment with respect to only select acoustic frequencies. For example, an individual's hearing loss may be greater at higher frequencies than at lower frequencies.
Hearing aids have been developed to compensate for hearing losses in individuals. Conventionally, hearing aids range from ear pieces configured to amplify sounds to hearing devices offering a couple of adjustable parameters, such as volume or tone, which the individual users can adjust.
Hearing aids typically apply hearing aid profiles that utilize a variety of parameters and response characteristics, including signal amplitude and gain characteristics, attenuation, and other factors. Unfortunately, many of the parameters associated with signal processing algorithms used in such hearing aids are designed to only bring the user's hearing back to a normal level as determined by a practitioner. A hearing health professional typically takes measurements using calibrated and specialized equipment to assess an individual's hearing capabilities in a variety of sound environments, and then adjusts the hearing aid based on the calibrated measurements to enhance the user's effective hearing to a level consistent with an accepted standard hearing level.
However, all the measurements and adjustments by the hearing health professional do not allow the user to calibrate the hearing aid for specific voice patterns of individual speakers. In some instances, the user may have particular difficulty hearing certain speakers, leaving the hearing aid user with a less than desirable hearing aid experience.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds