[0001] The present invention relates to a hearing aid which comprises an occlusion suppression
system, a receiver with extended low frequency response or static pressure capability
and defined subsonic filtering to reduce undesirable effects due to large amounts
of subsonic energy produced primarily by jaw motion which may exist in the frequency
region below 10Hz and improve suppression of occlusion signals in a hearing aid user's
ear canal.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The primary objective of a hearing aid is to compensate for a user's hearing loss
by amplifying and otherwise processing environmental sound received at an outwardly
placed or ambient microphone of the hearing aid. Amplified or processed sound is emitted
to the user's fully or partially occluded ear canal through a suitable miniature loudspeaker
or receiver in a manner where at least partial compensation of the user's specific
hearing loss is accomplished.
[0003] However, mounting an ear mould or housing of the hearing aid in the user's ear canal
introduces new imperfections. One such imperfection is occlusion, which is a phenomenon
caused by full or partial physical blocking of the user's ear canal. The hearing aid
user experiences occlusion as an unnatural exaggerated perception of low frequency
components of his/hers own voice as well as excessive perception of jaw and mouth
sounds which are conducted directly through bone and tissue of the user. Occlusion
perception generally increases the more the hearing aid housing or ear mould blocks
the ear canal and may vary between different styles of hearing aids such as in-the-ear
(ITE), completely-in-the-canal (CIC) and behind the ear (BTE) and different characteristics
of an ear mould.
[0004] The effect of occlusion and occlusion suppression on a hearing aid user is explained
shortly below in a simplified situation in which the only sound sources considered
are the receiver and the body conducted sound. In this simplified case of sound emission
from a hearing aid, sound heard by the user will be a combination of a perceived or
excess body conducted sound (B
P=B-B'), and a receiver emitted sound (R), whereas a microphone in the ear canal would
observe E= R+B=R+B'+B
P, i.e. including the unnoticed or reference sound B'.
[0005] To give a hearing aid user an experience of unoccluded hearing, a ratio between body
conducted sound and receiver generated or emitted sound must correspond to the ratio
between body conducted sound and ear canal conducted sound for an unoccluded ear.
If it was possible to isolate the perceived body conducted sound (B
P), this sound could be emitted in opposite phase in the user's ear canal, with the
effect of a perfect cancellation of the excess part of body conducted sound, thus
resulting in a perfect cancellation of occlusion sensation. However, in practice it
is not possible to isolate the body conducted sound, and even less the perceived (i.e.
"excess") body conducted sound, but an ear canal microphone may be used to register
the combination of body conducted sound and receiver emitted sound (E=R+B).
[0006] Assuming two receivers were placed in the hearing aid user's ear canal, one receiver
could emit the ambient sound with an appropriate gain g (R
1=g*A), and the other could subtract (i.e. emit in opposing phase) the registered ear
canal sound with an appropriate gain f (R
2=f*E=f*(R
1+R
2+B)=f*(g*A+R
2+B) or R
2=f(g*A+B)/(1-f)),
resulting in a perceived ear sound:
[0007] The occlusion suppression task then becomes to balance f and g, such that the sound
heard by the user has the same ratio of body conducted sound to receiver emitted sound
as the ratio between body conducted sound and ear canal conducted sound for an unoccluded
ear. While this suppression task may appear simple, in practice it will involve a
rather complex and calculation intensive optimization, which may not be desirable
to perform in practice with current calculation power of Digital Signal Processors
for hearing aids, especially considering the simplifications in the above explanation.
[0008] The practical implementation of an occlusion suppressor will typically not involve
the use of two receivers, but rather be implemented in a device configured for subtraction
of an electrical signal prior to output amplification, as will be familiar to the
person skilled in the art.
[0009] The latter implementation will require an occlusion suppressor configured for processing
the ear canal sound or sound pressure such that after the amplification the sum of
the signal from a hearing loss compensation means and the occlusion suppressor will
suppress the perceived body conducted sound, such that when the hearing aid is in
normal operation, the user will perceive only the hearing loss compensated signal,
without a perceived body conducted sound.
[0010] In the prior art, hearing aid occlusion has mainly been combated or suppressed by
two methods; passive acoustical venting, and more recently, by signal processing.
Venting may be implemented either as an acoustical vent comprising acoustical channels
or conduits extending through the hearing aid housing or extending through the ear
mould. Venting may alternatively be implemented as a so-called "open fitting" hearing
aid with a loose fit in the user's ear. Both methods can be effective in reducing
the user's perception of occlusion by allowing low frequency sound in the ear canal
to escape to the surrounding environment through the vent. Venting to the extent required
to be effective in reducing occlusion is, however, accompanied by two significant
adverse effects:
- 1) A suppression or attenuation of low frequency sound generated by the hearing aid;
- 2) An increased risk of acoustical feedback and hearing aid instability because of
acoustical leakage through the vent to an ambient microphone(s) of the hearing aid.
[0011] With respect to effect 1), low frequency components of the receiver sound is reduced
by the same amount as the reduction in the occlusion level causing a reduction of
both available low frequency gain and maximum undistorted output from the hearing
aid at low frequencies. Since the individuals most affected by occlusion have mild
loss to normal hearing at low frequencies, and thus don't need much, if any, gain
for low frequencies, this might not necessarily be a problem in itself, but since
the occlusion levels experienced are often of a high amplitude, even a person with
a severe low frequency sensorineural loss may be bothered by the occlusion effect,
but simultaneously need significant low frequency gain.
[0012] With respect to effect 2), venting often leads to a requirement for feedback cancellation
or suppression system to obtain a prescribed or target hearing aid gain. Feedback
cancellation systems are accompanied by their own range of limitations and problems.
Also, venting can give unpredictable results, sometimes producing much less occlusion
reduction than expected. A vent with its cut off frequency situated in the vicinity
of a fundamental frequency of the users own voice will likely make the occlusion effect
worse.
[0013] More recently signal processing has been used in suppression of occlusion in hearing
aids. One such prior art disclosure is given in
US 4,985,925. More recent prior art publications specifically implementing signal processing based
or active suppression of occlusion include
EP 1 129 600,
WO 2006/037156,
WO 2008/043792,
US 6,937,738,
US 2008/0063228,
WO 2008/043793,
EP 2 309 778,
Mejia, Jorge et al., "The occlusion effect and its reduction", Auditory signal processing
in hearing-impaired listeners, 1st International Symposium on Auditory and Audiological
Research (ISAAR 2007), ISBN: 87-990013-1-4, and
Meija, Jorge et al., "Active cancellation of occlusion: An electronic vent for hearing
aids and hearing protectors", J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 124(1), 2008.
[0014] Common for these approaches is that, an "ambient sound" received at the ambient microphone,
is processed by a hearing loss processor to compensate for the hearing loss of a user
to generate a desired sound, is combined with an compensation signal captured by a
microphone in the user's partly or fully occluded ear canal volume in such a way that
the sum of these signals suppresses the perceived excess body conducted sound.
[0015] While these approaches may be improvements over the previous approaches, they also
suffer from drawbacks, such as artefact sounds due to an unstable feedback loop or
overload of an output amplifier or receiver enclosed in the feedback loop.
[0016] A particularly severe problem not addressed in the prior art is caused by high amplitude
subsonic signals in the residual volume of the occluded ear canal primarily due to
jaw motion. Jaw motion changes the shape and thus volume of the residual volume of
the ear canal, generating undesirable subsonic pressure signals that can have extremely
high amplitudes. These signals may overload the output amplifier or receiver as the
feedback loop attempts to cancel them, creating audible artefacts, and wasted battery
energy. Even if overload does not occur, these large signals waste the dynamic range
of the output amplifier and receiver that are needed for effective occlusion cancellation.
[0017] One object of the present invention is to reduce the effects of the aforementioned
subsonic signals.
[0018] In the prior art, the presence of these extremely high amplitude subsonic signals
has not been dealt with in a satisfying way. In
WO 2006/037156 and
[0019] US 2008/0063228, a conventional vent is shown to be optional "to depressurise the ear thus reducing
the sensation of stuffiness in the ear."
[0021] EP 2 309 778 A1 discloses a hearing aid with an active occlusion reduction system that counteracts
occluded sounds generated within the volume of the ear canal that is not blocked when
the hearing aid, or an ear piece thereof, is inserted into the ear canal and a transducer
that has a flattened frequency response for low frequency portions of the occlusion
sounds to enable a wide range of frequency response by the active occlusion reduction
system. The low frequency portions of the occlusion sounds may be in the range of
10-100 Hz.
EP 2 309 778 A1 does not mention undesired effects caused by jaw motion.
SUMMARY OF INVENTION
[0022] In the prior art, the choice and design of receivers used for occlusion suppression
hearing aids have been based on considerations related to hearing loss compensation.
However, the present inventor has by a combination of experiments and circuit simulations
demonstrated that utilizing a receiver with an extended low frequency response or
static pressure capability plus defined subsonic filtering in an active occlusion
suppressing hearing aid leads to a considerable improvement in its ability to reduce
undesirable effects due to subsonic energy produced primarily by jaw motion. The present
inventor has been first to identify that occlusion effects extend beyond the frequency
range normally considered for amplification in connection with hearing loss compensation
such as amplification between 200 Hz and 10 kHz. The present inventor has been first
to include the subsonic frequency range, particularly below 10 Hz, in the design of
active occlusion suppressing hearing aids.
[0023] According to the invention, there is provided a hearing aid according to claim 1.
[0024] In the present context, the lower cut-off frequency of the frequency response of
the receiver is measured by coupling the receiver to an IEC 711 Ear Simulator or coupler
via 10 mm of Ø 1 mm tubing. The lower cut-off frequency is a frequency, in a frequency
range below 1 kHz, where the sound pressure level is 3 dB lower than a sound pressure
level at 1 kHz. The receiver may comprise a miniature electro-dynamic or moving coil
loudspeaker or a miniature balanced armature receiver such as a Knowles FH 3375 hearing
aid receiver. A suitable receiver with extended low frequency response so as to comply
with the above-referenced range of lower cut-off frequencies can be manufactured by
reducing a size of a barometric pressure relief hole placed in a diaphragm of a standard
balanced armature receiver. Alternatively, the barometric relief hole may be removed
from the diaphragm creating the "static pressure capability" mentioned above and a
hole, vent or acoustic channel of suitable dimensions placed through a rear chamber
casing of the receiver and having a path to atmospheric pressure hereafter referred
to as "rear chamber equalization". From this point forward, it is assumed that the
use of "static pressure capability" implies and includes the additional use of "rear
chamber equalization" as it may be impractical to operate without it.
[0025] Experimental tests and circuit simulations conducted by the inventor have revealed
that a receiver with extended low frequency response or static pressure capability
as stated above and combined with an appropriately defined subsonic filtering scheme,
for example provided by a subsonic filter, is highly beneficial in improving the performance
of an active occlusion suppression system in hearing aids or instruments. The inventor
has experimentally identified a number of occlusion sound pressure sources, such as
jaw motions of the user, which create surprisingly large ear canal sound pressures
within the fully or partly sealed ear canal at very low frequencies (including sound
at subsonic frequencies below 10 Hz). In prior art hearing aids with active occlusion
suppression, these large sound pressure levels at subsonic frequencies have not been
adequately addressed and are often accompanied by sound artefacts such as popping
or clicking. A feedback loop through the occlusion suppressor to the signal combiner
generates high amplitude drive to the receiver in seeking to cancel the above-mentioned
large subsonic sound pressure levels within the user's ear canal. The above-mentioned
sound artefacts are created by overloading or saturating an output stage amplifier
and/or the receiver itself. The large amount of loop gain ~15- 20 dB maximum, causes
the loop to generate high amplitude drive to the receiver to cancel large signals.
During an attempt to substantially cancel a signal, the receiver needs to output a
signal nearly the same amplitude (but of opposite phase) as the signal to be cancelled.
If the receiver is called upon to cancel a signal which is larger than the receiver
can produce, the receiver and or output amplifier will saturate, creating failure
to fully cancel the signal as well as potentially severe distortion, which is unacceptable.
[0026] By using the above-specified receiver with extended low frequency response or static
pressure capability plus, where the above mentioned defined subsonic filtering scheme
comprises a combination of an appropriately sized acoustical vent (chosen to achieve
maximum subsonic attenuation (maximized low frequency cut-off frequency) while avoiding
excessive reduction of low speech frequency receiver maximum output capability and
therefore not having a low frequency cut-off greater than approximately 200-300Hz),
and additional low frequency roll off in the closed acoustic feedback loop (since
the subsonic attenuation of the vent by itself is necessary but insufficient), the
present hearing aid is capable of occlusion cancellation significantly free of artefacts
caused by large sound pressure levels at subsonic frequencies such as jaw motion induced
subsonics without overloading or dominating the dynamic range of the output stage
amplifier and/or the receiver itself so as to provide effective cancellation of low
frequency occlusion sound pressure levels without audible sound artefacts or wasted
battery energy.
[0027] The present hearing aid may be embodied as an in-the-ear (ITE), in-the-canal (ITC),
or completely-in-the-canal (CIC) aid with a housing or housing portion shaped and
sized to fit the user's ear canal. The housing is in an embodiment enclosing the ambient
microphone, hearing loss processor, occlusion suppressor, ear canal microphone and
the receiver inside an optimally vented customized hard or soft shell of the housing.
Alternatively, the present hearing aid may be embodied as a receiver-in-the-ear BTE
or traditional behind-the-ear (BTE) aid comprising an optimally vented ear mould for
insertion into the user's canal. The BTE aid may comprise a flexible sound tube adapted
for transmitting sound pressure generated by a receiver placed within a housing of
the BTE aid to the user's ear canal. In this embodiment, the ear canal microphone
may be arranged in the ear mould while the ambient microphone, hearing loss processor,
occlusion suppressor and the receiver are located inside the BTE housing. The ear
canal signal may be transmitted to the occlusion suppressor through a suitable electrical
cable or another wired or unwired communication channel.
[0028] The ambient microphone may be positioned inside the hearing aid housing for example
close to a faceplate of an ITE or CIC hearing aid housing. The microphone may alternatively
be physically separate from the hearing aid housing and coupled to the hearing loss
processor by a wired or wireless communication link.
[0029] The ear canal microphone has in an embodiment a sound inlet positioned at a tip portion
of the ITE, ITC or CIC hearing aid housing or tip of the ear mould of the BTE hearing
aid allowing unhindered sensing of the ear canal sound pressure within the fully or
partly occluded ear canal volume residing in front of the user's tympanic membrane
or ear drum.
[0030] The signal combiner may comprise a subtraction circuit or subtraction function implemented
in analog format or digitally to subtract the occlusion suppression signal from the
electronic output signal to establish a feedback path around the receiver and an output
amplifier of the hearing aid. The occlusion suppression signal is in an embodiment
derived from the feedback path of the occlusion suppressor with the result that both
occlusion sound pressure, generated by body conduction, and low-frequency components
representing the intended signal from the hearing loss processor of the acoustic output
signal of the receiver are attenuated by approximately similar amounts.
[0031] The hearing loss processor may comprise a programmable low power microprocessor such
as a programmable Digital Signal Processor executing a predetermined set of program
instructions to amplify and process the electronic input signal in accordance with
the hearing loss of the user and generate an appropriate electronic output signal.
Alternatively, the hearing loss processor may comprise a processor based on hard-wired
arithmetic and logic circuitry configured to perform a corresponding amplification
and processing of the electronic input signal. In these embodiments, the electronic
input signal is provided as digital signal provided by an A/D-converter that may be
integrated with the hearing loss processor or arranged in a housing of the ambient
microphone.
[0032] The occlusion suppressor may be implemented in various technologies or formats for
example analog, digital or a combination thereof. In one fully digital embodiment,
the occlusion suppressor comprises a predetermined set of program instructions executed
on the above-mentioned programmable Digital Signal Processor of the hearing loss processor.
In this embodiment, a single DSP may be utilized for implementing both the hearing
loss processor and the occlusion suppressor leading to hardware savings. In another
embodiment, the occlusion suppressor comprises a hard-wired arithmetic and logic circuit
block configured to provide the processing of the ear canal signal and transmittal
of the occlusion suppression signal to the signal combiner. The occlusion suppressor
may be integrated with the hearing loss processor on a common semiconductor substrate
or provided as a separate digital circuit.
[0033] The ear canal microphone has in an embodiment a sound inlet positioned at a tip portion
of the hearing aid housing or tip of the ear mould allowing essentially unobstructed
sensing of sound pressure inside an ear canal volume residing in front of the user's
tympanic membrane or ear drum.
[0034] According to an embodiment of the invention, the receiver comprises a diaphragm hole
and/or a rear chamber vent setting the lower cut-off frequency of the frequency response
of the receiver. In an embodiment, the diaphragm lacks the diaphragm hole or barometric
pressure relief hole and the receiver is substantially capable of holding a static
pressure into a sealed volume, and having a rear cavity pressure equalization path
to atmospheric pressure to allow the rear cavity to follow atmospheric pressure changes
so that the diaphragm may center itself. A significant advantage of the latter embodiment
is that it allows boosting of the frequency response of the receiver at low frequencies
near and below a predetermined frequency hereafter referred to as a "receiver shelf
frequency". In an embodiment, the receiver shelf frequency is greater than 10Hz. In
a further embodiment, the receiver shelf frequency is less than 10Hz. In a further
embodiment, the receiver shelf frequency is between 10 and 500Hz. In yet a further
embodiment, the receiver shelf frequency is between 20 and 200Hz. In an additional
further embodiment, the receiver shelf frequency is between 50 and 100Hz. The receiver
shelf frequency may be determined by characteristics of the rear chamber vent and
other characteristics of the receiver, essentially generating a shelf type response
hereafter referred to as a "receiver shelf response" characteristic, which shows a
boost of the lowest frequencies compared to the higher frequencies where no boost
occurs. The boosting of the frequency response near and below the receiver shelf frequency
may increase low frequency output capability of the receiver, and provides a more
favourable phase response in the form of a dip or reduction of receiver phase response
in the vicinity of the receiver shelf frequency. The more favourable phase response
may help to reduce the low frequency peaking of the closed acoustic feedback loop,
hereafter referred to simply as "low frequency peaking" that may likely occur in the
10 to 100Hz region. This low frequency peaking is the natural result of the choices
of low frequency roll-offs in the feedback loop of at least one embodiment needed
to achieve sufficient subsonic signal reduction at the receiver terminals. While this
peaking is not a desirable characteristic, it is a necessary trade-off with the subsonic
jaw motion problem, which has been determined by experiment to be the more serious
problem.
[0035] Alternatively, if a conventional receiver which does not have a receiver shelf frequency
is used, an alternative embodiment may include a shelf response having a shelf frequency
incorporated into the loop filter of the acoustic feedback loop to achieve a similar
effect on the low frequency peaking. However, the benefit of increased low frequency
receiver output capability is not obtained, and subsonic receiver drive will be increased
by the magnitude of the shelf response employed, so this is not a desirable embodiment,
since it aggravates the subsonic energy problem.
[0036] In other embodiments, the receiver lacks the rear chamber vent and the lower cut-off
frequency is instead mainly determined by dimensions of the diaphragm hole that may
have smaller dimensions than a diaphragm hole in a standard receiver.
[0037] According to an embodiment of the invention, an acoustical vent is extending through
or around the housing or the ear mould of the hearing aid. The acoustical vent may
have a high pass cut-off frequency which in one embodiment is between 100 Hz and 500
Hz, and in another embodiment between 200 Hz and 300 Hz. The acoustical vent may comprise
one or more acoustical channels or conduits establishing an acoustical connection
between the ear canal volume residing in front of the user's ear drum and the surrounding
environment. The acoustical vent allows low frequency sound to propagate from the
ear canal volume to the surrounding environment and vice versa. The acoustical vent
will therefore contribute as a high pass filter to a frequency response of the hearing
aid. The high pass cut-off frequency of this high pass filter will depend on a shape
and size of the acoustical vent. In the present specification, the term "acoustical
vent" covers both a specific physical channel, or channels, and an open or loose fit
between user's ear canal and the hearing aid housing or ear mould creating an acoustical
leakage path.
[0038] While optimum frequency response characteristics of an acoustic feedback loop which
comprises the acoustical vent may be distributed in various ways amongst individual
components and functions such as the ear canal microphone, the receiver, the occlusion
suppressor, the combined signal, etc. there are significant advantages to setting
the high pass cut-off frequency of the acoustical vent as a dominant low frequency
cut-off of the acoustic feedback loop. Attempting to use the cut-off frequency of
a standard receiver to roll of the subsonic loop gain rather than the vent is not
beneficial because it does not reduce the amplitude of the occlusion pressure, and
further, the ratio of occlusion pressure to maximum output capability of the receiver
worsens. The high pass cut-off frequency of the acoustical vent is often the only
function which passively reduces the amplitude of subsonic jaw motion related or generated
components of the ear canal sound pressure. If chosen to be sufficiently high, the
high pass cut-off frequency of the acoustical vent may ideally reduce the subsonic
jaw motion generated components of the ear canal sound pressure to a level which does
not need to be cancelled by the occlusion suppression system. However, this goal is
not conveniently met without setting the vent cut-off frequency to an undesirably
high frequency (potentially in the frequency range of 400 to 500 Hz or higher), such
that desired speech or other desired low frequency audio band signals may suffer a
lowered maximum output level and accompanying low frequency response deterioration.
What is needed is an additional low frequency roll-off in the defined subsonic filtering
to achieve the desired total subsonic attenuation, and this is a key component of
an embodiment to be discussed below.
[0039] It was found that when attempting to find a vent size to provide an acceptable trade-off
between 1) subsonic attenuation below 10Hz (vent would need a low frequency cut-off
greater than approximately 400 to 500 Hz), and 2) avoiding excessive reduction of
low speech frequency maximum output capability (not greater than approximately 200-
300HZ), the goals cannot be simultaneously met. It was found that with a vent cut-off
frequency in this 200 to 300Hz range that approximately 20 dB of additional attenuation
in the 5Hz region is desirable to reach our subsonic attenuation goal.
[0040] A goal of our solution is more precisely defined as follows: When the acoustic feedback
loop gain is set to provide approximately 20dB of occlusion cancellation for the low
speech frequency region, subsonic energy predominantly due to jaw motion should cause
typical receiver drive levels to not exceed approximately -20dB relative to full scale,
and -10dB worst case, to preserve the system dynamic range for the intended function
of speech occlusion reduction. A later section explains how the necessary additional
subsonic attenuation is provided to meet this goal.
[0041] At least one embodiment relieves the occlusion suppression system of the burden of
processing or handling very high subsonic sound pressure imposed on the ear canal
microphone and reduces the subsonic portion of the combined signal applied to the
receiver to an acceptable level. Consequently, the very high subsonic sound pressure
is prevented from impairing dynamic range of the occlusion suppression system for
speech frequency occlusion cancellation. Furthermore, battery power or energy of a
hearing aid battery is preserved by the suppression of the subsonic portion of the
combined signal applied to the receiver. The large receiver drive levels that would
occur from attempting to cancel the jaw motions would cause high battery current drain
(made even worse because at subsonic frequencies the receiver impedance essentially
equals the receiver DC resistance - its minimum value), even discounting the likely
receiver / output stage saturation and attendant artifacts.
[0042] In addition to the previously mentioned use of a receiver shelf frequency, a knowledge
of acoustical vent characteristics as relates to vent damping and transition from
second to first order frequency response (zero location or transition frequency) may
be used to improve the behaviour of the acoustic feedback loop which comprises the
acoustical vent and reduce the previously named low frequency peaking, the peaking
of the frequency response of the hearing aid in a low frequency region below speech
frequencies such as below 100 Hz.
[0043] According to the invention, high pass characteristics of a frequency response of
the acoustical vent comprises a transition frequency situated in a frequency range
below the high pass cut-off frequency of the acoustical vent. The transition frequency
(zero location) is separating a first order frequency response roll-off at frequencies
below the transition frequency and second order frequency response roll-off at frequencies
above the transition frequency. The transition frequency is situated in vicinity of
a lower cut-off frequency of a frequency response of the canal microphone such as
between 3 octaves below and 3 octaves above or 1 octave below and 1 octave above the
lower cut-off frequency of the frequency response of the ear canal microphone. This
is useful in minimizing phase shift in the frequency region below the high pass cut-off
frequency of the acoustical vent so as to minimize the low frequency peaking of the
closed loop frequency response of the hearing aid in that frequency region.
[0044] The lower cut-off frequency of the canal microphone may form ideally a first order
high pass function and is used as the previously mentioned additional low frequency
roll-off in the defined subsonic filtering to achieve the desired total subsonic attenuation,
and this is a key component of the invention. An example of the additional low frequency
roll-off, which is not claimed, may take the form of an analog electrical or digital
first order high pass function. However, at least one embodiment uses the barometric
relief hole of the microphone diaphragm to perform an acoustic first order high pass
function. Other high pass functions may exist in the system without significant impact
on system performance if the associated cut-off frequencies are significantly lower
than the cut-off frequency of the additional low frequency roll-off thus adding little
additional phase shift at the frequency of low frequency peaking. The advantage to
using the acoustic first order high pass function of the canal microphone lies in
the dramatic increase in the maximum acoustic input level that the canal microphone
can tolerate, which would greatly reduce the potential for intermodulation distortion
between subsonic ear canal signals and speech or other desired audio frequency signals
that could occur if the canal microphone exhibits significant nonlinearities at the
very high signal levels possible in the occluded ear canal.
[0045] In an embodiment, the occlusion suppressor comprises a feedback path receiving and
filtering the ear canal signal with a predetermined feedback transfer function to
produce the occlusion suppression signal. By adjusting or tailoring the transfer function
of the feedback path to certain features of the frequency response of the hearing
aid, the provision of undesirable gain at one or more frequencies in the feedback
transfer function may be reduced or avoided. This is useful for suppressing pronounced
peaks in the frequency response of the hearing aid such as frequency response peaks
caused by high frequency resonances of the receiver and/or other acoustical components
of the hearing aid at or above 1 kHz such as between a frequency range between 1 kHz
and 12 kHz. Therefore, undesired amplification of canal microphone noise within the
1-12 kHz frequency range, in which a considerable portion is very important for the
understanding of speech, can be avoided or reduced.
[0046] In an embodiment, the predetermined feedback transfer function comprises a frequency
selective filter having predetermined transfer function characteristics. The predetermined
transfer function characteristics of the frequency selective filter may be configured
to compensate for a frequency response peak of a frequency response of the hearing
aid. In one such embodiment, the frequency selective filter may comprise a notch filter
having a predetermined centre frequency and a predetermined bandwidth. The predetermined
centre frequency and bandwidth of the notch filter may be advantageously tailored
to compensate for the above-mentioned frequency response peaks caused by high frequency
resonances of the receiver and/or acoustical system in the 1-12 kHz frequency response
range. The compensation is nominally made by setting the predetermined centre frequency
of the notch filter substantially equal to a peak frequency of the frequency response
peak. Additionally, the predetermined bandwidth of the notch filter may be set essentially
equal to a bandwidth of the frequency response peak in question. Adjustments to the
nominal filter settings are made to minimize the positive gain peaks of the closed
acoustic feedback loop relative to the open loop condition. Naturally, the predetermined
feedback transfer function may comprise a plurality of frequency selective filters
of the same type or of different types such as any combination of highpass filters,
lowpass filters, bandpass filters, shelf filters and notch filters. In one embodiment,
the predetermined feedback transfer function comprises 2, 3 or even more separate
notch filters, having respective predetermined centre frequencies and bandwidths arranged
to compensate for respective ones of a plurality of different frequency response peaks
of the frequency response of the hearing aid.
[0047] In an embodiment, the occlusion processor is adapted to receive and store filter
parameters associated with the predetermined transfer function characteristics of
the frequency selective filter or respective filter parameters associated with the
transfer function characteristics of a plurality of frequency selective filters. According
to one embodiment, wherein the occlusion suppressor comprises the above-mentioned
hard-wired or programmable Digital Signal Processor, the filter parameters may be
stored as binary coefficients or numbers in a predetermined address range of a non-volatile
memory accessible to the Digital Signal Processor. The occlusion processor may be
adapted to receive and store the filter parameters associated with the predetermined
transfer function characteristics of the frequency selective filter during a fitting
procedure of the hearing aid. During the fitting procedure, the occlusion suppressor
may be directly or indirectly coupled to a fitting computer through a wired or wireless
communication channel. The occlusion processor may comprise, or be connected to, a
data interface complying with a data transmission protocol of the wired or wireless
communication channel allowing the occlusion processor to receive the filter parameters.
The occlusion processor or the hearing loss processor may be configured to write these
filter parameters to a predetermined address space or range of the non-volatile memory.
Alternatively, the fitting computer may be adapted to directly connect to, access,
and write the filter parameters to the predetermined address space or range in the
non-volatile memory for subsequent read out by the occlusion processor or the hearing
loss processor. Appropriate filter parameters may be determined by the fitting system
or computer through an open-loop and/or closed loop measurement of the transfer function
of the hearing aid when mounted in the user's ear. This transfer function is generally
complex and involves contributions from the electrical and acoustical couplings between
ambient microphone, hearing loss processor, occlusion suppressor, output amplifier,
receiver, vent, ear canal and the user's tympanic membrane. An acoustical analysis
of this transfer function will typically show a multitude of resonance frequencies,
and their spectral positions will define acoustical system stability and the system
performance.
[0048] In an embodiment, the subsonic filtering scheme may be contained in the acoustic
feedback loop. In a further embodiment, the acoustic feedback loop may comprise a
receiver 110, an ear canal microphone 109, an occlusion suppressor 106, an earmold
vent 112, and a signal combiner 108. In an additional embodiment, the subsonic filtering
scheme may be incorporated into one or more of the receiver 110, the ear canal microphone
109, the occlusion suppressor 106, an earmold vent 112, and the signal combiner 108.
In an embodiment, the subsonic filtering scheme may be a separate function of the
acoustic feedback loop.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0049] An embodiment of the invention will be described in more detail in connection with
the appended drawings, in which:
Fig. 1 shows a simplified schematic drawing of an experimental hearing aid with occlusion
suppression in accordance with a first embodiment of the invention,
Fig. 2 depicts frequency response measurements on a standard receiver and a receiver
with static pressure capability into a sealed unvented cavity and rear cavity pressure
equalization path to atmospheric pressure used in the experimental hearing aid depicted
on Fig. 1; and
Fig 3 shows measured occlusion suppression values versus frequency for the experimental
hearing aid depicted on Fig. 1 with the two different receivers tested on Fig. 2,
and illustrates the low frequency peaking.
Fig. 4 shows vent simulation results demonstrating the vent transition frequency and
the subsonic attenuation available for different diameter vents as used in an embodiment.
Fig. 5 shows the measured sound pressure levels generated in the occluded ear canal
by jaw motions for both the unvented condition as well as the vented condition using
vents with a nominal 200 to 300 Hz low frequency cut-off.
Fig. 6 shows the measured low frequency response of vents, with the subsonic region
below 20Hz extrapolated at 6dB/octave from theory.
Fig. 7 depicts the measured low frequency response of the ear canal microphone overlaid
with a single pole highpass function.
Fig. 8 shows the measured low frequency response of a static pressure capable receiver
with and without rear pressure equalization path and demonstrating the "receiver shelf
frequency".
Fig. 9 shows the simulated amplitude response for a standard receiver and a static
pressure capable receiver with and without rear pressure equalization path and demonstrating
the "receiver shelf frequency".
Fig. 10 shows the simulated phase response for a standard receiver and a static pressure
capable receiver with and without a rear pressure equalization path.
Fig. 11 shows the simulated relative phase response differences for a static pressure
capable receiver referenced to a standard receiver with and without a rear pressure
equalization path and demonstrating the "receiver shelf (phase) response" and the
"receiver shelf frequency".
Fig. 12 shows the effects of tuning the receiver shelf frequency relative to the frequency
of the "low frequency peaking"
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0050] The experimental hearing aid 100 depicted on Fig. 1 comprises a hearing aid housing
105 which may comprise a custom made hard acrylic shell sized and shaped to fit a
user's ear canal. An ambient microphone 102 may be situated in a proximate portion
of the hearing aid housing 105 with a sound inlet (not shown) arranged in an outwardly
oriented face or faceplate of the housing 105. The sound inlet conveys sound pressure
or sound from the environment surrounding the user to the ambient microphone 102 so
as to generate an electronic input or microphone signal representative of received
sound. The electronic microphone signal is transmitted to a hearing loss processor
104 operatively coupled to the ambient microphone 102. In the present embodiment,
the hearing loss processor 104 comprises a programmable low power Digital Signal Processor
(DSP). The electronic microphone signal is provided in digital format for example
by an oversampled A/D converter positioned inside a housing of the ambient microphone
102 or as an integral part of hearing loss processor 104. The hearing loss processor
104 is adapted to compensate the electronic input signal in accordance with a determined
hearing loss of the user and generate a corresponding electronic output signal which
is supplied to a signal combiner 108. In the present embodiment, the signal combiner
108 is embodied as a signal subtractor adapted for subtracting the electronic output
signal and an occlusion suppression signal supplied by the occlusion suppressor 106.
The occlusion suppression signal is derived from an ear canal signal generated by
an ear canal microphone 109 in response to detected ear canal sound pressure within
a fully or partly occluded ear canal volume, V, 111 in front of the user's tympanic
membrane. The ear canal microphone 109 may be arranged in a distal portion of the
hearing aid housing 105 and with a sound inlet extending through a tip portion of
the hearing aid housing 105 to sense the ear canal sound pressure inside the ear canal
volume 111. As previously explained, during normal use of the hearing aid 100, the
ear canal sound pressure detected by the ear canal microphone 109 will be a superposition
of body conducted sound and receiver emitted/generated sound. A passive acoustical
vent 112, comprising an acoustical channel or channels extending through the hearing
aid housing or extending through the ear mould may be blocked as required to explain
certain problems or left open according to the invention.
[0051] A receiver 110, such as a miniature balanced armature receiver, is adapted to receive
and convert a combined signal supplied at an output of the subtractor 108 into an
acoustic output signal. The receiver 110 has an extended low frequency response or
static pressure capability to improve suppression of occlusion sound pressures within
the fully or partly occluded ear canal volume 111. In the present embodiment, a lower
cut-off frequency of a frequency response of the receiver is set to about 2 Hz or
lower. However, in other useful embodiments of the invention, the lower cut-off frequency
may be set to a value less than 10 Hz, such as less than 5 Hz or in another embodiment
less than 1 Hz, or in yet another embodiment, the receiver may be substantially capable
of holding a static pressure into a sealed volume, and having a rear cavity pressure
equalization path to atmospheric pressure.
[0052] Fig. 2 depicts frequency response measurements on two different receivers used in
the experimental hearing aid depicted on Fig. 1 with the vent 112 intentionally blocked.
The frequency response curve (201 amplitude, 203 phase) was obtained from a standard
receiver having a lower cut-off frequency of about 50 Hz as evident by comparing the
recorded 1 kHz sound pressure level to the sound pressure level at 50 Hz. The frequency
response curve (202 amplitude, 204 phase) was on the other hand measured on a specially
modified balanced armature receiver with capability of holding a static pressure into
a sealed volume, and having a rear cavity pressure equalization path to atmospheric
pressure. Due to measurement system limitations a lower cut-off frequency of about
2 Hz is visible as illustrated.
[0053] The experimental hearing aid 100, corresponding to the simplified schematic diagram
of Fig. 1, was evaluated experimentally with the vent 112 intentionally blocked on
an acoustical coupler in three different configurations:
- 1) In a first exemplary configuration with a receiver with a normal lower cut-off
frequency as illustrated on frequency response curve 201 of Fig. 2.
- 2) In a second exemplary configuration with a receiver with a normal lower cut-off
frequency as illustrated on frequency response curve 201 of Fig. 2 and with a notch
filter inserted in a feedback path of the occlusion suppressor 106.
- 3) In a third exemplary configuration with a receiver with the static pressure capability
as illustrated on frequency response curve 202 of Fig. 2 and with the notch filter
inserted in the feedback path of the occlusion suppressor 106.
[0054] In configurations 2) and 3) above, the feedback path is operative to receiving and
filtering the ear canal signal supplied by the ear canal microphone with a feedback
transfer function at least partly determined by the notch filter. The notch filter
has a predetermined centre frequency and a predetermined bandwidth set or configured
to compensate for a pronounced frequency response peak 205 of the frequency response
of the hearing aid. In the present case, this frequency response peak 205 is largely
determined by a mechanical/acoustical resonance of the receiver (110 of Fig. 1) at
about 3 kHz but in other embodiments, frequency response peaks may be caused by various
acoustical, mechanical or electrical circuits of an electrical or acoustical signal
transmission path of the hearing aid.
[0055] The results of the evaluation are summarized in Fig. 3 which shows measured occlusion
suppression in dB versus frequency for each of the three different configurations
outlined above. The 0 dB line indicates no change of the measured level of the occlusion
sound pressure within the user's ear canal by the action of the occlusion suppression
system. A positive or negative reading reflects a higher or lower occlusion sound
pressure, respectively.
[0056] The hearing aid with the standard receiver corresponding to configuration 1) above
obtains approximately 9-11 dB of cancellation in a frequency range between 100 Hz
and 300 Hz as indicated by curve 302. However, an undesired lack of occlusion suppression
takes place at lower and higher frequencies such as below 25 Hz and above 1 kHz, in
particular in vicinity of the response peak 205, where the occlusion sound pressure
increases to a level higher than the unassisted case.
[0057] The hearing aid with the standard receiver and the notch filter in the feedback path,
corresponding to configuration 2) above, obtains approximately 13-15 dB of cancellation
in a frequency range between 100 Hz and 300 Hz as indicated by the dotted curve 304.
Furthermore, occlusion suppression in vicinity of the response peak 205 has been significantly
improved by about 6-8 dB. However, an undesired lack of occlusion suppression "low
frequency peaking" remains at lower frequencies such as below 25 Hz as illustrated
by dotted curve 304.
[0058] The hearing aid configuration with the receiver with extended low frequency response
or static pressure capability, i.e. corresponding to configuration 3) above, obtains
much improved occlusion suppression or attenuation in the entire low-frequency response
range of the present experimental hearing aid. A dramatic improvement in occlusion
suppression of about 8-15 dB in a frequency range between 10 Hz and 25 Hz and 3 dB
up to 50 Hz is readily observable as illustrated by dashed curve 306. Compared to
configuration 2) above, "low frequency peaking" remains very low at lower frequencies
such as in the subsonic region from 1 to 5 Hz as illustrated by dashed curve 306.
While this would seem to be acceptable performance, as explained in the background
of the invention, the system in Figure 1 as tested with vent 112 blocked still suffers
from subsonic overload predominantly caused by jaw motion.
[0059] The loop still tries to cancel these very low frequencies, due to the fact that the
loop gain is now much higher at these frequencies. Therefore, loop gain must be reduced
at very low subsonic frequencies where jaw motion creates large amplitudes in the
sealed canal to the point that no significant attempt to cancel the jaw motion subsonic
signal occurs.
[0060] The vent 112 when left open according to the invention performs a large portion of
the required subsonic attenuation and has a frequency response as shown in the simulation
results for various vent dimensions in Fig. 4 The response curves have 2 slope regions:
regions 401 being the 6dB / octave slope region and regions 402 being the 12 dB /
octave slope region. The "transition frequency" 403 is the dividing point between
these two regions. The cut-off frequency of the vent 404 corresponds to the low frequency
peak at the higher frequency end of the 12dB / octave slope region.
[0061] The measured sound pressure levels generated in the occluded ear canal by jaw motions
are shown in Fig. 5 for both the unvented condition (curve 503 - while speaking, curve
504 - during silent jaw motion exercise) as well as the vented condition (curve 505
- while speaking, curve 506 - during silent jaw motion exercise) using vents with
a nominal 200 to 300 Hz low frequency cut-off, with the result that levels can reach
the 140dB SPL mark in the 1 -2 Hz region (region 501), and can reach nearly 100dBSPL
in the 2 - 5 Hz region when vented (region 502).
[0062] The measured low frequency response of vents (subject curves 602 through 611) is
depicted in Fig. 6, with the subsonic region below 20Hz extrapolated (region 601)
at 6dB/octave from theory to clean up the subsonic acoustic noise which was present
in the measurement environment. Note that with the nominal 1 mm vent size used (which
produced 200 to 300 Hz cut-off frequencies) that the transition frequency is sufficiently
above 20Hz to allow this to be reasonably accurate.
[0063] Fig. 7 depicts the measured low frequency response of the ear canal microphone (solid
curve 701) overlaid with a simulated single pole highpass function (dashed curve 702)
demonstrating the highly accurate first order acoustic highpass function of the ear
canal microphone.
[0064] The lower cut-off frequency of the canal microphone may be designed to be a nearly
ideal first order high pass function to be used as the previously mentioned additional
low frequency roll-off in the defined subsonic filtering to achieve the desired total
subsonic attenuation, and this is a key component of the invention. An example of
the additional low frequency roll-off, which is not claimed, may take the form of
an analog electrical or digital first order high pass function. However the preferred
embodiment uses the barometric relief hole of the microphone diaphragm to perform
an acoustic first order high pass function. Other high pass functions may exist in
the system without significant impact on system performance if the associated cut-off
frequencies are significantly lower than the cut-off frequency of the additional low
frequency roll-off thus adding little additional phase shift at the frequency of low
frequency peaking. The advantage to using the acoustic first order high pass function
of the canal microphone lies in the dramatic increase in the maximum acoustic input
level that the canal microphone can tolerate, which would greatly reduce the potential
for intermodulation distortion between subsonic ear canal signals and speech or other
desired audio frequency signals that could occur if the canal microphone exhibits
significant nonlinearities at the very high signal levels possible in the occluded
(but vented as claimed) ear canal.
[0065] Fig. 8 shows the measured low frequency response of a static pressure capable receiver
without rear pressure equalization path, where said rear pressure equalization path
allows the rear cavity to follow atmospheric pressure changes. (Blocking the pressure
equalization path is not a practical operating condition but as a test condition allows
us to demonstrate another characteristic of this receiver configuration.) (curve 801
- amplitude, curve 802 - phase) and with rear pressure equalization path (the normal
operating condition) (curve 803 - amplitude, curve 804 - phase) and demonstrating
the "receiver shelf response" (curve 805 - amplitude, curve 806 - phase) which is
the receiver response of a static pressure capable receiver with rear pressure equalization
path referenced to the receiver response of a static pressure capable receiver without
rear pressure equalization path. Note the amplitude (curve 805) and phase (curve 806)
differences between the two conditions.
[0066] The shelf response characteristic has a boost of the lowest frequencies compared
to the higher frequencies where no boost occurs. There is also a dip or minimum in
the phase difference at the frequency corresponding to the mid amplitude point of
the shelf boost. This frequency is referred to as the receiver "shelf frequency 807.
Finally shown is the measurement system low frequency cut-off 808 at approximately
2 Hz, which prevents seeing the true subsonic response curve of the static pressure
capable receiver, but which does not substantially affect the "receiver shelf response".
[0067] Fig. 9 shows the simulated amplitude response for a standard receiver (curve 901)
and a static pressure capable receiver (substantially capable of holding a static
pressure into a sealed volume) with (curve 903) and without (curve 902) a rear pressure
equalization path where said rear pressure equalization path allows the rear cavity
to follow atmospheric pressure changes, and demonstrating the "receiver shelf response"
(curve 904) and "receiver shelf frequency" 905. Unlike the measured responses of Fig.
8, the simulation is not limited by a low frequency cut-off such as measurement system
low frequency cut-off 808, and therefore reveals the theoretically perfectly flat
subsonic response curve (theoretical response to DC) of the static pressure capable
receiver.
[0068] Fig. 10 shows the simulated phase response for a standard receiver (curve 1001) and
a static pressure capable receiver with (curve 1003) and without (curve 1002) a rear
pressure equalization path.
[0069] Fig. 11 shows the simulated relative phase response differences for a static pressure
capable receiver referenced to a standard receiver with (curve 1101) and without (curve
1102) a rear pressure equalization path and demonstrating the "receiver shelf (phase)
response" (curve 1103) and "receiver shelf frequency" - 1104, demonstrating the advantageous
dip in the relative phase response which may be used to reduce the amplitude of the
"low frequency peaking".
[0070] Fig. 12 shows the effects of tuning the receiver shelf frequency relative to the
frequency of the "low frequency peaking" on the closed loop response with active occlusion
cancellation. The shelf frequencies chosen were 1 Hz, 40 Hz and 300 Hz. As seen, the
frequency of the low frequency peaking is somewhat affected which is not of much consequence,
but the amplitude of the "low frequency peaking" is affected, not very strongly, but
the minimum condition is advantageous. The 1 Hz shelf frequency (curve 1201) corresponds
effectively to almost closing the rear cavity pressure equalization path to atmospheric
pressure or not having a shelf frequency. The 40 Hz shelf frequency (curve 1202) gives
in this case an approximate minimum amplitude of the low frequency peaking. The 300
Hz shelf frequency (curve 1203) could be used for example to provide a slight receiver
boost and possible maximum output capability of the receiver for the lowest speech
frequencies, which would be advantageous, but at the cost of increased amplitude of
the low frequency peaking.