Method and apparatus for determining in situ the acoustic...

Electrical audio signal processing systems and devices – Monitoring/measuring of audio devices – Testing of hearing aids

Reexamination Certificate

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C600S559000, C073S585000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06687377

ABSTRACT:

FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to in-ear devices and more particularly to a method and an apparatus for determining in situ the acoustic seal provided by in-ear devices, such as hearing aid devices (HADs), ear protection devices (HPDs) and the like.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The noisy environment in our industrial society is a health hazard to numerous workers as well as to people engaged in recreational activities generating loud noises.
Users often wear earplugs when operating light machinery such as chainsaws or heavy machinery such as paper industry, printing industry, aircraft industry machines, when participating in sporting activities such as shooting, and when attending various spectator events such as automobile races, truck pulls, and rock concerts, and the like.
Prior art mentions “universal fit” type earplugs, these plugs are often termed “universal fit” because they are intended to adapt to the contours of any person's ear canal to provide hearing protection. To install the “universal fit” earplug, the wearer must first compress and/or form the plug by kneading, wadding or rolling it up and then position the plug in his or her ear canal. In the case of the foam earplug, the plug must be inserted before it expands.
Those “universal fit” earplugs are difficult for many individuals to insert properly. If the plug is formed by the user incorrectly as it is inserted in the ear canal, wrinkles and voids may develop that allow sound leakage to the user's eardrum, thereby reducing the protective effectiveness of the plugs to the wearer. Also, some of the plugs typically are larger than people may need because it has been designed to fit ear canals that are larger than average in hopes of accommodating a wide range of users. Finally, some users find “universal fit” earplugs to be uncomfortable and touching the foam earplug, to roll it, with dirty fingers can lead to infection of the external and middle ear.
Custom-molded earplugs can be an attractive alternative to “universal fit” earplugs and have advantages in their comfort, more reliable fit and lower long-term costs due to longer usable life. Also, custom-molded earplugs may offer certain hygiene advantages in dirty environments since the user does not have to compress or form them with their fingers prior to insertion.
Casting an earplug in situ using a self-curing resin is not an ideal method for creating a custom-molded earplug. A doctor or a trained technician will be required to make the mold since the mould's manufacture requires a highly viscous resin or putty to be deposited deep in the patient's ear. The objective when taking the ear mold is to obtain an impression, which follows all inner contours of the ear canal and which, has no voids or creases due to the trapped air pockets. Packing the resin in the ear canal to meet this objective can be very painful to the patient. After the resin is added to the ear, it may be necessary to manually apply some pressure from outside the ear to assure that the resin hardens within the canal. The patient must sit motionless, without jaw movement, for several minutes until the mold solidifies.
Besides severe pain being caused to many patients, casting an earplug in situ also suffers from the common problem of voids being formed therein which reduce the effectiveness of the final earplug produced.
Semi-custom-molded expandable earplug may also offer the same advantages. The person to be fitted with this earplug is first fitted with a pre-shaped earplug having the approximate shape of the ear canal of the individual. Preferably the pre-shaped device is made available in different basic sizes to obtain the closest size corresponding to the individual. The size chosen should allow a small gap to permit an optimum expansion accomplished with an injected settable compound material. It is very important in that case to be precise in the quantity of injected compound because a little excess can create an inflating pressure level that can be very painful to the patient and, at the same time, an earplug cannot provide an effective acoustic seal with less inflating pressure. It is very difficult or even impossible to attain that optimum expansion without determining in situ the acoustic seal provided by an earplug.
All the above specifically refer to earplugs but it is to be understood that it is similarly applicable to any in-ear device, the latter referring to either earplug device (or hearing protection device (HPD)) or hearing aid device (HAD) for which an attenuation level or an amplification performance level is seek respectively.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,757,930 issued to Seidmann on May 26, 1998 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,790,795 issued to Seidmann on Oct. 26, 1999 disclose an apparatus being adapted only for in-ear sound level measurement without any comparison with an environmental sound. U.S. Pat. No. 5,577,511 issued to Killion on Nov. 26, 1996 discloses the occluding object and method for measuring its occlusion from existing surrounding noise without wide band measurement from any control sound sources. This measuring device cannot effectively be used to determine an accurate sound level difference provided by the object.
Furthermore U.S. Pat. No. 5,044,373 issued to Northeved on Sep. 3, 1991 relates to the method and apparatus for measuring of sound pressure levels in the auditory canal of a person in connection with the fitting of said apparatus. Authors used the reference microphone located far from in-ear device and moreover, this apparatus may be inserted only besides traditional in-ear device. As a result, this invention misrepresented a real sound level difference provided by the in-ear device inserted into an ear canal of an individual and is especially unsuitable for measuring sound level difference provided by earplugs as opposed to amplification of hearing aid devices. According to this invention the best thing would be if its probe could be placed at a distance approx. 1 mm from the eardrum. However, it is difficult to do this while making sure that the probe does not touch the eardrum, the reason being that the length and shape of the auditory canal differ from person to person.
Additionally, there is no objective way of measuring an insertion loss (IL) value provided by an in-ear device. The IL estimation described in all standards (ANSI, ISO, CSA, etc.) is subjectively determined by the individual wearing the in-ear device, as better described herebelow.
OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION
An object of the present invention is to provide a method and an apparatus for determining in situ the acoustic seal provided by an in-ear device for either of a hearing protection/aid nature that obviates the above-mentioned disadvantages.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a method and an apparatus for determining in situ the acoustic seal provided by an in-ear device that ensures a perfect fit and a good acoustic seal of the device easily obtainable with a good comfort for the potential user.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a method and an apparatus for determining in situ the acoustic seal provided by an in-ear device that allows for an effective protection against noise in the case of hearing protectors and an elimination of the noise feedbacks in the case of hearing communication/aid devices.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a method and an apparatus for determining in situ the acoustic seal provided by an in-ear device that allows for a monitoring of the ear canal occlusion during the settable compound injection session of expandable in-ear devices.
Still further object of the present invention is to provide a method and an apparatus for determining in situ the acoustic seal provided by an in-ear device that allows for an effective performance in the sound insulation, attenuation, communication, measurement and the like of in-ear devices.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a method and an apparatus for determining in situ the acoustic seal provided by an

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