Programmable hearing aid device and method for operating a...

Electrical audio signal processing systems and devices – Hearing aids – electrical

Reexamination Certificate

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C381S314000, C381S060000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06556686

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to a programmable hearing aid device with at least one acoustoelectric input transducer, a signal processing circuit and an electroacoustic output transducer. The invention is also directed to a method for operating such a hearing aid device.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Currently, most hearing aid device manufacturers offer a number of different types of hearing aid devices, which considerably differ from one another with respect to equipment, functionality and performance. Offering such different versions, however, increases the costs of manufacture, inventory storage, etc., particularly for relatively small piece numbers.
Hearing aid devices are known, which, using standard hardware as a basis, are specifically adaptable to the needs of the person wearing the hearing aid by means of hardwiring or the burning of different fuses (fusible links).
Once such a customization has been made, however, further changes of are possible only to an extremely limited extent. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,721,783 discloses a hearing aid device with such a customized programmable semiconductor component.
Further, German OS 195 41 648 discloses a means for transferring programming data to hearing aid devices. The programming data are supplied to a hearing aid adaption device via an interface and are deposited in a customer unit.
European Application 0 341 903 discloses a hearing aid device with a programming means and a storage means. A disenabling means fixes the operation of the hearing device given the reception of programming data.
Further, German OS 196 00 234 discloses an arrangement for adapting hearing aid devices, wherein adjustment data are transferred in an encoded form.
Programmable hearing aid devices offer the possibility to take customer wishes into consideration and to individually adapt the hearing aid devices. Nevertheless, it is not possible for manufacturers of known hearing aid devices to make only the features, among the maximally possible features, available to the customer (person wearing a hearing device, or hearing device acoustician), which the customer actually needs, and thus to only change the customer according to the actually-needed features.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the present invention is to provide a hearing aid device and a method for operating a hearing aid device, wherein adaptation to individual customer wishes is possible with simple means and wherein an inappropriate, defective or unauthorized usage is prevented.
In a programmable hearing aid device with at least one electroacoustic input transducer, a signal processing circuit and an electroacoustic output transducer, and in a method for operating such a hearing aid device, this object is achieved with the invention by providing at least one key or code for enabling and/or disenabling properties of the hearing aid device.
The key contains information that is arbitrarily stored (for example mechanically, electrically, magnetically), this information being transferable to the hearing aid device and is necessary for enabling and/or disenabling specific properties of the hearing aid device.
The aforementioned properties of the hearing aid device are functions that can be selected by the person wearing the hearing device, such as different hearing programs for different environmental situations or hearing situations or the selection of the signal input via the microphone or a hearing coil, and also include all adjustments that can be modified by means of programming and general performance features of the hearing aid device, such as the number of selectable programs or maximal value of the acoustic amplification. The invention differentiates between the “maximal” properties that are fixed by the hardware and between the properties that are available to the customer, the latter properties normally being a subset of these maximal properties. Therefore, the properties of the hearing aid device that are actually available to the customer are essentially fixed by the content of the selected key. For that purpose, the utilized key preferably acts on the signal processing circuit and determines its parameters and program execution.
The invention makes it possible to produce hearing aid devices that do not differ from one another with respect to their hardware and that can also be divided into different hearing aid device types by the manufacturer in a simple way.
Hearing aid devices according to the invention significantly differ from programmable hearing aid devices according to the prior art in that they can also be adapted and reprogrammed, however, the limits, within which such modifications can be made, can be fixed in a simple way and the hearing aid manufacturer can fix these differently from hearing aid device to hearing aid device.
In the ideal case, identical signal processing circuits therefore can be used for all types of hearing aid devices and a correspondingly large piece number can be produced as a result. This reduces costs in the manufacture, the inventory maintenance, and the distribution.
A further advantage is that the person who adapts the hearing device to the patient (hearing device acoustician or otolaryngologist, for example) does not have to decide on one hearing device type before the actual adaptation; this is particularly advantageous given in-the-ear hearing aid devices due to the need for an individually molded housing. Therefore, different hearing device types can be adapted and tried in the same housing, and the decision about the necessary hearing device type or desired hearing device type can be made after the successful adaptation.
Therefore, a completely new pricing is possible for the manufacturer. The customer only pays for the actually required and utilized properties of the hearing aid device. When properties of the hearing aid device are to be expanded or restricted at a later point in time, the manufacturer can do so without great outlay.
The inventive signal processing circuit of a hearing aid device should be as efficient as possible and should allow a number of functions and programmable adjustments. It is dependent on the utilized key to what extent these performance features and functions are then enabled or disenabled. Taking the maximal properties fixed by the hardware as a basis, arbitrary subsets thereof can be possible. It should be noted that even properties of the hearing aid device which do not have the capability being changed in hearing aid devices according to the prior art, can also be inventively adjusted by means of programming. Given a key for a signal processing circuit, which maximally allows four hearing programs P
1
through P
4
, only the programs P
1
and P
2
, for example, can be enabled and therefore can be selectable by the person wearing a hearing device. A further example is a signal processing circuit that allows signal processing in maximally four separate channels, but only four two-channel signal processing is enabled by the utilized key.
The invention also provides for a lock, such as the restriction of the upper limits or lower limits of the appertaining quantities, for a few properties. Thus, the maximally possible acoustic amplification of 80 dB that is fixed by the hardware could be reduced, for example, to an acoustic amplification of 75 dB available to the person wearing the hearing device, or could be reduced to every arbitrary value <80 db by means of the utilized key for a particular hearing aid device.
In an embodiment, a number of different keys are inventively provided. Therefore, it is possible for the manufacturer, in a simple and inexpensive manner, to offer a number of different device types at different prices, which device types initially do not differ from one another at the times of manufacture. Apart from dividing the hearing aid devices into different hearing aid device types, an individual enabling of properties, which is adapted to the needs of each single customer, is also possible with appropriate pric

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