Patent Application
20120140967
The invention relates to the field of hearing devices. More particularly, it relates to a hearing device according to the preamble of claim 1 and a method for manufacturing such a device according to claim 15.
Hearing devices are devices which relate to the hearing of an individual. They may be hearing aids for compensating a hearing loss, hearing protection against harmful noise, communication devices allowing individuals to speak to each other remotely, inconspicuously and/or in noisy environments, headsets which deliver and/or pick-up sound at the head of an individual or any combination of the before mentioned.
Hearing devices comprise commonly some sort of ear-piece which is positioned substantially in the ear and in particular partially in the ear canal of the user. It thereby closes the ear-canal partially or fully. A so called vent passage is usually provided to avoid a complete closure of the ear canal. Different designs of such vent passages are known from the following documents:
U.S. Pat. No. 4,852,177 discloses an earphone for devices such as radio or tape players. A microphone is provided to allow hearing of outside sounds. There is venting from inside the ear canal to the atmosphere. The vent tube runs out of the housing to a location remote from the microphone to reduce the susceptibility to feedback. Acoustic damping material may be placed inside the tubes.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,357,576 discloses an in-the-canal hearing aid with a protruding shell portion. The vent extends outwardly on the protruding shell portion to a position at the rim to space the outer vent opening away from the microphone to reduce the likelihood of feedback.
WO 01/43499 A1 discloses a completely in-the-canal hearing device. A conduit serves as both a vent and a retrieval cord. The vent tube contributes to the reduction of acoustic feedback.
US 2008/0301944 A1 discloses an in-ear custom-molded ear-plug device with venting grooves. The grooves are helical and surround the custom-molded ear-plug unit.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,079,662 discloses a hearing aid device wearable in the ear having an aeration channel. An acoustic damper may be present in the channel to prevent the occurrence of resonance effects.
Ear-pieces of hearing devices are often secured by some kind of retention means, such a as resilient member abutting on the inside of the concha, which may be called due to its position and function “concha clip”. Different designs of retentions means are disclosed in the following documents:
U.S. Pat. No. 7,068,803 discloses an acoustic device with means for being secured in a human ear. It may be a passive noise shield or one with transducers for communication. The securing means is a leaf spring designed to uniformly distribute force on the cartilage arch between the antihelix and the concha. An antenna may be integral with the spring.
DE 10 2006 050 502 A1 discloses a concha clip which is provided for fixing an ear-piece by an attachment in the concha and/or an antihelix. The clip is designed as plastic injection-molded part.
WO 2007/014950 A2 discloses a hearing device. According to the embodiment of
Generally it can be concluded that there are numerous ways described in the prior art how to arrange hearing devices in and/or around the ear, how to retain them, and how to provide vent passages between the ear canal and the atmosphere. However, each of the known solutions is still imperfect in regard to at least one of the following aspects:
In the present document the term “body of an ear-piece” is used to denominate the main portion of an ear-piece of a hearing device. In the case of a common custom-mold ear-piece it comprises the shell, all components arranged within the shell as well as the face plate. In the case of a common one-size-fits-all ear-piece it comprises the casing in which the main electric components, e.g. the receiver, are arranged and consequently all components arranged within this casing. It is not meant to include “extremities” such as pull-out-cords or connectors to modules at other locations such as behind-the-ear.
All aspects of the invention address the general problem of eliminating or reducing one or more of the above mentioned imperfections.
A first aspect of the invention addresses the problem of providing a hearing device with good retention in the ear, with a relatively simple design, with reduced susceptibility to feedback and/or with a cosmetically appealing or inconspicuous appearance.
This problem is solved by the features of claim 1, namely by a hearing device comprising an ear-piece which is designed to be worn at least partially in an ear canal of a user of said hearing device, said ear-piece comprising a vent passage, wherein said vent passage is designed to connect, while said hearing device is worn, a space in said ear canal in front of an eardrum of said user with an environment of said user, said vent passage having an inner opening towards said ear-canal and an outer opening towards said environment, said ear-piece further comprising a vent extension, said vent extension being a protrusion extending said vent-passage beyond a body of said ear-piece, wherein said vent extension is adapted for abutting on a surface of a body of said user.
“Abutting on” means that there is not only a point of contact between two entities, but rather a line or an area of contact between the two entities. In the case of a vent tube abutting on a body, such a line of contact typically runs, when looking at a particular section of the vent tube, in the same direction as the vent tube.
A vent extension on the surface of the body is cosmetically less obstructive than a vent extension sticking out away from the body. By abutting on a surface of the body it opens up the possibility to provide retention and other retention members may be omitted or reduced in size. Due to its inconspicuousness the solution also opens up the possibility to provide relatively long vent extensions. A long vent passage reduces leakage of acoustic energy but may still have a sufficient diameter to be cleaned by standard tools and procedures. A long vent passage also allows moving the outer vent opening away from the microphone which reduces the susceptibility to feedback.
A second aspect of the invention addresses the problem of providing a hearing device accommodating a relatively long vent extension in an ear in an inconspicuous or cosmetically appealing and useful way as well as the problem of providing a hearing device of the kind having a vent extension with especially good retention of its ear-piece without adding to the complexity of the design.
This problem is solved by the features of claim 3.
A combination of concha clip and vent extension has the advantage that only one element needs to be provided and, as the case may be, adjusted to the needs of a user. Further, since the concha has the shape of a bowl, from many angles the vent extension cannot even be seen. At the same time the concha is large enough to allow a reasonable distance between a vent opening and a microphone even if the vent extension is completely contained in the concha.
A third aspect of the invention addresses the problem of providing a hearing device with an especially low susceptibility to feedback and/or having a high user friendliness during everyday use.
This problem is solved by the features of claim 4.
A vent opening outside of the concha provides a good acoustical separation from microphones in the concha. Further a vent extension outside of the concha is relatively easy to grip and may be used as a pull-out cord.
A fourth aspect of the invention addresses the problem of providing a hearing device with comfortable retention in the ear, with reduced susceptibility to feedback and/or with a cosmetically appealing or inconspicuous appearance as well as the problem of providing a method for manufacturing such a device.
This problem is solved by the features of claim 14, as well as by the features of claim 15.
An adaptation of a vent extension to an anatomy of a specific user of the device has the advantages that it opens up the possibility to assure that a force exerted by the vent extension upon the body of the user is evenly distributed and does not cause pressure marks, that it allows to fully exploit the size of the ear, in particular in cases where a long vent extension is desired in regard to feedback and/or retention, and that a cosmetically favorable arrangement can be implemented.
Further embodiments and advantages emerge from the claims and the description referring to the figures.
Below, the invention is described in more detail by referring to drawings showing exemplified embodiments.
The described embodiments are meant as examples and shall not confine the invention.
Conventional in-the-ear hearing aids have the outer opening of the vent passage in the concha as well which is problematic in regard to feedback. According to the shown embodiment the outer opening 9 of the vent passage is outside of the concha 44 which is best to keep amplified sound away from the microphone opening 7. The microphone opening 7 is in the upper region of the ear piece body 2. The protruding portion of the vent extension starts at the lower region of the ear piece body 2. A design with the vent opening outside of the concha is especially suited for severe and profound hearing losses and might even be the enabling feature for fitting such patients with completely-in-the-canal hearing aids. The gain before feedback is up to 10 dB higher than for solutions without such a vent extension. The distance between outer opening 9 and microphone opening 7 preferably is larger than 10 mm, in particular larger than 20 mm, and in particular larger than 30 mm. The vent extension 4 has been adapted to the anatomy of the user, i.e. more precisely of a specific individual which will be substantially the sole person wearing the device. It abuts on the surface of the body of the user, in particular substantially over its full length or at least over 10 mm or at least over half its length, in particular its distal half. Preferably it abuts on the surface of the body of the user outside the concha 44, in particular over a length of at least 5 mm or at least 25% of its length. It is cosmetically relatively unobtrusive when it is abutting directly on the surface of the body, i.e. it is not sticking away from the body. It thereby also contributes to retention of the ear-piece. The outer opening 9 is in reference to the concha 44 opposite to the helix 45, i.e. opposite to where a behind-the-ear module could be positioned, thereby having, if applicable, an especially large distance to such a module. The vent extension 4 may, for example, be made from a thermoplastic resilient material, such that it can be bent permanently by an audiologist during a fitting session to optimally suit the anatomy of a specific individual and resiliently by the user during mounting and/or everyday use. Further, a tube-shaped design allows easy adjustment of the length. In one embodiment the vent extension has a bending or is bent by at least 10° and in particular by at least 20°.
It is to be noted that a design of the vent extension as shown in
It can be seen also from
Generally, an adaptation of a vent extension to the anatomy of a specific individual may be performed by a modification, in particular by cutting or, in the case of a suitable material, by thermoplastic deformation. However, the adaptation may also be performed by replacing the element by an appropriate element selected from a kit or by a combination of both, replacement of the element and subsequent modification.
A vent tube may be provided for the full length of the vent passage as shown in
A hearing device having a vent extension 4, which is adapted to the anatomy of a specific user, can be manufactured by a method, which comprises the following steps:
a) providing premanufactured components, said premanufactured components comprising at least a microphone module, an electronic circuit module and a receiver module;
b) manufacturing an ear-piece 1 comprising at least said microphone module, a vent passage 3 and at least one of:
c) assembling still unassembled components and adjusting the hearing device for a prospective user, said prospective user being a specific individual;
characterized by the step of
d) adjusting said vent extension 4 to an anatomy of said prospective user such that said vent extension 4 is abutting on a surface of a body of said prospective user,
wherein step d) is performed as a part of or together with step b) and/or step c).
The term “module” is used to indicate that besides of the main component, for example the microphone, electronic circuit and receiver, there might also be one or more auxiliary parts such as a housing, connectors, welding pads or additional circuitry. A mounting for a vent extension 4 can e.g. be designed as shown in
Therefore an adjustment to an anatomy of the user will advantageously at least partially be performed by the audiologist.
The logical creation of a vent passage 3 and, as the case may be, a vent extension 4, can be performed separately from its physical creation. The term “logical creation” is used here to denominate the determination of vent data, i.e. information about the vent passage 3, such as vent mass, vent size, vent shape and/or vent location in respect to the ear-piece 1. The logical creation can also be referred to as modeling. The term “physical creation” is used here to denominate the actual material manufacturing.
The logical creation of the vent passage 3 and, as the case may be, it's extension 4 may be performed using a special vent modeling software. If there is already a software for modeling the shell of the ear-piece 1 this special vent modeling software will be advantageously integrated with it. However, similar calculations can also be performed fully or partially by a human, such as an audiologist. Usually, first so called “target data” is determined which indicates what is desirable and which is then modified to comply with physical constraints to obtain actually implementable data. It is to be noted that the manufacturing method can be applied to both, hearing devices where the shell of the ear-piece is a custom shell and hearing devices where ear-piece is “one-size-fits all” solutions having for example a “dome” to fit into the ear.
In the latter case there is generally no shell modeling software.
The physical creation of the vent extension 4 can, as already indicated, be performed in various ways, e.g.:
Way A has the advantage that the final product may resemble calculated vent data very precisely and the quality of the result does not largely depend on the skills of the sales person or audiologist which is directly interacting with the prospective user of the device.
Accordingly, ways B and C have the advantage that a skilled audiologist may optimally and interactively adapt the device to the anatomy, but also to the preferences, of the prospective user. Further adjustments can be done in a follow-up adjustment session after the first use. It is to be noted that the interactive adaptation process of variant B and C represents a mixture of a logical and physical correction.
The logical creation of the vent passage 3 of a hearing aid may take into account the audiogram of the individual. Prior to the logical creation of the ear-piece an ear impression or ear scan may be taken to provide initial data for the logical process. The logical creation of the vent passage 3 may comprise determining target vent data, such as a target vent mass, and in particular determining the need for and, if applicable, the dimensions, shape and/or positioning of a vent extension 4. The modeling may also comprise determining whether occlusion and/or feedback-susceptibility measures are sufficiently low. The modeling must take into account manufacturing limitations regarding minimum dimensions and/or material strength. The final result should be an optimal trade-off in regard to occlusion, feedback-susceptibility, maximum gain, battery lifetime and cosmetic aspects. For this also a process known as “Acoustically Optimized Venting (AOV)” may be used.
The invention may be applied to hearing devices of many different kinds. However, in a plurality of embodiments it is applied to a hearing aid. A hearing aid is a device designed to compensate the hearing loss of an individual which is usually measured and specified by an audiogram. Typically environments sounds are picked up by a microphone, amplified and then presented to an ear by a receiver. Hearing aids may be classified by the location of their components, which may comprise in-the-ear, behind-the-ear and, for the sake of completeness, in-the-pocket. The location in-the-ear can be specified more precisely, e.g. by the terms in-the-canal or in-the-concha. The invention can be applied to all hearing aids which have an in-the-ear component with a vent passage, i.e. primarily in-the-ear hearing aids (ITE), in-the-canal hearing aids (ITC) and completely-in-the-canal hearing aids (CIC), but also hybrid behind-the-ear/in-the-ear hearing aids. Such hybrid hearing aids have for example the receiver and microphone in the ear and the battery and signal processor behind the ear, such as some canal-receiver-technology hearing aids (CRT), or they may be basically an in-the-ear hearing aid just having the battery behind the ear. It is to be noted that in-the-ear hearing aids may substantially consist of the ear-piece, i.e. there may be no further components necessary during their everyday use. The term “completely” in “completely-in-the-canal” is to be construed such that that the device may still have small and/or substantially invisible elements outside the canal, such as pull-out-cords or concha clips. Generally it is especially advantageous to apply the invention to hearing aids having an in-the-ear microphone because of its potential to increase the distance between an outer vent opening and such a microphone.
A hearing device may also be a hearing protection device. In this case acoustic leakage from outside into the ear canal is to be avoided. A vent extension according to the invention minimizes such leakage while maintaining a vent passage diameter size which is reasonable in regard to production a cleaning. The same applies to any kind of headset which is designed to deliver sound to the ear without acoustic leakage, i.e. keeping the sound in and/or environment noises out. Such a head set may be part of a communication system.
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/EP2009/058212 | 6/30/2009 | WO | 00 | 1/16/2012 |
