Patent Application
20200359143
The present invention relates to a method of generating sounds for reducing an effect of tinnitus and a tinnitus control instrument performing the same; more particularly, the present invention relates to a method of generating sounds for reducing an effect of tinnitus by means of playing pure tones for a user to listen to, and a tinnitus control instrument for performing the method thereof
Tinnitus masking, which is a treatment for reducing tinnitus symptoms, can reduce the effects of loud tinnitus by means of playing sounds at a frequency close to the tinnitus frequency of a patient. However, a common tinnitus control instrument usually plays white noise or natural noise, which requires a louder volume and provides a relatively monotonous acoustic feeling to the patient, even though it can reduce the tinnitus symptoms.
Therefore, there is a need to provide a method of generating sounds for reducing an effect of tinnitus and a tinnitus control instrument performing the same to mitigate and/or obviate the aforementioned problems.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a method of playing pure tones for a user to listen in order to reduce an effect of tinnitus.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a tinnitus control instrument for performing the abovementioned method.
To achieve the abovementioned objects, the method of generating sounds for reducing an effect of tinnitus of the present invention is applied to a tinnitus control instrument. The tinnitus control instrument includes a speaker. In this invention, the method of generating sounds for reducing an effect of tinnitus comprises the following steps: acquiring a sound frequency of a tinnitus sound of a user; and controlling the speaker to play a plurality of pure tones within a frequency range during a playback time, wherein the plurality of pure tones include a plurality of first pure tones and a plurality of second pure tones; the sound frequency and the plurality of first pure tones are located at a first frequency area, and the plurality of second pure tones are located at a second frequency area; the first frequency area covers a range of X Hz, where 100≤X≤12000, the second frequency area covers the remaining portion of the frequency range excluding the first frequency area, and the plurality of first pure tones account for M % of the plurality of pure tones, where 50<M≤90.
The tinnitus control instrument of the present invention comprises a speaker and a controller. The controller is electrically connected to the speaker and includes a tinnitus sound frequency acquisition module and a sound generation module. The tinnitus sound frequency acquisition module is used for acquiring a sound frequency of a tinnitus sound of a user. The sound generation module is used for controlling the speaker to play a plurality of pure tones within a frequency range during a playback time, wherein the plurality of pure tones include a plurality of first pure tones and a plurality of second pure tones; the sound frequency and the plurality of first pure tones are located at a first frequency area, and the plurality of second pure tones are located at a second frequency area.; the first frequency area covers a range of X Hz, where 100≤X≤12000, the second frequency area covers the remaining portion of the frequency range excluding the first frequency area, and the plurality of first pure tones account for M % of the plurality of pure tones, where 50<M≤90.
Other objects, advantages, and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of the accompanying drawings, which disclose several embodiments of the present invention. It is to be understood that the drawings are to be used for purposes of illustration only, and not as a definition of the invention.
In the drawings, wherein similar reference numerals denote similar elements throughout the several views:
Please refer to
As shown in
In one embodiment of the present invention, the tinnitus sound frequency acquisition module 21 is used for acquiring a sound frequency f of a tinnitus sound of a user. The process of acquiring the sound frequency of the tinnitus sound of the user will be disclosed in more detail hereinafter; therefore, there is no need for further description in this paragraph.
In one embodiment of the present invention, the sound generation module 23 is used for controlling the speaker 10 to play a plurality of pure tones within a frequency range during a playback time, The plurality of pure tones include a plurality of first pure tones and a plurality of second pure tones, The sound frequency f of the tinnitus sound of the user and the plurality of first pure tones are located at a first frequency area, and the plurality of second pure tones are located at a second frequency area. The first frequency area, covers a range of X Hz, where 100≤X≤12000, and the second frequency area covers the remaining portion of the frequency range excluding the first frequency area. The plurality of first pure tones account for M % of the plurality of pure tones, where 50<M≤90. That is, the number of the first pure tones being played is greater than that of the second pure tones. In one preferred embodiment of the present invention, the plurality of pure tones are generated randomly, and the probability of generating the first pure tones is 2 times the probability of generating the second pure tones. However, please note that the scope of the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. The mechanism of determining the first frequency area and the second frequency area will be disclosed in more detail hereinafter; therefore, there is no need for further description in this paragraph.
Please refer to
First, the method performs step S1: acquiring a sound frequency of a tinnitus sound of a user.
This step can be accomplished by means of a known tinnitus sound matching procedure. The tinnitus sound frequency acquisition module 21 will control the speaker 10 to play pure tones close to a tinnitus strength to a user having tinnitus symptoms and will request the user to press a specific (physical or virtual) button when the user feels the frequency of the pure tones is the same as or close to the tinnitus frequency in order to input a specific signal. At this time, the tinnitus sound frequency acquisition module 21 will use the frequency of the last pure tone prior to receiving the specific signal as the sound frequency f of the tinnitus sound.
Performing step S2: controlling the speaker to play a plurality of pure tones within a frequency range during a playback time, wherein the plurality of pure tones include a plurality of first pure tones and a plurality of second pure tones; the sound frequency of the tinnitus sound and the plurality of first pure tones are located at a first frequency area, and the plurality of second pure tones are located at a second frequency area; the first frequency area covers a range of X Hz, where 100≤X≤12000, the second frequency area covers the remaining portion of the frequency range excluding the first frequency area, and the plurality of first pure tones account for M % of the plurality of pure tones, where 50<M≤90.
After the sound frequency f of the tinnitus sound of the user is acquired, the user can then begin to use the tinnitus control instrument 1. When the user turns on the tinnitus control instrument 1, the sound generation module 23 can control the speaker 10 to play a plurality of pure tones within a frequency range during a playback time. The plurality of pure tones include a plurality of first pure tones and a plurality of second pure tones. The plurality of first pure tones and the sound frequency f of the tinnitus sound of the user are located at a first frequency area, and the plurality of second pure tones are located at a second frequency area. The first frequency area covers a range of X Hz, where 100≤X≤12000, and the second frequency area covers the remaining portion of the frequency range excluding the first frequency area, The plurality of first pure tones account for M % of the plurality of pure tones, where 50<M≤90. In one embodiment of the present invention, the frequency coverage of the first frequency area is dynamic; more precisely, the frequency band and the bandwidth covered by the first frequency area may vary according to the highs and lows of the sound frequency f of the tinnitus sound of the user.
In one embodiment of the present invention, if the acquired sound frequency f is Hz, the sound generation module 23 will define 0.25 F-4 F Hz as the abovementioned frequency range, and will define 0.5 F-2 F Hz as the first frequency area. The sound generation module 23 will also define the remaining portion of the frequency range excluding the first frequency area as the second frequency area, so the second frequency area will cover both ranges of 0.25 F-0.5 F Hz and 2 F-4 F Hz. Please refer to
In one embodiment of the present invention, the plurality of pure tones generated by the sound generation module 23 are tuned with 12-tone equal temperament. Furthermore, the plurality of pure tones located in the same octave are chord tones of the same chord. That is, the plurality of second pure tones having frequencies ranging from 0.25 F Hz to 0.5 F Hz are chord tones of the same chord, the plurality of first pure tones having frequencies ranging from 0.5 F Hz to F Hz are chord tones of the same chord, the plurality of first pure tones having frequencies ranging from F Hz to 2 F Hz are chord tones of the same chord, and the plurality of second pure tones having frequencies ranging from 2 F Hz to 4 F Hz are chord tones of the same chord. As a result, the pure tones being played have better musicality, thereby providing a better acoustic feeling to the user.
According to the abovementioned description, the method of generating sounds for reducing an effect of tinnitus and the tinnitus control instrument 1 of the present invention not only play pure tones at frequencies close to the tinnitus frequency hut also play pure tones at other frequencies which are not close to the tinnitus frequency, and such playback mechanism can effectively reduce the tinnitus symptoms at a relatively lower volume, as evidenced by experiments conducted by the inventor. Further, the method of generating sounds for reducing an effect of tinnitus and the tinnitus control instrument 1 of the present invention generate pure tones with a musical acoustic effect, which provides a better acoustic feeling to the user having tinnitus symptoms.
Please note that the abovementioned embodiment only describes a preferred embodiment of the present invention. To avoid redundant description, not all possible variations and combinations are described in detail in this specification. However, those skilled in the art will understand that the above modules or components are not all necessary parts, and that in order to implement the present invention, other more detailed known modules or components might also be included. It is possible that each module or component can be omitted or modified depending on different requirements, and it is also possible that other modules or components might be disposed between any two modules.
Although the present invention has been explained in relation to its preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that many other possible modifications and variations can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as hereinafter claimed.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 108116101 | May 2019 | TW | national |
