Patent ID: 9744330
Date: 2017-08-29
CPC Classifications: A61B,A61M,A61N,H04R,H04S

Claim:
1. A tinnitus masking system for use by a person having tinnitus comprising: a sound delivery system having left and right ear-level audio delivery devices, the sound delivery system being configured to deliver a masking sound to the person via the audio delivery devices such that the masking sound appears to originate from a virtual sound source location that substantially corresponds directionally in 3D auditory space, as defined by spatial information comprising at least a 3D direction vector relative to a reference point, to a source of the tinnitus as perceived by the person, the masking sound being represented by left and right audio signals that are converted to audible sound by the respective audio delivery devices, wherein the left and right audio signals have an intensity and the sound delivery system is configured to modulate the intensity of left and right audio signals of the masking sound with a periodic ramping profile such that the intensity of the masking sound at playback varies in accordance with the periodic ramping profile, and wherein the ramping profile comprises a series of periodically repeating ramps, each ramp being defined by an initial increase in intensity at a first rate and ending in a subsequent decrease in intensity at a second rate, and wherein the first rate of increase in intensity is slower than the second rate of decrease in intensity.