Patent Publication Number: US-2004047482-A1

Title: Hearing aid system

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S)  
     [0001] This application is a continuation-in-part application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/241,279, filed Sep. 10, 2002, to Bauman, entitled HEARING AID SYSTEM. 
    
    
     
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002] The present invention relates to a hearing aid system and in particular to a receiver system used in the hearing aid system.  
       [0003] A wide variety of hearing aid units are known in the art. In some units, the receiver is positioned within the ear canal in such a way that it creates an occlusion effect. Further, the receiver is encased within the body of the hearing aid. In most cases whether the hearing aid is fitted in the ear, as a custom made instrument, or as an instrument which is placed behind the ear, an occlusion problem exists. This often is a cause of rejection of the amplification due to patient&#39;s discomfort with their own voice. This occlusion effect is associated with the sensation of feeling that the patient&#39;s head is “at the bottom of the barrel” with the patient&#39;s own voice becoming intolerably loud. Placing an earmold or a shell of a custom made hearing aid can produce an additional low frequency amplification of the patient&#39;s own voice up to 20 to 30 dB. This can, therefore, be responsible for a four times perceived loudness increase in the patient&#39;s own voice. In order to eliminate the occlusion effect, an open ear canal amplification is applied. However, the acoustics of an open ear fitting increase the risk of acoustic feedback prohibiting in most instances to achieve a peak gain of more than 30 dB.  
       [0004] Thus, there is a need for an improved hearing aid system which avoids the occlusion effect and which also avoids feedback, especially during high frequency amplification.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0005] Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a receiver, receiver placement, and a receiver casing which avoids the occlusion effect.  
       [0006] It is a further object of the present invention to provide a receiver system which helps avoid feedback during high frequency amplification.  
       [0007] It is a further object of the present invention to provide a hearing aid system having a receiver, such as the aforementioned receiver, separated from the microphone.  
       [0008] The foregoing objects are attained by the receiver and the hearing aid system of the present invention.  
       [0009] In accordance with the present invention, a receiver and a receiver casing for use in a system for improving a user&#39;s hearing, in a hearing aid system is provided. Also, it is the intention to use same receiver system removed from the body of the instrument to be used in a tinnitus device as described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,048,305. It is essential to have an open ear tinnitus instrument in the tinnitus retraining therapy program. Therefore, this present invention will provide such by having the body of the instrumentation placed behind the ear with the receiver placed in the ear canal without obstructing the external auditory means.  
       [0010] In a first embodiment, the receiver comprises a housing to be positioned within an ear canal and a plurality of arms extending from the housing. The tip portion of each arm contacts a surface of a user&#39;s ear canal and suspends the receiver within the ear canal.  
       [0011] In a second embodiment, the receiver is housed in a disc. The disc is formed from a frequency specific filtering material. The disc has an adjustable rim which when placed in the ear canal uses spring like motion to maintain receiver position.  
       [0012] Further, in accordance with the present invention, a hearing aid system is provided. The hearing aid system comprises a microphone located externally of a user&#39;s ear canal, an amplifier connected to the microphone to amplify sounds received by the microphone, a receiver positioned within the user&#39;s ear canal, and means for transmitting the amplified output to the receiver. As before, the receiver preferably has a housing and a plurality of arms extending from the housing for suspending the receiver within the user&#39;s ear canal. Alternatively, the receiver may be housed within a disc structure.  
       [0013] Other details of the hearing aid system of the present invention, as well as other objects and advantages attendant thereto, are set forth in the following detailed description and the accompanying drawings wherein like reference numerals depict like elements. 
     
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
     [0014]FIG. 1 is a schematic representation of a hearing aid system;  
     [0015]FIG. 2 is a front view of a suspended receiver used in the hearing aid system of FIG. 1;  
     [0016]FIG. 3 is a side view of the receiver of FIG. 2 positioned within a user&#39;s ear canal;  
     [0017]FIG. 4 illustrates an alternative embodiment of a suspended receiver in accordance with the present invention;  
     [0018]FIG. 5 illustrates an embodiment of a receiver housed in a disc;  
     [0019]FIG. 6 illustrates a system for connecting the output of an amplifier to a receiver; and  
     [0020]FIG. 7 is a schematic representation of a tinnitus/hyperacusis treatment system. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT(S)  
     [0021] Referring now to the drawings, FIG. 1 illustrates a hearing aid system  10  in accordance with one aspect of the present invention. The hearing aid system  10  includes a microphone  12  and an amplifier  14 . The microphone  12  and the amplifier  14  are positioned within a housing  16 . The housing  16  may form part of a behind-the-ear unit, part of a unit installed within a user&#39;s eyeglass frame, or part of a unit installed within a headset. The hearing aid system  10  may further include a battery (not shown) and means for controlling the hearing aid such as a volume control.  
     [0022] The hearing aid system  10  further includes a receiver  18  which is separated from the housing containing the microphone. The receiver is installed and suspended within the ear canal  20  of a user and means  22  for transmitting amplified output from the amplifier  14  to the receiver  18 . The sound transmitting means  22 , depending upon the particular kind of amplifier  14  being used, may be a wire  24  encased within a plastic coating  26  housing the wire. When used, the wire  24  makes an electrical contact with the amplifier  14  and the receiver  18  over which electrical output can be transmitted. The plastic coating around the wire  24  helps prevent electrical shocks.  
     [0023] An alternative way of connecting the output from the amplifier  14  to the receiver  18  is shown in FIG. 6. In this approach, there is an arcuately shaped electric contact  70  attached to the amplifier  14  by supports  72 . A wire  74  extends between amplifier  14  and the contact  70 . The electrical contact  70  is shaped in the manner of a ball socket to receive a ball  76 . The ball  76  has an electrical coating on its outer surface  78  and a wire  80  which attaches to the receiver  18 .  
     [0024] The microphone  12 , the amplifier  14 , and the control means may comprise any suitable microphone, amplifier, and control means known in the art. Similarly, the receiver  18  may comprise any suitable receiver known in the art.  
     [0025] As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the receiver  18  has a housing  28 . To position and suspend the receiver  18  within the ear canal  20 , a plurality of arms  30  extend from the housing  28 . Each of the arms  30  is formed from a flexible material such as a flexible plastic material. The tip portions  32  of each arm  30  contact a surface  34  of the ear canal  20  to position the receiver  18  in a desired location in the ear canal  20 . As can be seen from FIG. 2, each arm  30  tapers from the tip portion  32  to a base portion  36 . In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the arms  30  are spaced 90 degrees from each other.  
     [0026] The arms  30  are quite advantageous because they allow the receiver  18  to be positioned or suspended in such a way that the receiver  18  does not occlude the ear canal. Further, the arms  30  allow the use of any size of receiver in the hearing aid systems. Still further, the receiver, separated from the microphone, provides a greater flexibility in delivering high frequency amplification without causing or creating feedback. Thus, protection of the ear canal and the separation of the receiver  18  from the microphone  12  allows one to achieve greater high frequency gain without feedback.  
     [0027] Further, a suspended receiver away from the ear canal walls will also provide a better protection from impacting the receiver with cerumen.  
     [0028] While it has been stated that the microphone  12  and the amplifier  14  are in the same housing, it should be noted that they could be in separate housings depending upon the type of hearing aid system  10 . For example, if the system  10  is incorporated in an eyeglass frame, the microphone could be in one part of the frame and the amplifier could be in another part of the frame.  
     [0029] While it is preferred to form the arms  30  from a flexible plastic material, each of the arms  30  could also be formed from a bendable wire. When formed from a bendable wire, as shown in FIG. 4, each wire may have a plastic or metal ball  40  at the end which makes contact with a surface of the user&#39;s ear canal.  
     [0030] If desired, the length of the insertion of the receiver  18  in the ear canal  20  can be adjusted using a retractable wire  24  from the sound transmitting means  22  or by replacing the ear hook on a behind the ear hearing aid unit.  
     [0031] Referring now to FIG. 5, an alternative receiver embodiment is illustrated. The receiver  18  is housed within a disc  50  of exchangeable sound filtration material. The material forming the disc  50  may be formed from a paper or fabric like material which is transparent to most sound except sound which is to be filtered out. By making the disc  50  exchangeable or replaceable, one can mechanically change the frequency response of sounds that are escaping out of the hearing aid. One can also filter out any frequency that causes feedback. The disc  50  is preferably formed with a rim  52  that flexes, such as a rim formed from a spring-like material, in order to maintain the position of the receiver  18  and disc  50  in a desired position in the ear canal.  
     [0032] While the receiver  18  of the present invention has been described in the context of hearing aid systems, the receiver could also be used in tinnitus treatment systems. For example, as shown in FIG. 7, a noise generator  90  may be positioned behind the wearer&#39;s ear in lieu of the microphone or amplifier and attached to a receiver  18  positioned within the user&#39;s ear canal. The noise generator  90  generates sounds to be transmitted to the tympanic membrane for the treatment of tinnitus/hyperacusis. The receiver  18  may have a disc  50  surrounding it or a plurality of arms  30  radiating from it in order to position it within the ear canal. The disc  50  and the arms  30  may have the structure described hereinbefore.  
     [0033] While the receiver  18 , when used in either the context of a hearing aid system or a tinnitus treatment system, has been described as being connected to an amplifier  14  or a noise generator  90  by a wire, it should be recognized that the receiver  18  could be disconnectable so that it can be separated from the body of the instrument to which it is connected. Any suitable means known in the art may be used to render the receiver  18  disconnectable.  
     [0034] It is apparent that there has been provided in accordance with the present invention a hearing aid system which fully satisfies the objects, means, and advantages set forth hereinbefore. While the present invention has been described in the context of specific embodiments thereof, other alternatives, modifications, and variations will become apparent to those skilled in the art having read the foregoing description. Accordingly, it is intended to embrace those alternatives, modifications, and variations as fall within the broad scope of the appended claims.