Patent ID: 7024010

Claim:
A method for designing an electronic earplug, wherein the electronic earplug comprises an outer housing that extends into as ear canal to approximately the second bend and accommodates an acoustic driver and a transducer for measuring acoustic sound, and wherein the acoustic driver is located between a concha and the transducer and the transducer is located in an ear canal, the method comprising: determining a first complex sound pressure at the tympanic membrane; determining a second complex sound pressure at the transducer; and locating the transducer within the outer housing until the first complex sound pressure and the second complex sound pressure are substantially equal at frequencies up to 5 KHz., and wherein the first complex sound pressure at the tympanic membrane is determined using a probe situated to monitor the second complex sound pressure at a location in the ear canal away from the tympanic membrane, and wherein the first complex sound pressure is related to the second complex sound pressure by a transfer function determined using a means for emulating an ear canal and a tympanic membrane.