Patent Document ID: 4637402
Application ID: 06556894
Patent Flag: 1

Claim One:
1. A method of providing a quantitative measure of a hearing defect of a patient in relationship to generalized signal processing parameters, comprising the steps of: (a) determining and recording frequency bands to which the patient's auditory system responds at a predetermined level and frequency bands to which the patient's auditory system is unable to respond at the predetermined level through the agency of a swept frequency tone generator operated at incremental intensity levels; (b) providing a number of frequency band limited signal processing paths in accordance with said determining and recording step, the processing paths being operative to generate a signal responsive to those frequency bands to which the patient's auditory system responds at the predetermined level; (c) adjusting and recording the parameters necessary to shift in a harmonic sustaining manner the frequency bands in which the patient's auditory system does not respond to frequency bands in which the patient's auditory system does respond; and (d) adjusting and recording within each frequency band processing path and in the aggregrate of all said frequency band processing paths at least such parameters as are necessary to shape, linearly or nonlinearly amplify, amplitude compress, and adaptively filter background noise from the signals generated by the processing paths in a continuously variable and adaptively fashion so as to produce an aurally recognizable signal to the patient.