Search Patents
  • A METHOD FOR MONITORING AND DETECTING IF HEARING INSTRUMENTS ARE CORRECTLY MOUNTED
    Publication number: 20230217193
    Abstract: A binaural hearing aid system comprises left and right hearing instruments each comprising a BTE-part comprising a housing configured to be located at or behind an outer ear of the user and an acceleration sensor configured to measure acceleration in at least two directions relative to the housing of the BTE-part and to provide acceleration data indicative thereof. A first one of the left and right hearing instruments comprises a transmitter configured to transmit said acceleration data to the other hearing instrument, and the other hearing instrument comprises a receiver for receiving said acceleration data from the first one of the hearing instruments. The other hearing instrument further comprises a controller for detecting whether or not the left and right hearing instruments are correctly mounted in dependence of a similarity measure between said acceleration data provided by the left and right hearing instruments. A method of operating a binaural hearing aid system is further disclosed.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 5, 2023
    Publication date: July 6, 2023
    Applicant: Oticon A/S
    Inventors: Michael Syskind PEDERSEN, Amalie Sofie EKSTRAND, Mette CARSTENSEN, Nicolai WESTERGREN, Tanveer BHUIYAN, Sudershan Yalgalwadi SREEPADARAO, Elvira FISCHER
  • RF antenna and hearing device with RF antenna
    Patent number: 11546706
    Abstract: The present disclosure relates to an RF antenna adapted to receive and/or transmit electromagnetic RF signals within a first frequency range enclosing a first frequency of resonance of the RF antenna, the RF antenna comprising: an electrically conductive antenna element having a feed for electrically connecting to an RF transmitter and/or an RF receiver; an electronic component adapted to receive and/or provide one or more electric signals from/to an electronic circuit within a second frequency range not overlapping the first frequency range; and one or more electric leads electrically connected to lead the one or more electric signals between the electronic component and the electronic circuit, each of the one or more electric leads being electrically connected to the electronic circuit through a respective inductor adapted to reflect and/or attenuate signals within the first frequency range and pass signals within the second frequency range.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 13, 2021
    Date of Patent: January 3, 2023
    Assignee: Oticon A/S
    Inventors: Jens Troelsen, Oliver Sundberg, Kåre Tais Christensen, Henning Knak Poulsen
  • Hearing aid device with in-the-ear-canal microphone
    Patent number: 9351086
    Abstract: A hearing aid device is disclosed. The hearing aid device comprises a receiver configured to be arranged in the ear canal. The hearing aid device comprises a directional microphone system comprising two microphones or one microphone having two sound inlets. The hearing aid device comprises means for counteracting acoustic feedback on the basis of sound signals detected by the two microphones or the two sound inlets. The hearing aid device comprises an “open fitting” providing ventilation. The two microphones or the two sound inlets of the directional microphone (forming part of a directional system) are arranged in the ear canal at the same side of the receiver and sound is allowed to propagate freely between the microphones or between the inlets of the directional microphone and the receiver. Preferably, the hearing aid device comprises a procedure (such as an adaptive procedure) for optimizing the directional system of the hearing aid device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 29, 2014
    Date of Patent: May 24, 2016
    Assignee: OTICON A/S
    Inventors: Svend Oscar Petersen, Pauli Minnaar
  • HEARING DEVICE COMPRISING A FILTERBANK AND AN ONSET DETECTOR
    Publication number: 20170347207
    Abstract: A hearing device comprises A) a forward path, comprising a1) an input unit for providing a time-domain electric input signal as digital samples, a2) an analysis filter bank configured to provide a time-frequency representation of said electric input signal, a3) a signal processing unit for processing a signal of the forward path and providing a number of processed channel-signals, B) an onset detector configured to receive said time-domain electric input signal before entering said analysis filter bank, and to provide an onset control signal dependent on a current first order derivative of an envelope thereof, C) a level estimation unit for estimating a current level of said frequency sub-band signals, and comprising c1) a level adjustment unit configured to adjust the current levels of said frequency sub-band signals, and to control said level adjustment in dependence of said onset control signal. The invention may be used in audio devices, e.g. hearing aids.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 30, 2017
    Publication date: November 30, 2017
    Applicant: Oticon A/S
    Inventors: Jan Mark DE HAAN, Fares EL-AZM
  • WIRELESS BINAURAL HEARING SYSTEM
    Publication number: 20120087505
    Abstract: A wireless binaural hearing system comprises a left-ear hearing device, a right-ear hearing device and auxiliary devices. The devices communicate via radio signals. Each device comprises a radio transmitter transmitting messages, each hearing device comprises a radio receiver receiving messages, the auxiliary device is adapted to transmit application messages, and the hearing devices are adapted to receive application messages. The quality of wireless communication varies when the user moves his head, which may lead to temporal gaps in communication. Such gaps may cause annoying pauses and/or delays in audio signals presented to the user, and the hearing devices may become temporarily unsynchronised.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 6, 2011
    Publication date: April 12, 2012
    Applicant: OTICON A/S
    Inventors: Petar POPOVSKI, Peter S. K. HANSEN, Jacob MIDTGAARD
  • Bone conduction hearing aid with an air gap adjustment mechanism
    Patent number: 10743120
    Abstract: An electromagnetic vibrator for a bone conduction hearing aid is disclosed. The electromagnetic vibrator comprises a magnet arrangement comprising a central portion, a coil wound around the central portion and being configured to generate a dynamic magnetic field and at least one permanent magnet configured to generate a static magnetic field. The electromagnetic vibrator further comprises a vibrator plate arranged in position and in such a manner that a gap, extending across a longitudinal axis of the electromagnetic vibrator is provided between the vibrator plate and at least one of said central portion or at least one permanent magnet. The electromagnetic vibrator further comprises an encasing surrounding at least a portion of the magnet arrangement.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 13, 2018
    Date of Patent: August 11, 2020
    Assignee: Oticon Medical A/S
    Inventor: Bengt Bern
  • HEARING DEVICE COMPRISING A LOW COMPLEXITY BEAMFORMER
    Publication number: 20230186934
    Abstract: A hearing device includes a) a multitude of input transducers providing a corresponding multitude of electric input signals; and b) a processor for providing a processed signal in dependence of the electric input signals. The processor includes b1) a beamformer for providing a spatially filtered signal in dependence of electric input signals and beamformer filter coefficients determined in dependence of a fixed steering vector including as elements respective acoustic transfer functions from a target signal source, to each of said multitude of input transducers; and b2) a target adaptation module connected to the input transducers and to at least one beamformer, the target adaptation module being configured to provide compensation signals to compensate the electric input signals so that they match the fixed steering vector.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 14, 2022
    Publication date: June 15, 2023
    Applicant: Oticon A/S
    Inventors: Jan M. DE HAAN, Robert REHR, Sebastien CURDY-NEVES, Svend FELDT, Jesper JENSEN, Michael Syskind PEDERSEN, Michael Noes GÄTKE, Mohammad EL-SAYED, Stig PETRI, Karsten BONKE, Gary Jones, Poul Hoang
  • RF antenna and hearing device with RF antenna
    Patent number: 10136230
    Abstract: The present disclosure relates to an RF antenna adapted to receive and/or transmit electromagnetic RF signals within a first frequency range enclosing a first frequency of resonance of the RF antenna, the RF antenna comprising: an electrically conductive antenna element having a feed for electrically connecting to an RF transmitter and/or an RF receiver; an electronic component adapted to receive and/or provide one or more electric signals from/to an electronic circuit within a second frequency range not overlapping the first frequency range; and one or more electric leads electrically connected to lead the one or more electric signals between the electronic component and the electronic circuit, each of the one or more electric leads being electrically connected to the electronic circuit through a respective inductor adapted to reflect and/or attenuate signals within the first frequency range and pass signals within the second frequency range.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 27, 2018
    Date of Patent: November 20, 2018
    Assignee: OTICON A/S
    Inventors: Jens Troelsen, Oliver Sundberg, Kåre Tais Christensen, Henning Knak Poulsen
  • Wireless communication device for communicating with multiple external devices via a wireless communication unit
    Patent number: 11729117
    Abstract: A method and wireless communication device use a first processing unit to perform a first communication event within a first communication window by use of a first communication protocol, a second processing unit to perform a second communication event within a second communication window by use of a second communication protocol, and a wireless communication unit connected to a radio-frequency antenna to transmit and/or receive a packet wirelessly. The first and second processing units may perform the first and second communication events via the wireless communication unit. The second processing unit or the wireless communication unit may transmit an event signal to the first processing unit when performing the second communication event or receiving a packet, respectively, to allow the first processing unit to arrange the first communication window (or first communication event) with respect to the second communication window (or second communication event) to minimize interference.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 17, 2022
    Date of Patent: August 15, 2023
    Assignee: Oticon A/S
    Inventors: Franz Treue, Bjarne Klemmensen, Rune Sø
  • Method of correcting errors in binary masks
    Patent number: 8626495
    Abstract: The invention relates to a method of identifying and correcting errors in a noisy binary mask. An object of the present invention is to provide a scheme for improving a binary mask representing speech. The problem is solved in that the method comprises a) providing a noisy binary mask comprising a binary representation of the power density of an acoustic signal comprising a target signal and a noise signal at a predefined number of discrete frequencies and a number of discrete time instances; b) providing a statistical model of a clean binary mask representing the power density of the target signal; and c) using the statistical model to detect and correct errors in the noisy binary mask. This has the advantage of providing an alternative and relatively simple way of improving an estimate of a binary mask representing a speech signal. The invention may e.g. be used for speech processing, e.g. in a hearing instrument.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 4, 2010
    Date of Patent: January 7, 2014
    Assignee: Oticon A/S
    Inventors: Jesper Bünsow Boldt, Ulrik Kjems, Michael Syskind Pedersen, Mads Graesbøll Christensen, Søren Holdt Jensen
  • Binaural hearing system configured to localize a sound source
    Patent number: 9992587
    Abstract: A hearing aid system comprising a pair of hearing devices, e.g. hearing aids, worn at the ears of a user receives a target signal generated by a target signal source and transmitted through an acoustic channel to microphones of the hearing aid system. Due to (potential) additive environmental noise, a noisy acoustic signal is received at the microphones of the hearing system. An essentially noise-free version of the target signal is simultaneously transmitted to the hearing devices of the hearing system via a wireless connection.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 4, 2017
    Date of Patent: June 5, 2018
    Assignee: OTICON A/S
    Inventors: Mojtaba Farmani, Michael Syskind Pedersen, Jesper Jensen
  • HEARING AID FOR PLACEMENT AT AN EAR OF A USER
    Publication number: 20200084556
    Abstract: This disclosure relates to a hearing aid for placement on head of a user comprising a first second part. The first part may comprise an acoustic input transducer adapted to convert ambient sound picked up at the ear of the user to an electric signal, a signal processor adapted to process the electric signal according to specifications of user into a processed electric signal, and an output transducer adapted to covert the processed electric signal into a transmission signal. The second part may comprise an anchor adapted to fixate said second part under the skin to skull bone of the user, and a receiver adapted to receive the transmission signal and convert the transmission signal to an output signal perceivable as sound by the user. The first part may comprise an inner recess adapted to receive an insert element, where the insert element may comprise a first magnet adapted to in cooperation with the second part to cause the first part to attach to the head of the user.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 13, 2019
    Publication date: March 12, 2020
    Applicant: Oticon Medical A/S
    Inventors: Emilie Munk HAAGERUP, Peder Hesselbjerg PEDERSEN, Mads Buur MORTENSEN, Johan ROSENGREN
  • HEARING AID COMPONENT WITH EARWAX FILTER
    Publication number: 20140193012
    Abstract: A hearing aid component with earwax filter is provided, wherein the hearing aid component has a sound inlet opening that has at least two sound inlet portions having different diameters and being displaced with respect to each other in a longitudinal direction of the sound inlet opening so that the sound inlet opening narrows towards the interior of the hearing aid component so that more proximal sound inlet portion has a relatively larger diameter and more distal sound inlet portion has a relatively smaller diameter. The earwax filter is placed in said sound inlet opening and comprises: a cap with an outward-facing and an inward-facing side, and a peripheral edge, said peripheral edge being force-fitted into the sound inlet portion with the relatively larger diameter. The cap has a plurality of sound inlets arranged along the periphery of the cap wherein the sound inlets are arranged along a perimeter of the cap.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 6, 2014
    Publication date: July 10, 2014
    Applicant: Oticon A/S
    Inventors: Martin LINDEBJERG, Dennis PRESUTTI, Jacob Holdt HANSEN
  • Hearing assistance device comprising a location identification unit
    Patent number: 9860650
    Abstract: The application relates to a hearing assistance device adapted for being located in or at a specific one of a left or a right ear of a user, and comprising an input unit for receiving an input signal and an output unit for providing an output signal. The application further relates to a method and to a hearing assistance system. The application aims at providing an improved scheme for detecting left/right placement of a hearing device. The hearing assistance device further comprises a memory unit wherein information about the intended location of the hearing assistance device is or can be stored, a location identification unit configured to extract an intended location from said memory unit, and a user interface configured to convey information related to the intended and/or current location of the hearing assistance device. A user is thus informed, if the hearing assistance device(s) is/are not located as intended.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 24, 2015
    Date of Patent: January 2, 2018
    Assignee: OTICON A/S
    Inventors: Christian C. Bürger, Anja Ravn Madsen, Jesper Krogh Christensen, Mogens Cash Balsby, Morten Christophersen
  • HEARING AID FOR PLACEMENT AT AN EAR OF A USER
    Publication number: 20200382881
    Abstract: This disclosure relates to a hearing aid for placement on head of a user comprising a first second part. The first part may comprise an acoustic input transducer adapted to convert ambient sound picked up at the ear of the user to an electric signal, a signal processor adapted to process the electric signal according to specifications of user into a processed electric signal, and an output transducer adapted to covert the processed electric signal into a transmission signal, The second part may comprise an anchor adapted to fixate said second part under the skin to skull bone of the user, and a receiver adapted to receive the transmission signal and convert the transmission signal to an output signal perceivable as sound by the user. The first part may comprise an inner recess adapted to receive an insert element, where the insert element may comprise a first magnet adapted to in cooperation with the second part to cause the first part to attach to the head of the user.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 17, 2020
    Publication date: December 3, 2020
    Applicant: Oticon Medical A/S
    Inventors: Emilie Munk HAAGERUP, Peder Hesselbjerg PEDERSEN, Mads Buur MORTENSEN, Johan ROSENGREN
  • Method for operating a hearing system, hearing system and audio gateway devices
    Patent number: 8494198
    Abstract: A body-worn audio gateway device transmitting audio signals comprised in close-range electromagnetic signals may be used outside a car, where it may provide for hands-free mobile telephony and listening to music streamed directly to hearing devices worn by a user. When the user enters the car, he or she may want to use a corresponding in-car audio gateway device for the same purposes. This typically requires manual interaction e.g. to trigger the switch-over and to maintain hands-free operation of a carried mobile phone. Furthermore, the audio gateway devices may disturb each other, which may lead to malfunction, more troublesome interaction and/or reduced audio quality. To overcome this, the invention foresees means for detecting when the user enters and/or leaves the car and for automatically disabling functions of the first audio gateway device when the user is in the car.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 7, 2011
    Date of Patent: July 23, 2013
    Assignee: Oticon A/S
    Inventors: Gabriel Aldaz, Tobias Toft, Rune Bøttzauw
  • Online anti-feedback system for a hearing aid
    Patent number: 8923540
    Abstract: A hearing aid system may include an ear-mould for a child, an output transducer, and an electrical feedback path. A forward path includes a signal processor that modifies an electrical input signal to a specific hearing profile over a predefined frequency range which includes a number of frequency bands. Maximum forward gain values IGmax for each band are stored in a memory, restricting loop gain to a predetermined value in each band. The hearing aid system further includes a relatively slow online feedback manager unit configured to, with a predefined update frequency, identify current feedback gain in each frequency band, and to subsequently adapt the maximum forward gain values IGmax in each of the frequency bands in accordance with a predefined scheme. The feedback manager unit is thus reduces the risk of howling by decreasing the maximum forward gain values IGmax in said ear-mould for a child.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 21, 2013
    Date of Patent: December 30, 2014
    Assignee: Oticon A/S
    Inventors: Jesper Bünsow Boldt, Thomas Bo Elmedyb
  • BINAURAL LEVEL AND/OR GAIN ESTIMATOR AND A HEARING SYSTEM COMPRISING A BINAURAL LEVEL AND/OR GAIN ESTIMATOR
    Publication number: 20180295456
    Abstract: A binaural hearing system comprises A) left and right hearing devices, each comprising a1) an input unit providing an electric input signal representing sound; and a2) an output unit, B) a binaural level and/or gain estimator comprising b1) left and right level estimators, each comprising respective fast and slow level estimators configured to provide respective fast and slow level estimates of respective electric input signals, b2) a fast binaural level comparison unit receiving the fast level estimates of the respective left and right fast level estimators and providing a fast binaural level comparison estimate; and b3) a fast binaural level and/or gain enhancer providing respective left and right binaural level and/or gain modification estimates, in dependence of said fast binaural level comparison estimate at said left and right ears, respectively, of the user. The binaural hearing system provides that the interaural level cues are either compressed, maintained or enhanced independent of each other.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 5, 2018
    Publication date: October 11, 2018
    Applicant: Oticon A/S
    Inventor: Lars BRAMSLØW
  • Method and anastomotic instrument for use when performing an end-to-side anastomosis
    Patent number: 5993468
    Abstract: When performing an end-to-side anastomosis connecting the end of a first vessel to the edge region around an opening in the side wall of a second vessel, an instrument is used having a circumferential stapling anvil secured to an anvil tube accommodating the first vessel, the end of which is everted about the anvil with the intima of the end region facing the intima of the edge region, when the instrument with the first vessel in place has been inserted into the opening in the second vessel. Then, a clamping tube is advanced towards the anvil, clamping the end and edge region together against the anvil. In the next step, a number of stapling plungers carrying staples are advanced towards the anvil, the latter having staple-bending surfaces, thus stapling the two vessels together in a manner not shown. Finally, the clamping tube and the stapling plungers are withdrawn, and the whole instrument removed from the anastomosis.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 17, 1998
    Date of Patent: November 30, 1999
    Assignees: Oticon A/S, Bernafon AG
    Inventor: J.o slashed.rgen A. Rygaard
  • Hearing aid comprising a directional microphone system
    Patent number: 10327078
    Abstract: A hearing aid comprises a BTE-part adapted for being located behind an ear (ear) of a user, and comprising a) a multitude M of microphones, which—when located behind the ear of the user—are characterized by respective transfer functions, HBTEi(?, ?, r, k), representative of propagation of sound from sound sources S to the respective microphones b) a memory unit comprising complex, frequency dependent constants Wi(k)?, i=1, . . . , M, c) a beamformer filtering unit for providing a beamformed signal Y as a weighted combination of the microphone signals using said complex, frequency dependent constants The frequency dependent constants are determined to provide a resulting transfer function Hpinna(?,?,r,k)=?i=1MWi(k)·HBTEi(?,?,r,k), so that a difference between the resulting transfer function Hpinna(?, ?, r, k) and a transfer function HITE(?, ?, r, k) of a microphone located close to or in the ear canal fulfills a predefined criterion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 7, 2017
    Date of Patent: June 18, 2019
    Assignee: Oticon A/S
    Inventors: Michael Syskind Pedersen, Andreas Thelander Bertelsen
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