AUTOMATIC DIRECTIONAL SWITCHING ALGORITHM FOR HEARING AIDS

摘要

Described herein is a technique by which a hearing may automatically switch between a directional microphone mode and an omnidirectional microphone mode base upon an estimate of the noise floor as derived from the input signal. A minimum statistics estimator may be used to estimate the noise floor.

主权项

1. A hearing aid, comprising:
an input transducer for converting an audio input into an input signal, wherein the input transducer may be operated in either an omnidirectional or directional mode; a digital signal processor (DSP) for processing the input signal into an output signal in a manner that compensates for a patient's hearing deficit; an audio amplifier and speaker for converting the output signal into an audio output; wherein the DSP is configured to: derive a current noise floor from the input signal; operate the input transducer in a directional mode if the current noise floor is greater than an upper threshold value; and, operate the input transducer in an omnidirectional mode if the current noise floor is less than a lower threshold value.