Hearing Device and Method for Tuning Hearing Device Parameters

Content Provider	The Lens
Abstract	A method includes: initializing a model comprising a parameterized objective function based on first and second assumption on the objective function; obtaining an initial test setting; assigning the initial test setting as a primary test setting; obtaining a secondary test setting based on the model; outputting a primary test signal according to the primary test setting; outputting a secondary test signal according to the secondary test setting; obtaining a user input of a preferred test setting indicative of a preference for either the primary test setting or the secondary test setting; updating the model based on the primary test setting, the secondary test setting, and the preferred test setting; and in accordance with a determination that a tuning criterion is satisfied, updating at least one of hearing device parameters of a hearing device based on hearing device parameter(s) of the preferred test setting.
Related Links	https://www.lens.org/lens/patent/011-453-948-066-217/frontpage
Language	English
Publisher Date	2019-05-30
Access Restriction	Open
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Patent
Jurisdiction	United States of America
Date Applied	2018-11-19
Applicant	Gn Hearing As
Application No.	201816195836
Claim	A method for tuning hearing device parameters of a hearing device, the method comprising: initializing a model comprising a parameterized objective function based on a first assumption and a second assumption on the objective function; obtaining an initial test setting defined by one or more initial test hearing device parameters; assigning the initial test setting as a primary test setting; obtaining a secondary test setting based on the model, the secondary test setting defined by one or more secondary test hearing device parameters; outputting a primary test signal according to the primary test setting; outputting a secondary test signal according to the secondary test setting; obtaining a user input of a preferred test setting indicative of a preference for either the primary test setting or the secondary test setting; updating the model based on the primary test setting, the secondary test setting, and the preferred test setting; and in accordance with a determination that a tuning criterion is satisfied, updating at least one of the hearing device parameters of the hearing device based on hearing device parameter(s) of the preferred test setting. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising: updating the primary test setting with the preferred test setting; and updating the secondary test setting based on the updated mode The method according to claim 2 , wherein the primary test signal is outputted after the primary test setting is updated, and wherein the secondary test signal is outputted after the secondary test setting is updated. The method according to claim 2 , further comprising: outputting an additional primary test signal according to the updated primary test setting; outputting an additional secondary test signal according to the updated secondary test setting; detecting an additional user input of an additional preferred test setting indicative of a preference for either the updated primary test setting or the updated secondary test setting; and updating the model based on the updated primary test setting, the updated secondary test setting, and the additional preferred test setting. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising determining if a continue-optimization criterion is satisfied. The method according to claim 5 , further comprising, in accordance with the continue-optimization criterion being satisfied: updating the primary test setting with the preferred test setting; and updating the secondary test setting based on the updated mode The method according to claim 6 , further comprising repeating the act of updating the primary test setting, and the act of updating the secondary test setting. The method according to claim 6 , wherein the primary test signal is outputted after the primary test setting is updated, and wherein the secondary test signal is outputted after the secondary test setting is updated. The method according to claim 6 , further comprising: outputting an additional primary test signal according to the updated primary test setting; outputting an additional secondary test signal according to the updated secondary test setting; and detecting an additional user input of an additional preferred test setting indicative of a preference for either the updated primary test setting or the updated secondary test setting. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the first assumption is that the objective function is a smooth function. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the second assumption is that the objective function is unimoda The method according to claim 1 , wherein the objective function ƒ {circumflex over (X)},Λ (X) is given by: ƒ {circumflex over (X)},Λ ( X )=−(( X−{circumflex over (X)} ) T Λ( X−{circumflex over (X)} )) p , where X is a D-dimensional vector in the hypercube [0, 1] D that represents the hearing device parameters, {circumflex over (X)} is a maximizing argument of ƒ {circumflex over (X)},Λ , Λ is a positive definite D×D scaling matrix, D is an integer less than 20, and p is a real-valued exponent in a range from 0.01 to 0.99. The method according to claim 12 , wherein the objective function ƒ {circumflex over (X)},Λ (X) is given by: ƒ {circumflex over (X)},Λ ( X )=−√{square root over (( X−{circumflex over (X)} ) T Λ( X−{circumflex over (X)} ))} The method according to claim 12 , wherein the maximizing argument {circumflex over (X)} is constrained by assumptions on the objective function ƒ {circumflex over (X)},Λ , wherein the assumptions are defined by: {circumflex over (X)} =Φ( {circumflex over (Z)} ), with {circumflex over (Z)} ˜ (μ,Σ), where Φ({circumflex over (Z)})=∫ −∞ {circumflex over (Z)} (x| 0, 1)dx is a cumulative density function of a normal distribution, and {circumflex over (Z)} is a sample from the normal distribution with mean vector μ and covariance matrix Σ. The method according to claim 12 , wherein the positive definite scaling matrix Λ is constrained by assumptions: Λ=diagm(λ 1 , . . . ,λ D ), λ d ˜Gamma( k d ,θ d ), where λ d is a sample from a Gamma distribution with shape and scale parameters k d and θ d , respectively. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the act of obtaining the initial test setting comprises randomly selecting a first initial test hearing device parameter of the one or more initial test hearing device parameters, or selecting one or more current hearing device parameters as the one or more initial test hearing device parameters. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the secondary test setting is obtained as a sampling from a posterior distribution p({circumflex over (X)}|data) over a maximizing argument of the objective function, wherein the posterior distribution is conditioned on previously obtained user input. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising prompting a user for the user input. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the model is updated based on a Bayesian or approximate Bayesian inference method. A hearing device comprising: a set of microphones comprising a first microphone; a processor coupled to the microphones, the processor configured to process input signals according to one or more hearing device parameters, and to provide an electrical output signal based on the input signals; a user interface; and a receiver configured to provide an audio output signal based on the electrical output signal; wherein the processor is configured to: initialize a model comprising a parameterized objective function based on a first assumption and a second assumption on the objective function; obtain an initial test setting defined by one or more initial test hearing device parameters; assign the initial test setting as a primary test setting; obtain a secondary test setting based on the model, the secondary test setting defined by one or more secondary test hearing device parameters; output a primary test signal according to the primary test setting via the receiver; output a secondary test signal according to the secondary test setting via the receiver; obtain a user input of a preferred test setting indicative of a preference for either the primary test setting or the secondary test setting; update the model based on the primary test setting, the secondary test setting, and the preferred test setting; and in accordance with a determination that a tuning criterion is satisfied, update at least one of the one or more hearing device parameters of the hearing device based on hearing device parameter(s) of the preferred test setting.
CPC Classification	LOUDSPEAKERS; MICROPHONES; GRAMOPHONE PICK-UPS OR LIKE ACOUSTIC ELECTROMECHANICAL TRANSDUCERS;DEAF-AID SETS;PUBLIC ADDRESS SYSTEMS
Extended Family	133-492-787-417-519 163-562-104-593-257 180-345-292-037-594 001-202-949-074-404 011-453-948-066-217 163-790-442-699-067 039-728-029-677-195 097-129-109-934-584 008-837-762-778-640 176-799-059-648-657
Patent ID	20190166440
Inventor/Author	De Vries Aalbert Kraak Joris Cox Marcus Gerardus Hermanus
IPC	H04R25/00
Status	Active
Owner	Gn Hearing A/s
Simple Family	133-492-787-417-519 163-562-104-593-257 180-345-292-037-594 001-202-949-074-404 011-453-948-066-217 163-790-442-699-067 039-728-029-677-195 097-129-109-934-584 008-837-762-778-640 176-799-059-648-657
CPC (with Group)	H04R25/30 H04R25/70 H04R25/505 H04R25/558 H04R2225/43
Issuing Authority	United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)
Kind	Patent Application Publication