The present disclosure provides methods and systems for detecting the state of a bone conduction hearing device. The bone conduction hearing device comprises at least a microphone, a speaker, a feedback analysis unit, and a signal processing unit. The speaker may generate a third sound based on a first signal, wherein the first signal may be generated by the signal processing unit. The microphone may receive the third sound and generate a feedback signal. The feedback analysis unit may determine a feedback path transfer function from the speaker to the microphone based on the feedback signal and the first signal, obtain at least one preset feedback path transfer function, and compare the feedback path transfer function and the at least one preset feedback path transfer function. The signal processing unit may determine the state of the bone conduction hearing device based on a comparison result.

A hearing system to activate an auditory system using cerebrospinal fluids includes at least one processor configured to receive an audio signal captured using a sound sensor (e.g., a microphone), extract temporal and spectral features from the audio signal, and create modulated ultrasound signals in a range of 20 Hz to 20 kHz with ultrasound carrier frequencies in the range of 50 kHz to 4 MHz, which are ultrasound frequencies that are well-suited to reach the cerebrospinal fluids (e.g., can pass across the skull/bones to reach the cerebrospinal fluids). The system further includes at least one ultrasonic transducer which receives the modulated signal and delivers the modulated signal to the body and activates the auditory system via vibration of cerebrospinal fluids that vibrate cochlear fluids, bypassing the normal conductive pathway that uses middle ear bones and minimizing bone conduction and distortion through the skull.

A system for selectively amplifying audio signals may include a microphone configured to capture sounds from an environment of a user. The system may also include a processor programmed to: receive audio signals representative of the sounds captured by the microphone; cause selective conditioning of at least one audio signal received by the microphone from a region associated with the recognized individual; and cause transmission of the at least one conditioned audio signal to a hearing interface device configured to provide sound to an ear of the user.

A hearing aid includes a) at least one input unit for providing a time-frequency representation Y(k,n) of an electric input signal representing sound consisting of target speech and noise signal components, where k and n are frequency band and time frame indices, respectively, b) a noise reduction system configured to b1) determine an a posteriori signal to noise ratio estimate γ(k,n) of the electric input signal, and to b2) determine an a priori signal to noise signal ratio estimate ζ(k,n) of the electric input signal from the a posteriori signal to noise ratio estimate γ(k,n) based on a recursive algorithm providing non-linear smoothing. The a posteriori signal to noise ratio estimate of said electric input signal is provided as a mixture of first and second different a posteriori signal to noise ratio estimates. The invention may be used in audio processing devices, such as hearing aids, headsets, etc.

A hearing aid system for individual identification of a hearing aid system may include a wearable camera, a microphone, and at least one processor. The processor may be programmed to receive a plurality of images captured by the wearable camera; receive audio signals representative of sounds captured by the microphone; and identify a first audio signal, from among the received audio signals, representative of a voice of a first individual. The processor may transcribe and store, in a memory, text corresponding to speech associated with the voice of the first individual and determine whether the first individual is a recognized individual. If the first individual is a recognized individual, the processor may associate an identifier of the first recognized individual with the stored text corresponding to the speech associated with the voice of the first individual.

The present disclosure relates to a hearing device having a microphone, where most of the microphone is shielded by an outer shielding of the hearing device. An inlet in the outer shielding allows sound from outside the hearing aid to travel to the microphone to be picked up by it. However, the combination of the microphone and the inlet results in the microphone becoming more sensitive at some audible frequencies. A damping filter positioned in connection with the inlet acts to counter the acoustic effect of the inlet by damping sound in the audible frequency range, where the microphone has increased sensitivity.

A system may include a camera configured to capture images from an environment of a user and a microphone configured to capture sounds from an environment of the user. The system may also include a processor programmed to: receive the images; identify a representation of a first individual and a representation of a second individual in the images; receive, from the microphone, a first audio signal associated with a voice of the first individual and a second audio signal associated with a voice of the second individual; detect an amplification criteria indicative of a voice amplification priority between the first individual and the second individual; selectively amplify the first audio signal relative to the second audio signal when the amplification criteria indicates that the first individual has voice amplification priority over the second individual; and cause transmission of the selectively amplified first audio signal to a hearing interface device.

A wearable acoustic device with a microphone is provided. The wearable acoustic device includes a first housing forming a first acoustic emission path, a second housing combined with the first housing in a first direction that is substantially parallel to the first acoustic emission path, an acoustic component part arranged within the second housing and emitting sound through the first acoustic emission path, and at least one microphone arranged adjacent to the first acoustic emission path within the first housing.

A hearing system to activate an auditory system using cerebrospinal fluids includes at least one processor configured to receive an audio signal captured using a sound sensor (e.g., a microphone), extract temporal and spectral features from the audio signal, and create modulated ultrasound signals in a range of 20 Hz to 20 kHz with ultrasound carrier frequencies in the range of 50 kHz to 4 MHz, which are ultrasound frequencies that are well-suited to reach the cerebrospinal fluids (e.g., can pass across the skull/bones to reach the cerebrospinal fluids). The system further includes at least one ultrasonic transducer which receives the modulated signal and delivers the modulated signal to the body and activates the auditory system via vibration of cerebrospinal fluids that vibrate cochlear fluids, bypassing the normal conductive pathway that uses middle ear bones and minimizing bone conduction and distortion through the skull.

Disclosed herein, among other things, are apparatus and methods for tonality-driven feedback canceler adaptation for hearing devices. Various embodiments include a method of signal processing an input signal in a hearing device to mitigate entrainment, the hearing device including a receiver and a microphone. The method includes detecting strength of tonality of the input signal by estimating a second derivative of subband phase of the input signal, and adjusting parameters of an adaptive feedback canceler of the hearing device based on the detected tonality.