Method for transmitting information for adapting a hearing aid and networked computer infrastructure

Abstract

A method for transmitting information for adapting a hearing aid, in which an inquiry with regard to information of a partial process of the adaptation and/or a partial process of an operation of the hearing aid is transmitted by a first participant to a networked computer infrastructure. The inquiry is checked for conformity by the networked computer infrastructure with a plurality of stored partial process instructions. In the event that conformity with the inquiry is ascertained the corresponding partial process instruction is output to the first participant. In the event that no conformity of one of the stored partial process instructions with the inquiry is ascertained, the inquiry is output to a second participant, a partial process instruction corresponding to the inquiry is created with the co-operation of the second participant, and the partial process instruction corresponding to the inquiry is output to the first participant.

Claims

1. A method for transmitting information for adapting a hearing aid, which comprises the steps of: transmitting a request concerning information of a sub-process of an adaptation and/or a sub-process of an operation of the hearing aid by a first participant to a networked computer infrastructure; checking the request via the networked computer infrastructure for compatibility with a plurality of stored sub-process instructions: wherein in an event that compatibility with the request is ascertained, outputting a corresponding sub-process instruction to the first participant; or wherein in an event that no compatibility of any of the stored sub-process instructions with the request is ascertained: outputting the request to a second participant; creating a sub-process instruction corresponding to the request with co-operation of the second participant; outputting the sub-process instruction corresponding to the request to the first participant; and permanently storing the sub-process instruction corresponding to the request in the networked computer infrastructure.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein: a plurality of available participants are registered in the networked computer infrastructure; and the second participant is selected from the plurality of available participants.

3. The method according to claim 2, which further comprises generating an identifier which contains characteristic information about the first participant for identifying the first participant, and/or characteristic information regarding a requested sub-process of the adaptation, upon a transmission of the request to the networked computer infrastructure by the first participant.

4. The method according to claim 3, which further comprises selecting the second participant from the plurality of available participants on a basis of characteristic information of the identifier with regard to the requested sub-process of the adaptation.

5. The method according to claim 4, which further comprises outputting the sub-process instruction corresponding to the request to the first participant on a basis of the identifier.

6. The method according to claim 4, wherein, in the event that the sub-process instruction corresponding to the request is generated by the co-operation of the second participant, before the output of the sub-process instruction to the first participant an output notification is transmitted to the first participant by the networked computer infrastructure.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein the information of the sub-process of the operation, includes information: about a possible duration of use of the hearing aid; and/or about a replacement or insertion of a battery of the hearing aid; and/or about a selection of a mechanical setup of the hearing aid.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein the information of the sub-process of the adaptation, includes information: about a possible progression of a hearing loss; and/or about an adaptation of at least one parameter of the hearing aid to a past progression of a hearing loss.

9. The method according to claim 1, which further comprises outputting the sub-process instruction corresponding to the request as an image file and/or a video file and/or an audio file.

10. A networked computing infrastructure, comprising: a memory for storing a plurality of sub-process instructions; a first access point for entering a request and issuing a response; a second access point for issuing the request and entering a sub-process instruction; a controller for controlling and processing communication between said first access point, said second access point and said memory, wherein the networked computer infrastructure is configured for carrying out a method for transmitting information for adapting a hearing aid, which comprises the steps of: transmitting a request concerning information of a sub-process of an adaptation and/or a sub-process of an operation of the hearing aid by a first participant to the networked computer infrastructure; checking the request by the networked computer infrastructure for compatibility with the plurality of sub-process instructions: wherein in an event that compatibility with the request is ascertained, outputting a corresponding sub-process instruction to the first participant; or wherein in an event that no compatibility of any of the stored sub-process instructions with the request is ascertained: outputting the request to a second participant; creating a sub-process instruction corresponding to the request with co-operation of the second participant; outputting the sub-process instruction corresponding to the request to the first participant; and permanently storing the sub-process instruction corresponding to the request in said memory.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

(1) The sole FIGURE is a schematic block diagram of a method for transmitting information for adapting a hearing aid according to the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

(2) Referring now to the sole FIGURE of the drawing in detail, there is shown a schematic block diagram of a method by means of which a first participant 1 can obtain information concerning the adaptation of a hearing aid 2 using a networked computer infrastructure 4. The first participant 1 is a medical-technical staff member without specific audiological training, for example a medical-technical assistant or a nurse. The first participant 1 now performs the adaptation of the hearing aid 2 for a user 6 of the hearing aid 2. In particular, this includes collecting audiometric data on the hearing capacity and, where appropriate, on a hearing loss of the user 6 and using these data to change the corresponding settings for a signal processor in the hearing aid 2 according to the requirements of the user 6. Furthermore, the adaptation process also includes a mechanical adaptation of the hearing aid 2 to an ear of the user 6, and in particular to the auditory canal, for example by the correct selection of an acoustic coupling piece (such as an earmold) and, if necessary, an additional, individual adaptation of the shape of the acoustic coupling piece.

(3) If the first participant 1 now has a specific question regarding a sub-process 8 of the adaptation, as may relate, for example, to the described individual shape of the acoustic coupling piece or else to matching a specific parameter in the signal processing of the hearing device 2 to the corresponding audiometric data of the user 6, without an answer to which the participant cannot continue the adaptation at least in this sub-process 8 and possibly in further sub-processes 10 which depend on the sub-process 8, he/she can obtain information regarding the sub-process 8 via the networked computer infrastructure 4 in the manner described below.

(4) The networked computing infrastructure 4 is provided in this case by a cloud service. The first participant 1 now transmits a request 14 concerning the sub-process 8 via a data link 12, which at the end belonging to the first participant 1 can also include appropriate means of input, such as a keyboard and a display screen. At the time it enters the networked computer infrastructure, the request 14 is then firstly assigned an identifier 16, which in particular later enables the assignment of the request 14 to the first participant 1, and may also contain characteristic information regarding the content of the request 14. For this purpose, for example, the request 14 can be examined in a standardized manner for specific key terms stored in a catalog database 18 of the networked computer infrastructure 4, and a corresponding key term can be incorporated into the identifier 16.

(5) The request 14 and/or the key terms contained therein are then used for searching in a database 20 of the networked computer infrastructure 4, in which a plurality of video and audio files 22 containing instructions on the various sub-processes are stored. If a match is found between the sub-process 8 relating to the request 14 and a specific audio or video file 22a in the database 20 on the basis of the request 14 or the key terms contained therein, this multimedia file 22a, which contains the sub-process instruction 24 corresponding to the request 14, is output directly via the data link 12 to the first participant 1.

(6) However, if the search of the database 20 of the networked computer infrastructure 4 fails to find a multimedia file 22 which corresponds to the sub-process 8 of the request 14 or has the sub-process as its subject, then such a multimedia file is generated in the following manner. A plurality of available participants 26 is registered in a creator database 25 of the networked computer infrastructure 4. The available participants 26 in this case are in the form of audiologists and/or hearing aid acousticians. On the basis of additional expertise data about the available participants 26, which are stored in the creator database 25, a specific second participant 28, who due to their known expertise is optimally suited for the request 14 for the specific sub-process 8, can now be selected.

(7) Once the second participant 28 is selected, a check is made as to whether he/she is able to accept the request 14 at this time, in particular whether a data link 29 exists from the networked computer infrastructure 4 to the second participant 28. If this is the case, the second participant 28 will accept the request 14. If this is not the case, another available participant 26 in the creator database 25 can be specified as the second participant, and their connection to the networked computer infrastructure 4 can be checked.

(8) The second participant 28 then creates a multimedia file 22b, which contains the sub-process instruction 24 for the sub-process 8 which was the subject of the request 14 of the first participant 1. The multimedia file 22b created in this way is then added to the database 20 and is also output to the first participant 1 via the data link 12 based on the identifier 16. In addition, a notification 30 about a successful creation of the multimedia file 22b with the sub-process instruction 24 requested by the first participant 1 can be issued to the first participant 1 in advance. This allows the first participant 1 to download the relevant multimedia file 22b from the networked computer infrastructure 4 in a targeted manner, so that the multimedia file 22b does not have to be continuously pushed to the first participant 1.

(9) Although the invention has been illustrated and described in detail using the preferred exemplary embodiment, the invention is not limited by this exemplary embodiment. Other variations can be derived from this by the person skilled in the art without departing from the scope of protection of the invention.

(10) The following is a summary list of reference numerals and the corresponding structure used in the above description of the invention: 1 first participant 2 hearing aid 4 networked computer infrastructure 6 user 8 sub-process 10 sub-process 12 data link 14 request 16 identifier 18 catalog database 20 database 22 multimedia file 22a, b multimedia file 24 sub-process instruction 25 creator database 26 available participant 28 second participant 29 data link 30 notification