BIOMIMETIC DIRECTIONAL MICROPHONE FOR HEARING AIDS

项目简介(根据申请者摘要)：拟议的努力将导致新的原型设备，这将极大地改善听力障碍者的生活。助听器佩戴者的主要抱怨之一是，他们在嘈杂的环境中很难理清语音。为了解决这个问题，助听器研究界研究了定向阵列技术，该技术将倾向于衰减从助听器用户后面到达的声音。虽然这些设备可以显著提高语音清晰度，但它们通常要求用户佩戴通过电线连接的多个麦克风，这在美观上是不可接受的，或者必须将麦克风合并到眼镜框中。更可取和实用的方法是将阵列(可能只由两个麦克风组成)集成到现有的入耳式或管内助听器的结构中。这样的装置可以增强对来自后方的声音的拒绝，而不是耳廓提供的声音。本研究使用一种新颖的、高度创新的方法来开发一种定向助听器麦克风，该麦克风完全依靠一种独特的被动机械结构来实现其方向性。与以前的解决该问题的尝试相比，该方法提供了显著的优势，1)减少了对电子信号处理的依赖，因此，具有通过降低功率消耗而显著延长电池寿命的潜力，以及2)利用硅微机械加工技术，该技术便于在非常小的封装中集成机械传感和处理设备以及电子电路。开发小型定向接收器的问题在本质上已经得到了广泛的解决。通过应用在自然生物系统中使用的原理，将有可能开发出实用的定向助听器。在这项拟议的研究中，将利用最近发现的昆虫用于声源定位的机制来开发适用于助听器的定向麦克风原型。工业合作将提供技术援助，并将确保所产生的设备满足可制造性和包装限制。为了促进可投入生产的设备的开发，将在桑迪亚国家实验室开发一个原型制造运行，然后将交付给行业合作者。

Description of Project (as per applicant abstract): The proposed effort will lead to novel prototype devices which will greatly improve the lives of those who are hearing impaired. One of the primary complaints of hearing aid wearers is that they have significant difficulty sorting out speech in noisy environments. In an attempt to address this, the hearing aid research community has examined directional array technology which would tend to attenuate the sounds arriving from behind the hearing aid users. While these devices can provide a significant improvement in speech intelligibility, they often require the user to wear a number of microphones connected through wires, which is cosmetically unacceptable or the microphones must be incorporated into the frames of eyeglasses. A much more desirable and practical approach is to incorporate an array (possibly composed of only two microphones) within the structure of an existing in-the-ear or in- the-canal hearing aid. Such a device could provide an enhanced rejection of sounds from the rear beyond that provided by the pinna. The present study uses a novel, highly innovative approach to develop a directional hearing aid microphone which relies entirely on a unique, passive mechanical structure to achieve its directionality. The approach provides significant advantages over previous attempts to solve this problem by 1) reducing the reliance on electronic signal processing and, as a result, has the potential of significantly increasing battery life by reducing power consumption and 2) utilizing the technology of silicon micromachining which facilitates the integration of mechanical sensing and processing devices along with electronic circuits in a very small package. The problem of developing small directional receivers has been addressed extensively in nature. By applying the principles used in natural, biological systems, it will be possible to develop practical directional hearing aids. In the proposed study, recently discovered mechanisms that are used by insects for sound source localization will be utilized in order to develop prototype directional microphones suitable for use in hearing aids. Industrial collaboration will provide technical assistance and will ensure that the resulting device satisfies manufacturability and packaging constraints. In order to facilitate the development of a production-ready device, a prototype fabrication run will be developed at Sandia National Laboratories which will then be passed on to the industrial collaborators.