Method of deriving individualized gain compensation curves for hearing aid fitting

1. A method of deriving individual gain compensation curves for hearing aid fitting, comprising:

providing a hardware and software system that detects, measures and records head azimuth for sound direction affirmation by a patient;

establishing thresholds-of-hearing levels of the patient comprising:

providing a user interface coupled to the system for allowing user input during at least one hearing test;

providing pulsing tones to the ears of the patient, with each frequency of the pulsing tones for each ear being individually swept with ever decreasing intensity;

allowing the patient to use the user interface to indicate to the system when the pulsing tones are no longer heard; and

recording the pulsing tone level for each ear of the patient when the patient uses the user interface to indicate to the system when the pulsing tones are no longer heard;

providing a plurality of audio signals through a plurality of test sequences to the ears of the patient, wherein the plurality of test sequences comprise:

establishing binaural balance for right and left ears of the patient comprising;

measuring an equal-loudness level by providing a first tone with a first sound pressure level to one ear of the patient and a second tone with a second sound pressure level to the other ear of the patient and varying the first and second sound pressure levels according to azimuth head motion; and

instructing the patient to turn their head until the first tone is perceived to be equal to or balanced with the second tone between both ears of the patient; and

generating at least two data points for each ear corresponding to the measured equal-loudness level with each data point of the at least two data points taken at different SPLs.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising establishing a comfortable listening level of the patient and adjusting an average sound pressure level for the plurality of test sequences to the right and left ears of the patient to the comfortable listening level.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein establishing the binaural balance further comprises setting the average of the first and second tones to an alternate comfort setting.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising establishing a level louder than the comfortable listening level of the patient and adjusting an average sound pressure level for the plurality of test sequences to the right and left ears of the patient to the level louder than the comfortable listening level.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein establishing the binaural balance further comprises setting the average of the first and second tones to an alternate comfort setting.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising alternating the tone between the left and right ears of the patient to reduce listening fatigue.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising generating a binaural balanced measurement array of measured equal-loudness levels from the at least two data points that includes a binaurally balanced equal-loudness contour at a comfortable listening level of the patient.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein generating the binaural balanced measurement array further comprises limiting each of the different SPLs by a measured loudness discomfort level and a measured threshold of hearing level of the patient.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising excluding the tones from the binaurally balanced measurements if the tone is outside the patient's range of hearing perception for either ear.

10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising adjusting a speech volume for test taking instructions of the system to the established comfortable listening level.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein measurements and data collected during the plurality of test sequences are left and right coordinated so that any minor independent adjustments made for gain compensation curves for one ear are dependently reflected in adjustments for gain compensation curves made for the other ear.

12. A method of deriving individual gain compensation curves for hearing aid fitting, comprising:

providing a hardware and software system that detects, measures and records head azimuth for sound direction affirmation by a patient;

establishing loudness discomfort levels of the patient comprising:

providing a user interface coupled to the system for allowing user input during at least one hearing test; and

providing continuous tones to the ears of the patient, with each frequency of the continuous tones for each ear being individually swept with ever increasing intensity;

allowing the patient to use the user interface to indicate to the system when the volume becomes uncomfortably loud; and

recording the pulsing tone level for each ear of the patient when the patient uses the user interface to indicate to the system when the pulsing tones are no longer heard;

providing a plurality of audio signals through a plurality of test sequences to the ears of the patient, wherein the plurality of test sequences comprise:

establishing binaural balance for right and left ears of the patient comprising;

measuring an equal-loudness level by providing a first tone with a first sound pressure level to one ear of the patient and a second tone with a second sound pressure level to the other ear of the patient and varying the first and second sound pressure levels according to azimuth head motion; and

instructing the patient to turn their head until the first tone is perceived to be equal to or balanced with the second tone between both ears of the patient; and

generating at least two data points for each ear corresponding to the measured equal-loudness level with each data point of the at least two data points taken at different SPLs.

13. The method of claim 12 , further comprising establishing a comfortable listening level of the patient and adjusting an average sound pressure level for the plurality of test sequences to the right and left ears of the patient to the comfortable listening level.

14. The method of claim 12 , further comprising establishing a level louder than the comfortable listening level of the patient and adjusting an average sound pressure level for the plurality of test sequences to the right and left ears of the patient to the level louder than the comfortable listening level.

15. The method of claim 12 , further comprising alternating the first and second tones between the left and right ears of the patient to reduce listening fatigue.

16. The method of claim 12 , wherein establishing the binaural balance further comprises setting the average of the first and second tones to an alternate comfort setting.

17. The method of claim 12 , wherein establishing the binaural balance further comprises setting the average of the first and second tones to an alternate comfort setting.

18. The method of claim 12 , further comprising generating a binaural balanced measurement array of measured equal-loudness levels from the at least two data points that includes a binaurally balanced equal-loudness contour at a comfortable listening level of the patient.

19. The method of claim 18 , wherein generating the binaural balanced measurement array further comprises limiting each of the different SPLs by a measured loudness discomfort level and a measured threshold of hearing level of the patient.

20. A method of deriving individual gain compensation curves for hearing aid fitting, comprising:

providing a hardware and software system that detects, measures and records head azimuth for sound direction affirmation by a patient;

establishing binaural balance for right and left ears of the patient comprising;

measuring the equal-loudness levels by providing a first tone to one ear of the patient and a second tone at a different frequency to the other ear of the patient with the SPL of the ear receiving the first tone being fixed and varying the SPL of the second tone according to azimuth head motion;

instructing the patient to turn their head until the sound is perceived to be balanced in both ears; and

recording the SPL of the second tone when the sound is perceived to be balanced in both ears; and

providing a plurality of audio signals through a plurality of test sequences to the ears of the patient, wherein the plurality of test sequences comprise:

establishing binaural balance for right and left ears of the patient comprising;

measuring an equal-loudness level by providing a first tone with a first sound pressure level to one ear of the patient and a second tone with a second sound pressure level to the other ear of the patient and varying the first and second sound pressure levels according to azimuth head motion; and

instructing the patient to turn their head until the first tone is perceived to be equal to or balanced with the second tone between both ears of the patient; and

generating at least two data points for each ear corresponding to the measured equal-loudness level with each data point of the at least two data points taken at different SPLs.

21. The method of claim 20 , further comprising establishing a comfortable listening level of the patient and adjusting an average sound pressure level for the plurality of test sequences to the right and left ears of the patient to the comfortable listening level.

22. The method of claim 20 , further comprising establishing a level louder than the comfortable listening level of the patient and adjusting an average sound pressure level for the plurality of test sequences to the right and left ears of the patient to the level louder than the comfortable listening level.

23. The method of claim 20 , further comprising alternating the first and second tones between the left and right ears of the patient to reduce listening fatigue.

24. The method of claim 20 , wherein establishing the binaural balance further comprises setting the average of the first and second tones to an alternate comfort setting.

25. The method of claim 20 , further comprising generating a binaural balanced measurement array of measured equal-loudness levels from the at least two data points that includes a binaurally balanced equal-loudness contour at a comfortable listening level of the patient.

26. The method of claim 25 , wherein generating the binaural balanced measurement array further comprises limiting each of the different SPLs by a measured loudness discomfort level and a measured threshold of hearing level of the patient.

27. The method of claim 20 , further comprising excluding the tones from the binaurally balanced measurements if the tone is outside the patient's range of hearing perception for either ear.

28. The method of claim 20 , further comprising adjusting a speech volume for test taking instructions of the system to the established comfortable listening level.

29. The method of claim 20 , wherein measurements and data collected during the plurality of test sequences are left and right coordinated so that any minor independent adjustments made for gain compensation curves for one ear are dependently reflected in adjustments for gain compensation curves made for the other ear.

30. A method of deriving individual gain compensation curves for hearing aid fitting, comprising:

providing a hardware and software system that detects, measures and records head azimuth for sound direction affirmation by a patient;

providing a plurality of audio signals through a plurality of test sequences to the ears of the patient, wherein the plurality of test sequences comprise:

establishing binaural balance for right and left ears of the patient comprising;

measuring an equal-loudness level by providing a first tone with a first sound pressure level to one ear of the patient and a second tone with a second sound pressure level to the other ear of the patient and varying the first and second sound pressure levels according to azimuth head motion; and

instructing the patient to turn their head until the first tone is perceived to be equal to or balanced with the second tone between both ears of the patient;

generating at least two data points for each ear corresponding to the measured equal-loudness level with each data point of the at least two data points taken at different SPLs;

providing at least one practice session that includes localization practice comprising instructing the patient to practice precise localization with a tone by turning the head of the patient until the tone is balanced in both ears or until the patient perceives that the he/she is facing a source of the tone and monitoring the head movement of the patient during the localization practice; and

continuing the localization practice until the average azimuth position and corresponding SPL for each ear for the last one second of collected data is approximately equal to the two preceding one second averages.

31. The method of claim 30 , further comprising establishing a comfortable listening level of the patient and adjusting an average sound pressure level for the plurality of test sequences to the right and left ears of the patient to the comfortable listening level.

32. The method of claim 30 , further comprising establishing a level louder than the comfortable listening level of the patient and adjusting an average sound pressure level for the plurality of test sequences to the right and left ears of the patient to the level louder than the comfortable listening level.

33. The method of claim 30 , further comprising alternating the first and second tones between the left and right ears of the patient to reduce listening fatigue.

34. The method of claim 30 , wherein establishing the binaural balance further comprises setting the average of the first and second tones to an alternate comfort setting.

35. The method of claim 30 , further comprising generating a binaural balanced array measurement of measured equal-loudness levels from the at least two data points that includes a binaurally balanced equal-loudness contour at a comfortable listening level of the patient.

36. The method of claim 35 , wherein generating the binaural balanced measurement array further comprises limiting each of the different SPLs by a measured loudness discomfort level and a measured threshold of hearing level of the patient.

37. The method of claim 30 , further comprising excluding the tones from the binaurally balanced measurements if the tone is outside the patient's range of hearing perception for either ear.

38. The method of claim 30 , further comprising adjusting a speech volume for test taking instructions of the system to the established comfortable listening level.

39. The method of claim 30 , wherein measurements and data collected during the plurality of test sequences are left and right coordinated so that any minor independent adjustments made for gain compensation curves for one ear are dependently reflected in adjustments for gain compensation curves made for the other ear.