Device, method, and program for adjustment of hearing aid

1. An adjustment device for a hearing aid, comprising:

an acoustic transducer section for collecting ambient sounds and outputting an audio signal;

an audio extraction section for utilizing information of a phoneme or syllable contained in the audio signal to output time information, the time information identifying a point in time of uttering the phoneme or syllable;

an electroencephalogram measurement section for measuring an electroencephalogram signal of a user;

a hearing determination section for determining a difficulty of hearing of the phoneme or syllable by relying on an event-related potential based on the identified point of uttering the phoneme or syllable as a starting point, the event-related potential being acquired from the electroencephalogram signal measured by the electroencephalogram measurement section;

a phoneme identification section for, when a plurality of phonemes or syllables are determined by the hearing determination section as difficult to hear, identifying a phoneme or syllable closest to a beginning among the plurality of phonemes or syllables to be difficult to hear; and

a gain adjustment section for, with respect to the phoneme or syllable identified by the phoneme identification section, determining a gain adjustment method based on a type of the phoneme or syllable, and adjusting a gain of the outputted audio signal for the phoneme or syllable based on the determined gain adjustment method.

2. The adjustment device of claim 1 , wherein the hearing determination section determines the difficulty of hearing of the phoneme or syllable based on whether a predetermined characteristic component is contained in an event-related potential at 800 ms±100 ms since the point of uttering the phoneme or syllable as a starting point.

3. The adjustment device of claim 2 , wherein the electroencephalogram measurement section measures the electroencephalogram signal by utilizing an electrode adapted to be placed in a neighborhood of Pz of the user according to the International 10-20 system.

4. The adjustment device of claim 3 , wherein the hearing determination section determines that the phoneme or syllable is difficult to hear when a positive component is contained in the event-related potential.

5. The adjustment device of claim 2 , wherein the electroencephalogram measurement section measures the electroencephalogram signal by using an electrode adapted to be placed in a neighborhood of Cz of the user according to the International 10-20 system.

6. The adjustment device of claim 5 , wherein the hearing determination section determines that the phoneme or syllable is difficult to hear when a negative component is contained in the event-related potential.

7. An adjustment device for a hearing aid, comprising:

an audio extraction section for outputting time information by utilizing information of a phoneme or syllable contained in an audio signal of an ambient sound collected by an acoustic transducer section for collecting ambient sounds, the time information identifying a point in time of uttering the phoneme or syllable;

a hearing determination section for determining a difficulty of hearing of the phoneme or syllable by relying on an event-related potential based on the identified point of uttering the phoneme or syllable as a starting point, the event-related potential being acquired from an electroencephalogram signal of a user measured by an electroencephalogram measurement section for measuring the electroencephalogram signal; and

a phoneme identification section for, when a plurality of phonemes or syllables are determined by the hearing determination section as difficult to hear, identifying a phoneme or syllable closest to a beginning among the plurality of phonemes or syllables to be difficult to hear, wherein

the adjustment device outputs information of the phoneme identified by the phoneme identification section

a gain adjustment section for, with respect to the phoneme or syllable identified by the phoneme identification section, determining a gain adjustment method based on a type of the phoneme or syllable, and adjusting a gain of the outputted audio signal for the phoneme or syllable based on the determined gain adjustment method.

8. The adjustment device of claim 7 , wherein the adjustment device outputs the information of the phoneme identified by the phoneme identification section to a gain adjustment section for adjusting a gain for outputting an audio signal for the phoneme.

9. An adjustment method for a hearing aid, comprising the steps of:

collecting ambient sounds and outputting an audio signal;

utilizing information of a phoneme or syllable contained in the audio signal to output time information, the time information identifying a point in time of uttering the phoneme or syllable;

measuring an electroencephalogram signal of a user;

determining a difficulty of hearing of the phoneme or syllable by relying on an event-related potential based on the identified point of uttering the phoneme or syllable as a starting point, the event-related potential being acquired from the measured electroencephalogram signal;

when a plurality of phonemes or syllables are determined as difficult to hear in the determination step, identifying a phoneme or syllable closest to a beginning among the plurality of phonemes or syllables to be difficult to hear; and

with respect to the identified phoneme or syllable, determining a gain adjustment method based on a type of the phoneme or syllable, and adjusting a gain for outputting an audio signal for the phoneme or syllable based on the determined gain adjustment method.

10. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing a computer program to be executed by a computer for adjustment of a hearing aid, wherein

the computer program causes the computer to execute the steps of: receiving an audio signal of a collect ambient sound; utilizing information of a phoneme or syllable contained in the audio signal to output time information, the time information identifying a point in time of uttering the phoneme or syllable;

receiving a measured electroencephalogram signal of a user; determining a difficulty of hearing of the phoneme or syllable by relying on an event-related potential based on the identified point of uttering the phoneme or syllable as a starting point, the event-related potential being acquired from the electroencephalogram signal;

when a plurality of phonemes or syllables are determined as difficult to hear in the determination step, identifying a phoneme or syllable closest to a beginning among the plurality of phonemes or syllables to be difficult to hear; and

with respect to the identified phoneme or syllable, determining a gain adjustment method based on a type of the phoneme or syllable, and adjusting a gain for outputting an audio signal for the phoneme or syllable based on the determined gain adjustment method.