DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION OF HEARING AIDS USING BLUETOOTH
Wireless hearing aids can use compatible assistive listening devices, often called streamers, to provide a communication link between the wireless technology in the hearing aids and any Bluetooth-enabled device. The wireless hearing aids can either be paired directly to an Apple device or be paired with the streamer, and then the streamer can be paired with external devices. When it’s all set up, the streamer will pick up the Bluetooth signal from your phone.
CHAPTER ONE
1.0 INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE PROJECT
An electronic hearing aid is a small device placed in or around the ear to improve the hearing of those with hearing loss. The basic components of a hearing aid are a microphone, signal conditioning, a receiver also known as a speaker, and a battery. The microphone converts the sound into an electric signal. The signal then undergoes conditioning that can be as simple as amplifying all of the sound equally, to more advanced equalization involving a digital signal processor. The receiver converts the electronic signal back to sound, and the battery powers the electronics.
There are four main styles of hearing aids on the market today. From largest to smallest, they are behind the ear (BTE), in the ear (ITE), in the canal (ITC), and completely in the canal (CIC). The BTE style sits behind the ear with a clear tube going to an earmold in the ear to deliver the sound. A variation on this style is called an open-fit-behind-the-ear (OTE) where the earmold is replaced by a small tip, resulting in a more open feeling. Other variations include replacing the tube with wires and moving the receiver from the behind the ear to inside the ear. The ITE style moves the hearing aid into the outer ear, where it becomes a single unit with the earmold. This style fills up most of the outer ear and appears as a solid mass. The ITC style moves some of the hearing aid into the ear canal and reduces the space taken up in the outer ear, but is still plainly visible. The CIC style is the smallest of them all, as it fits completely inside the ear canal, thus nearly disappearing from view.
There are many features available for today's hearing aids, including volume control, remote control, telecoil, direct audio input, FM reception, Bluetoothcapabilities, directional microphone, compression, clipping, frequency shifting, wind-noise management, data logging, self-learning, moisture resistance, and earmold venting. Some of these features require external area to implement and become more difficult to include as the size of hearing aids shrinks, while other features can be implemented in all hearing aids.
Volume control is performed manually with buttons or a rotary dial on the hearing aid. A remote control eliminates the need for buttons and dials on the hearing aid and can be used to control all the features of the hearing aid. A telecoil is an alternate input other than the microphone, and it originally picked up the magnetic signal generated by older telephones with speakers driven by magnetic coils so that listeners could hear better when talking on the telephone. Today's telephones and other alternate listening devices build-in this capability in order to work with a telecoil and specifically indicate that they are hearing aid compatible. Direct audio input and FM reception are other ways to input sound or speech into the hearing aid, the first using a wired connector as an input, and the other an FM radio receiver. An emerging trend is to include Bluetooth capability to receive sound from a cell phone or music player. The Bluetooth device can either be integral to the hearing aid or an add-on device through the telecoil or FM input.
A hearing aid with directional microphones uses two or more microphones to receive sound from multiple directions. This improves the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of speech when heard in a noisy environment, and enhances the quality of speech further when used with digital signal processing. Compression and clipping both increase listening comfort by reducing portions of the sound that are too loud but, in some cases, just clip or limit the sound. Frequency shifting uses digital signal processing to shift speech to a lower frequency, which is helpful for people with high-frequency hearing loss. Wind-noise management detects wind and eliminates the feedback that would otherwise cause ringing sounds to be heard by the hearing aid wearer.
Data logging records the listening environment and how the hearing aid is used. A hearing professional can use this information to fine-tune hearing aid performance. Self-learning uses the data logs and fine-tunes the performance on its own over time. Moisture resistance helps reduce repairs due to exposure to moisture, and earmold vents provide additional comfort by reducing the closed-in sensation felt when wearing an earmold type of hearing aid.
However, this work focuses on Bluetooth hearing aid which is the traditional hearing aids coupled with Bluetooth connectivity. In addition to acting as regular hearing aids, they can also be paired with Bluetooth-enabled devices to provide audio streaming.
1.2 OBJECTIVE OF THE PROJECT
The objective of this work is to design an electroacoustic device which amplify sound for the wearer, usually with the aim of making speech more intelligible, and to correct impaired hearing as measured by audiometry. Hearing aids are considered medical devices. Ordinary small audio amplifiers or other plain sound reinforcing systems cannot be sold as "hearing aids".
Hearing aids are incapable of truly correcting a hearing loss; they are an aid to make sounds more accessible. Two primary issues minimize the effectiveness of hearing aids:
The advantage of using a Bluetooth hearing aid is - first and foremost, it is wireless; and secondly because Bluetooth can be found everywhere today. Almost all cell phones and consumer electronic devices carry Bluetooth connectivity. This makes it possible for people with hearing issues to pick up sound from external audio sources.
This technology allows individuals to enjoy audio across all modern technologies such as iPods, cell phones, and even computers (most modern computers have inbuilt Bluetooth technology). It also enables them to prevail amongst normal people in public places without having to ask for external assistance.
On the technological front, Bluetooth transmission ensures better quality than any other wireless technology. Its noise cancellation is almost flawless and signal alteration, next to negligible. Moreover, since Bluetooth offers better data security, the day is not far away when two individuals with partial or full hearing impairment may be able to converse and understand each other through two paired Bluetooth hearing aids - just like normal people.
Some of the best Bluetooth hearing aids available in the market include a range of products from Artone. Artone was the manufacturer who made this technology commercially available for the first time. GN too has a range of products that include complete hearing aid devices, as well as individual devices such as TV Streamers, Bluetooth Adapters, Universal Remote Controls.
1.4 SCOPE OF THE PROJECT
Gone are the days of weak and fragile hearing aid devices with wires that used to tangle themselves into a monstrous mess. Carrying them around was problematic and they could only accentuate sound generated around the user.
Traditional hearing aid setups include a transmitter case and an ear-mold. The ear-mold is worn on the ear and can be customized to individual size and comfort. The case is usually worn behind the ear, and contains the circuitry required for the working of the device, the battery, and the device control system. The ear-mold contains the speaker. Electric routing of sound takes place over a connection (wired or wireless) between the case and the mold. The mold contains a plastic tube that delivers proper sound as received to the user's ear.
Although traditional hearing aids are still widely popular, wireless hearing aids are fast starting to create a place for themselves. Amongst the more recent wireless hearing aid developments, Bluetooth hearing aids are a crucial innovation. In addition to functioning as a regular hearing aid, a Bluetooth hearing aid allows a person with affected hearing ability to modulate audio using a device that streams Bluetooth transmission from other Bluetooth-enabled consumer electronic devices such as cell phones, music players and TVs. These hearing aids operate in the 2.4 GHz frequency.
Most Bluetooth hearing aids use a separate Bluetooth-enabled device (that users usually keep in the pocket) to enable transmission with external Bluetooth devices. Although hearing aids with inbuilt Bluetooth that can be worn directly are available, they are very recent, not common, and still being improved on.
1.5 LIMITATION OF THE PROJECT
- Some hearing aid comes with non-replaceable battery which can only be dispose when the battery dies, this means that hearing aid with non-replaceable battery can be costly than the one that has replaceable battery because if the battery dies one have to dispose it.
- Hearing aid can be noisy when the battery gets low.
1.6 APPLICATION OF THE PROJECT
These hearing aids are designed for medical practitioners with hearing loss who use stethoscopes. The hearing aid is built into the speaker of the stethoscope, which amplifies the sound. Hearing aid can also be used by aged people or people suffering from problem to improve their hearing.
1.7 PROJECT WORK ORGANISATION
The various stages involved in the development of this project have been properly put into five chapters to enhance comprehensive and concise reading. In this project thesis, the project is organized sequentially as follows:
Chapter one of this work is on the introduction to this work. In this chapter, the background, significance, objective limitation and problem of this work were discussed.
Chapter two is on literature review of this work. In this chapter, all the literature pertaining to this work was reviewed.
Chapter three is on design methodology. In this chapter all the method involved during the design and construction were discussed.
Chapter four is on testing analysis. All testing that result accurate functionality was analyzed.
Chapter five is on conclusion, recommendation and references.
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