Objective determination of acoustic prescriptions

Abstract

Presented herein are techniques that make use of objective measurements, such as acoustically-evoked inner ear responses, in the fitting process to determine the acoustic prescription (gain functions) that are used by an electro-acoustic hearing prosthesis to translate received sound signals into output acoustic simulation levels. More specifically, a plurality of acoustically-evoked inner ear responses are obtained from an inner ear of a recipient of an electro-acoustic hearing prosthesis. One or more input/output functions for at least one region of the inner ear are determined based on the plurality of acoustically-evoked inner ear responses and the one or more input/output functions are, in turn, used to determine one or more gain functions for use by the electro-acoustic hearing prosthesis.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method, comprising:
 obtaining a plurality of acoustically-evoked inner ear responses from an inner ear of a recipient of an electro-acoustic hearing prosthesis;   determining, based on the plurality of acoustically-evoked inner ear responses, one or more input/output functions for at least one region of the inner ear; and   determining, based on the one or more input/output functions, one or more gain functions for use by the electro-acoustic hearing prosthesis in conversion of sound signals to acoustic stimulation signals for delivery to the recipient.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 prior to determining the one or more gain functions, analyzing the one or more input/output functions for physiological abnormalities associated with the at least one region of the inner ear.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein determining the one or more gain functions for use by the electro-acoustic hearing prosthesis further comprises:
 determining the one or more gain functions based on the one or more input/output functions and based on results of the analysis of the one or more input/output functions for physiological abnormalities associated with the at least one region of the inner ear.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein analyzing the one or more input/output functions for physiological abnormalities associated with the at least one region of the inner ear comprises:
 analyzing measured auditory nerve neurophonic function relative to outer hair cell function at the at least one region of the inner ear.   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 obtaining an audiogram generated for the inner ear of the recipient.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein determining the one or more gain functions for use by the electro-acoustic hearing prosthesis further comprises:
 determining the one or more gain functions based on the one or more input/output functions and based on the audiogram for the inner ear of the recipient.   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 prior to determining the one or more gain functions, applying one or more loudness rules to at least the one or more input/output functions.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein determining the one or more gain functions for use by the electro-acoustic hearing prosthesis further comprises:
 determining the one or more gain functions based on outputs generated by application of the more loudness rules to at least the one or more input/output functions.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein obtaining a plurality of acoustically-evoked inner ear responses from an inner ear comprises:
 delivering acoustic stimulation signals at a selected and substantially constant frequency while incrementally adjusting the amplitude of the acoustic stimulation signals.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein determining one or more input/output functions for at least one region of the inner ear comprises:
 determining at least one input/output function based on an analysis of measured auditory nerve neurophonics in relation to one or more attributes of the delivered acoustic stimulation signals.   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein determining one or more input/output functions for at least one region of the inner ear comprises:
 determining at least one input/output function based on an analysis of measured cochlear microphonics in relation to one or more attributes of the delivered acoustic stimulation signals.   
     
     
         12 . An electro-acoustic hearing prosthesis system, comprising:
 an intra-cochlear stimulating assembly configured to be implanted in an inner ear of a recipient, wherein the intra-cochlear stimulating assembly comprises a plurality of stimulating contacts; and   one or more processors configured to:
 obtain, via one or more of the plurality of stimulating contacts, objective inner ear responses to acoustic stimulation at one or more regions of the inner ear, 
 generate, based on the objective inner ear responses to acoustic stimulation, a mapping of one or more relationships between the acoustic stimulation and an output functionality of the one or more regions of the inner ear, and 
 generate, based on at least the mapping of one or more relationships between the acoustic stimulation and an output functionality of the one or more regions of the inner ear, an acoustic prescription for conversion of sound signals to acoustic stimulation signals for delivery to the recipient. 
   
     
     
         13 . The electro-acoustic hearing prosthesis system of  claim 12 , wherein the one or more processors are configured to:
 prior to generating the acoustic prescription, apply one or more loudness rules to at least the mapping of one or more relationships between the acoustic stimulation and an output functionality of the one or more regions of the inner ear.   
     
     
         14 . The electro-acoustic hearing prosthesis system of  claim 13 , wherein to generate the acoustic prescription, the one or more processors are configured to:
 generate the acoustic prescription based on outputs generated by application of the more loudness rules to the mapping of one or more relationships between the acoustic stimulation and an output functionality of the one or more regions of the inner ear.   
     
     
         15 . The electro-acoustic hearing prosthesis system of  claim 12 , wherein to generate the mapping of one or more relationships between the acoustic stimulation and an output functionality of the one or more regions of the inner ear, the one or more processors are configured to:
 determine one or more input/output functions for the one or more regions of the inner ear based on an analysis of measured auditory nerve neurophonics in relation to one or more attributes of the delivered acoustic stimulation.   
     
     
         16 . The electro-acoustic hearing prosthesis system of  claim 12 , wherein to generate the mapping of one or more relationships between the acoustic stimulation and an output functionality of the one or more regions of the inner ear, the one or more processors are configured to:
 determine one or more input/output functions for the one or more regions of the inner ear based on an analysis of measured cochlear microphonics in relation to one or more attributes of the delivered acoustic stimulation.   
     
     
         17 . The electro-acoustic hearing prosthesis system of  claim 12 , wherein the one or more processors are configured to:
 prior to determining the acoustic prescription, analyze the mapping of one or more relationships between the acoustic stimulation and an output functionality of the one or more regions of the inner ear for physiological abnormalities associated with the one or more regions of the inner ear.   
     
     
         18 . The electro-acoustic hearing prosthesis system of  claim 17 , wherein to generate the acoustic prescription, the one or more processors are configured to:
 generate the acoustic prescription based on the mapping of one or more relationships between the acoustic stimulation and an output functionality of the one or more regions of the inner ear and based on results of the analysis of the mapping for physiological abnormalities associated with the one or more regions of the inner ear.   
     
     
         19 . The electro-acoustic hearing prosthesis system of  claim 17 , wherein to analyze the mapping of one or more relationships between the acoustic stimulation and an output functionality of the one or more regions of the inner ear for physiological abnormalities associated with the one or more regions of the inner ear, the one or more processors are configured to:
 analyze measured auditory nerve neurophonic function relative to outer hair cell function at the one or more regions of the inner ear.   
     
     
         20 . The electro-acoustic hearing prosthesis system of  claim 12 , wherein the one or more processors are configured to:
 obtain an audiogram generated for the inner ear of the recipient.   
     
     
         21 . The electro-acoustic hearing prosthesis system of  claim 17 , wherein to generate the acoustic prescription, the one or more processors are configured to:
 generate the acoustic prescription based on the mapping of one or more relationships between the acoustic stimulation and an output functionality of the one or more regions of the inner ear and based on the audiogram for the inner ear of the recipient.   
     
     
         22 . The electro-acoustic hearing prosthesis system of  claim 17 , further comprising:
 an electro-acoustic hearing having a sound processing unit; and   an external device,   wherein the one or more processors are disposed in the sound processing unit of the hearing prosthesis.